David Beckham rules the web

Internet domain names featuring the number 23 have rocketed in popularity after Real Madrid put it on the back of David Beckham's new shirt.

Within minutes of telling the football world that Beckham would take the 23 shirt, a rash of domain names were secured by people around the world.

Since speculation of his move reached fever pitch, some 75 domain names associated with Beckham and either Real Madrid or Barcelona have been registered.

Beckham23.com, becks23.com and becks23.co.uk joined the already registered beckhamatrealmadrid.com, realmadridbeckham.com, realbeckham.com, becksinspain.com and beckhamsbarcelona.com.

Various numbers were also registered against his name, including 11, 17 and 77.

Jonathan Robinson, director of business development at NetNames, a registrar for generic top-level domains, said in a statement: "David Beckham is an extremely powerful and valuable brand. Domain names are the gateway to the internet.

"Domain names transfers are possible but, like the best players, the price for the most desirable sites can end up being very high."

However, if you would like your own piece of David Beckham, at the time of writing, whoisbeckham.com, beckhamsrubbish.com and byebyedavid.com were all still available.