.in Is .IN the sleeping giant?

dnbrokership · Jun 26, 2010

Bruce Tedeschi, Digibroker.com

Let’s look at .in within this article. Discounted by most domain buyers, .in domain names are one extension where English can be used as a viable domain name. If we look at India, here are some key points:

Population as of 2008

* 1.2 BILLION people
* Population has tripled since 1960
* The U.S. population is 310-million.

Over $1-billion dollars are spent outsourcing from the U.S. to India just for IT/Customer Service contracts. The U.S. is the largest outsourcing country in the world. Based on the fact that U.S. companies outsource to India, representatives in India typically speak English.

So what’s been the problem with .in having a low resale value, basically India’s infrastructure for fiber optic cable is still evolving. However, major communications companies are rushing to India to lay this fiber.

The value of a domain in English or short characters will grow in value. So let’s take an example:

I own the domain name beautycream.in. I parked this name at parked.com and optimized the domain name. I saw a steady rise in traffic with this name with 90% of the traffic coming from India. The parking paid for the name registration in 1-month. As the name ranked higher in India search, so did the revenue. Obviously this name would be of interest to a manufacturer or be perfect for a store.

Currently name.com offers .in domain names for $3.99. I own 500 .in domain names for a total investment of $2,000. Parking revenue alone has far surpassed that. There are still GREAT .in names available. Also INF is a great place to discuss .in domain names. I have been domaining for 13-years and I firmly believe these names will have high value if you can have some patience and build the names out. Smartname.com allows you to park your domain names and also build a store in moments at no-cost to you. They also allow you to put your own code in the header, footer, and sidebar for affiliate programs such as Amazon or shopzilla.

If you’re not investing in .in, you are missing out on revenue. Remember, resale of a domain name is only a piece of monetization.

the_poet · Jul 29, 2010

Let's not forget that the number of surfers in India (currently around 70-80 million) is going to be more than 3X in the very next years.

mwzd · Jul 29, 2010

Wikipedia is seriously outdated, since it relies on 2000 census data, there is a new census underway, but this is how the ad companies see it:
2% - truly wealthy
8% - upper middle class
20% - middle class

Lets assume this 30% is all we're addressing, that's still 360 million.

Add to that all the businesses in US, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Russia, Korea, Japan, etc who use .IN for their websites.

As also the 1000s of companies looking at India as an emerging market and starting local branches.

Consider all these factors and you see the true potential of the extension is fairly large.

HeyNow · Jul 29, 2010

kemjika11 said:
HeyNow said:

dnbrokership said:

Bruce Tedeschi, Digibroker.com

* 1.2 BILLION people
* Population has tripled since 1960
* The U.S. population is 310-million.

Your argument is a bit cynical and exaggerated.Even if there is widespread poverty in India, there are still MANY Indians who have the money to buy indian domain names.The biggest hinderance is their understanding and appreciation of domain names as assets. Its inaccurate to think that because a country is poor it doesn't have wealthy people in it who can spend alot of money on whatever they like.

Click to expand...

"MANY" is a far cry from the "1.2 BILLION," which was the figure given to make the point that .in was a shoe-in for success.

Just a footnote, there's so much desperation and corruption in India, that you can't even send a frickin' music CD in the mail and expect it to be delivered to whom you mailed it. My friend in India warned me that mailing anything to India is risky, that the envelope would probably be stolen before delivery if anything of value was suspected to be inside. I sent him a music CD in an envelope and stuffed a $20 bill inside next to the CD. He was right. He never received it. He knew he wouldn't. He knew he could not depend on the government services for anything, even the most basic rights, receiving mail.

ccTLDs represent the country from which they were spawned (except for mutations like .TV). .IN probably isn't the safest bet for a successful ccTLD, especially when a billion impoverished people populate that country.

Click to expand...

mwzd · Jul 29, 2010

Sending currency via regular post is illegal in India afaik.

I'm sure it might not be acceptable in most other countries as well.

Why they have financial instruments like Money Orders.

You're entitled to your opinion, but if you think that corruption does not exist anywhere else you're mistaken.

I also fail to see how this has anything to do with domain values. :p

Even if .IN is only used by locals it will be worth a LOT in terms of ROI, your call whether you see it or you don't.

HeyNow · Jul 30, 2010

"Sending currency via regular post is illegal in India afaik."

So is stealing it from someone else's mail.

"I'm sure it might not be acceptable in most other countries as well."

Being sure of something that "might not ..." is saying you're not really sure at all.

"Why they have financial instruments like Money Orders."

You mean a US Postal money order is cashable in India?

"You're entitled to your opinion, but if you think that corruption does not exist anywhere else you're mistaken."

Of course I'm entitled to my opinion. Corruption exists elsewhere, and those countries' ccTLDs will be just as worthless as .IN.

"I also fail to see how this has anything to do with domain values." :p

I can't help that you fail to see my point. You failing to see my point doesn't mean anything to me.

"Even if .IN is only used by locals it will be worth a LOT in terms of ROI, your call whether you see it or you don't."

Problem is, most of the "locals" probably can't afford to buy the name.

aceeca · Jul 30, 2010

HeyNow said:
"Sending currency via regular post is illegal in India afaik."

So is stealing it from someone else's mail.

Not the first case of postal mail being stolen, not the last:

Former postal worker Myles Weathers admits to stealing more than $30,000 in Netflix DVDs mailed through Springfield branch | masslive.com

HeyNow said:
"I'm sure it might not be acceptable in most other countries as well."

Being sure of something that "might not ..." is saying you're not really sure at all.

Its illegal in US, UK, UAE, Canada, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Saudi Arabia, China, Oman, Kuwait, Nepal, Sri Lanka. This I'm sure.

Going by the trend, it seems obvious that it would be illegal inother countries as well. But I did not understand your statement. are you trying to prove Samit's statement wrong or the way he presented the statement.

HeyNow said:

[
"Why they have financial instruments like Money Orders."

You mean a US Postal money order is cashable in India?

Click to expand...

US Postal Money Order is *not* the only Money Order in US. Check your local provider for the coverage provided. in other words Western Union.

HeyNow said:

Problem is, most of the "locals" probably can't afford to buy the name.

Click to expand...

That's not the point. What if they could afford domain names, but lacked awareness of domain names?

mwzd · Jul 30, 2010

Actually it's pointless trying to convince people who don't want to see the truth.

Fact is that .in is currently in the top 5 cctlds around, will probably rise in rank as time progresses.

Some will see the opportunity, others only the risks.

Kate · Jul 30, 2010

In the top 5 ?
I would think Europe grabs the top 5 spots.
HosterStats.com: gTLD and ccTLD Domain Name Counts 2010

kemjika11 · Jul 30, 2010

sdsinc said:
In the top 5 ?
I would think Europe grabs the top 5 spots.
HosterStats.com: gTLD and ccTLD Domain Name Counts 2010

ok, India currently has 70-80m people internet users online today. in 3 years it will be between 280-300m people. what do you predict will happen to .in domain names in lets say 5 years?Remember almost 700k .in domain are currently regged .If you think .in is "out of reach" of indians, then good .coms definitely are out of their reach(financial ) at least. With close to 300m people online in a few years, plus cheaper broadband access, plus the introduction of cheaper,wireless capable laptops in India, and India withh india being an open market economy and a freedom-embracing democracy, .IN is a no-brainer ccTLD IMO.

Kate · Jul 30, 2010

kemjika11 said:
ok, India currently has 70-80m people internet users online today. in 3 years it will be between 280-300m people. what do you predict will happen to .in domain names in lets say 5 years?Remember almost 700k .in domain are currently regged .

Let's hope it does better than .us...

PS: where can get we .in stats ?

alistair80 · Jul 30, 2010

.in is def a good investment. i would say...6 yrs from now(...)

i am in the process of developing a few that i have myself.

NeoMatrix11 · Jul 31, 2010

Some interesting url :

Hans Rosling: Asia's rise -- how and when | Video on TED.com

aceeca · Aug 1, 2010

Another link:

â€˜India has more rich people than poor nowâ€™ - India - The Times of India

Sparhawke · Aug 1, 2010

India is indeed a sleeping giant now, one that is getting foot cramp and is stirring.

Right now with the figures of 80M people online and that set to increase 4-fold over the next few years it is an excellent time to get in on it I think.

But you do have to be aware of what you are doing, no point running out to buy every domain name in sight.

DU · Aug 1, 2010

Sparhawke said:
Right now with the figures of 80M people online and that set to increase 4-fold over the next few years it is an excellent time to get in on it I think.

3200 M people online just means that Facebook.com is going to continue to get bigger.

The disadvantage with calling .in the cheap .com is that it is the CHEAP .com. There is always some truth in stereotypes and one is that Indians in general are always seeking the lowest price possible and negotiate to that end. This will always keep the price down....

India already has 80 M users (only 6 M broadband) - why isn't .IN ALREADY bigger than it is? How many of the current .IN are held by Indians? How many in the .US?

The major issue will be that the growth in India that we see is primarily focused on building a middle class that is targeted by Western companies who already have established an online presence.

India is also facing challenged in infrastructure costs (water supplies being a major issue) closing the wealth disparaties another (a particular challenge with huge cultural basis) and, yes, a huge image issue with corruption. Add to that debt - he country’s public debt, according to the RBI, has surged to over 50% of the total GDP - and you don't have the huge growth baseline that we are being sold.

So I think it's a huge long term investment.

If you can make renewals with Parking that's great.

BUT

Personally I hate "pumping threads". If .in is such a great thing and you are covering costs... don't tell others to invest.. buy more yourself and make even MORE money. Or are you selling something else?

Fundamentally, I could have written the same article as the OP but substituting .mobi for .in and just adding "mobile".

India will be adding 4 x as many mobile users in the next ten years. Many will not even have a computer and operate solely on hand held smart phones. etc. I have xxx mobi and think you should to. You can even buy mine!

I believe that by the time the opportunity to take advantage of the internet for the masses comes to fruition - it will be much better for local businesses to do what companies are doing now already.

Whatever the Indian equivalent of "see my business at www.facebook.in/mycompany" will be.

That said. Strong domains targeting the Indian clientele will make money. A random generic keyword is a tough sell in any TLD and will be even harder in .in imho.

Sparhawke · Aug 1, 2010

sdsinc said:
Let's hope it does better than .us...

PS: where can get we .in stats ?

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/in.html

There you go, look in the Communications tab.

defaultuser said:
3200 M people online just means that Facebook.com is going to continue to get bigger.

The disadvantage with calling .in the cheap .com is that it is the CHEAP .com. There is always some truth in stereotypes and one is that Indians in general are always seeking the lowest price possible and negotiate to that end. This will always keep the price down....

India already has 80 M users (only 6 M broadband) - why isn't .IN ALREADY bigger than it is? How many of the current .IN are held by Indians? How many in the .US?

The major issue will be that the growth in India that we see is primarily focused on building a middle class that is targeted by Western companies who already have established an online presence.

India is also facing challenged in infrastructure costs (water supplies being a major issue) closing the wealth disparaties another (a particular challenge with huge cultural basis) and, yes, a huge image issue with corruption. Add to that debt - he country’s public debt, according to the RBI, has surged to over 50% of the total GDP - and you don't have the huge growth baseline that we are being sold.

So I think it's a huge long term investment.

If you can make renewals with Parking that's great.

BUT

Personally I hate "pumping threads". If .in is such a great thing and you are covering costs... don't tell others to invest.. buy more yourself and make even MORE money. Or are you selling something else?

Fundamentally, I could have written the same article as the OP but substituting .mobi for .in and just adding "mobile".

India will be adding 4 x as many mobile users in the next ten years. Many will not even have a computer and operate solely on hand held smart phones. etc. I have xxx mobi and think you should to. You can even buy mine!

I believe that by the time the opportunity to take advantage of the internet for the masses comes to fruition - it will be much better for local businesses to do what companies are doing now already.

Whatever the Indian equivalent of "see my business at www.facebook.in/mycompany" will be.

That said. Strong domains targeting the Indian clientele will make money. A random generic keyword is a tough sell in any TLD and will be even harder in .in imho.

This is what I said, I said you have to know what you are doing and what you are looking for. There is little point in running out and grabbing up every domain name that exists in the wild hope that it may be valuable because you do have to cover your 5-10 year costs AND make it a worthwhile investment. There is little point in spending $20k to make $23k in 10 years

Yes, the Indian extension will be far more viable but only if you have some good domains and can make a good return on them.

I have been looking through some dictionary words fr the extension, and while they do exist I am averaging only 1 half-decent one for every 500 words I check.

I am not pumping it up, for all I care people can go splash around in the other extensions for the rest of time but eventually it is going to happen and I plan on having a few names myself when it does

DU · Aug 1, 2010

Sparhawke said:
I am not pumping it up, for all I care people can go splash around in the other extensions for the rest of time but eventually it is going to happen and I plan on having a few names myself when it does

I meant the "insider domainer" - Mr Bruce Tedeschi - of the article. Sorry if that was misleading. What you said I'm fine with

Him? He's a huckster imho - based on this article.

V Dogg · Aug 8, 2010

Anyone here making a good parking income from .in domains?

aceeca · Aug 8, 2010

Perspective of a domainer from outside India during a visit to India:

Late Update from India and My Initial Thoughts : Teen Domainer

Brian D · Aug 11, 2010

Thanks for posting my article aceeca I hope it is a little useful, I tried to write what I saw while I was in India. I really like the long term investment with .in I think it has the possibility to payoff huge in the long term.

sids70 · Aug 11, 2010

I second that Brian, I was recently in India and noticed that more and more companies are using .in extension. More and More MNCs have presence in India. This is not happening by chance, there is a firm base to it.

I dug up and found some data.

As per
India Internet Usage and Telecommunications Reports only 6.9% of Indian population is using internet, so there is tremendous upward trend from 6.9%.

As per Facts & Figures: India's Thriving Middle Class . NOW on PBS, I could observe following.

As per McKInsey Global Institute, the forecasted size of India's mmiddle class in 2025 is going to be 583 million i.e. 10 times its current middle class size.

On this very same site it is shown that India will be 5th from consumer market standpoint in 2025.

$378 billion will be total value of food, beverages and tobacco market as forecasted in 2025 for India.

As I noticed current middle class population is 50 million but Internet usage is 81 million.

On my recent visit to India I noticed that internet usage has increased tremendously with cellphones everywhere. To access, internet on cellphone is breeze. I could pay 2 dollars and had 2gb internet which lasted for my entire visit of 40 days.

Internet on my iphone there, was reasonably fast and I could find any address in my midsize city if they had internet presence.

The young middle class generation is mostly getting their education in English medium. In most places by 8th to 10th grade in average middle class household kid has his own cellphone.

This is my first hand observation on my recent visit to India. The growth is real and sustained. Government is pro active as far as technological boundaries to be explored. Corruption is part of daily life but that has not much to do with popularity of the net.

Almost all major companies grabbed their .com as well as .in extension.

In my opinion .com is always going to be king but .in is king in India and if you have right domains in next 10 years you can expect exponential returns.

This is not pumping the .in extension because I have only total 350-400 domains with most of them in .com, .net and .us extension and very few .in.

This is based on analysis of facts, however now I am going to focus more on .in domains.

Good luck to all and peace.

DomainLobe · Aug 15, 2010

This was just reported on INF:

SEDO Q2 Domain Sales Report

.IN has continued to thrive and drive it's way into the TOP 10 at Sedo's international marketplace.

ebiz4india · Aug 18, 2010

I agree with the post. Sold many .IN domains to end customer in India Itself.

Corporate world have finally awaken on .IN domains & keyword domains importance.

Brian D · Aug 20, 2010

I just posted part two of my view on Indian domains from my trip there.

I really think now is the perfect time to get in on the .in

Indian Domain Names Part II: A View from The Youth

Enjoy

harrisonsmith · Nov 25, 2010

Hello,
If you will see it through a domestic experience,then you will find the level of awareness about keyword domains among companies is very minuscule at the moment and you could not see any significant improvement in the immediate future.

.in Is .IN the sleeping giant?

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