Green businesses could bag themselves a potential advantage on the web from today after the domain name green.co.uk was put up for auction, however they are likely to have to pay a hefty price tag for the highly marketable web address.

The domain name, which is owned by a Mr Green who registered it in 1996, is for sale at online domain auction site Sedo. The auction is scheduled to initially run until this Thursday and has a reserve price range of £50,000 to £199,999.

Sedo said it expected the domain name to attract a high price, noting that recycle.co.uk broke the record for a .co.uk domain when it sold late last year for £150,000.

Generic website names such as green.co.uk are deemed highly desirable by businesses as they capture direct traffic from users typing a word straight into their browser, are easy to find through search engines, are extremely memorable to customers and help strengthen brand value.

Nora Nanayakkara, business development director at Sedo UK, said that the current interest in green businesses and products should also help ensure the domain name attracts a premium price. "With over a million websites containing the word green in the internet address bar, yet only one green.co.uk, it is a rare opportunity to secure such a topical co.uk internet domain name," she said.

She added that she expected the auction to attract interest from marketing agencies, publishing companies, environmental groups, financial services providers, electronic manufacturers, energy providers and internet domain investors.