URLs can change lives, for better or worse. Some became "domain millionaires" through foresight, while others lost everything to fraudulent URLs.
Chris Clark is a prime domain millionaire. He acquired `pizza.com` in 2008 for a few dollars, built a pizza information site, and sold it for $2.6 million in 2014. Similarly, `beer.com` traded for $7 million and `sex.com` for $13 million. These "common noun domains" generate hundreds of thousands in annual ad revenue from organic search traffic.
People earn livings from short URL ad revenue too. Services like Adf.ly and Shorte.st show ads to clickers and share revenue with link creators. Some earn thousands monthly creating short URLs for popular content like game mods. Domain investment books are available on Amazon.
Conversely, URLs have ruined lives. "Congratulations! You've won $1 million. Click this URL to claim." Fake prize notification emails continue claiming victims. Japan's National Consumer Affairs Center receives thousands of annual consultations about fake prize scams.
Domain acquisition timing changed lives too. In 1994, Josh Quittner acquired `tv.com` for about $100/year. CBS later bought it for millions. People who acquired `cars.com`, `loans.com`, and `travel.com` in the 1990s sold them for millions to tens of millions. URLs are digital "land" - first come, first served, with values fluctuating over time. Those with 1990s foresight literally changed their lives through URLs.