PORTLAND – The Portland.com domain name, which once sent Web browsers to the city’s newspaper, will soon link to a site featuring advertisements plugging services for visitors to Portland, Ore.

The new site will be up and running in a few weeks, said Skip Hoagland, owner of privately held Information Centers, Inc., a Hilton Head, S.C., company that bought the name. The transfer took effect Wednesday.

Hoagland’s company approached Blethen Maine Newspapers about the name in December, said Joe Michaud, president of MaineToday.com, the online division of Blethen Maine Newspapers.

“We constantly search for undeveloped properties and names that are not being developed properly,” Hoagland said.

Blethen Maine was willing to sell because a 1998 reorganization of its Web sites meant Portland.com was gathering dust, Michaud said. Instead, the newspaper’s Web address was changed to PressHerald.com.

“We didn’t really see ourselves as using Portland.com as a brand name anywhere in the near or distant future,” Michaud said.

While some Maine surfers may think Portland.com is special, it’s just a drop in the bucket to Hoagland, whose company owns the rights to about 800 domains. Many are variations on the names of U.S. cities, while others are further afield: Cuba.com, Guatamala.com and Tanzania.com are some examples.

“Back in the past, I was accused of being a cyber-squatter,” he said, registering domain names with the aim of selling them for a profit.

While some of his domains do not link to active Web sites, Hoagland says his business buys neglected names and turns them into profitable businesses through advertising sales. Some dot-com city name sites have annual revenues of more than $1 million, he said.

“When you own a domain name, it’s like owning a piece of property,” he said. “Right now, Portland.com is like a blank piece of property. We intend on putting a 20-story building on it.”

Hoagland plans an international network of sites loaded with local advertising for tourists. He said private companies like his can represent a community better than a chamber of commerce or a newspaper.

Neither Michaud nor Hoagland would comment on the price of the sale.

Hoagland said his firm has never paid more than $200,000 for the rights to a city’s name. A lot of cities can be bought for $50,000, he said.

The online division of the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram got the domain name for free in 1996 when a Seattle man let his ownership lapse rather than pay the $35 annual registration fee.