New Top Level Domains!

[ZOX]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to get your feedback on these new gTLD's:
...
uniteddomains.com/ntld/pre-register-new-domains/
...
Anyone pre-registering them yet?
...
It seems like ICANN will completely change the rules of domains in 2012 to a point that what comes before the dot will be much less important than what comes AFTER the dot!

 

[NameLogistics]

Thank you all for your insights.. It's indeed very reassuring.. I thought the same..

Even the .info has trouble getting of the ground, so yeah !! it's obvious those ugly extensions are no threat to us..

Cheers!!

 

[alien51]

If the #1 result was rubbershoes.apparel & #2 was rubbershoes.com, the #2 would most likely get the click despite not being #1.

That's IF the com domain would even show up anywhere close to the top.

As i have said, many traditional TLDs have been seized by domainers (i have seized 400 of them myself). And if you are setting up minisites on these coms while waiting for end-user legits to buy your domains out, Google could punish you sending your com domains about 200 pages down the sewage (or worse, getting them delisted).

In fact, evenif you haven't been Google asskicked yet, and you are lucky to stay on top because of your keyword matched domain, but all you have is just a 1-2 page com domain landing site, visitors will click you first but will stay there for just 3 seconds before heading out to the .apparel domain where they see it's a multimedia-rich site of a real business selling rubber shoes.

Also:

If i was the end-user scouting for domains for my business, I will head to Google first and examine the search results to see what domains will show up. Something like scanning the competition before you go to battle.

If i find that there is a solid com domain on top (not trademarked), which appears to be a legit website in itself, then i wouldn't even try to buy the same domain on a different extension. It's just going to confuse people (not to mention, you may lose out since the other guy is already well established).

So again, your scenario can only happen for coms that have legit content (there are a lot of cynical web surfers these days). Evenif you are on top, but your content looks "suspiciously domainer created", you get the first click, but not the cash clicks.

 

[Archangel]

I agree with you completely. It's common knowledge that a .com likely won't rank well (or at all) if it's not developed/if it's just a mini-site. But my point still stands that if an established extension is #2, it'd likely be clicked opposed to the #1 with a little known/unknown extension.

That's IF the com domain would even show up anywhere close to the top.

As i have said, many traditional TLDs have been seized by domainers (i have seized 400 of them myself). And if you are setting up minisites on these coms while waiting for end-user legits to buy your domains out, Google could punish you sending your com domains about 200 pages down the sewage (or worse, getting them delisted).

In fact, evenif you haven't been Google asskicked yet, and you are lucky to stay on top because of your keyword matched domain, but all you have is just a 1-2 page com domain landing site, visitors will click you first but will stay there for just 3 seconds before heading out to the .apparel domain where they see it's a multimedia-rich site of a real business selling rubber shoes.

Also:

If i was the end-user scouting for domains for my business, I will head to Google first and examine the search results to see what domains will show up. Something like scanning the competition before you go to battle.

If i find that there is a solid com domain on top (not trademarked), which appears to be a legit website in itself, then i wouldn't even try to buy the same domain on a different extension. It's just going to confuse people (not to mention, you may lose out since the other guy is already well established).

So again, your scenario can only happen for coms that have legit content (there are a lot of cynical web surfers these days). Evenif you are on top, but your content looks "suspiciously domainer created", you get the first click, but not the cash clicks.

 

[lothos]

Who are these guys?

Are they even ICANN accredited?

Seems like a real risk registering domains with a new registrar, managing new gTLD's

UnitedDomains is under investigation for this shady pre-registration practice:

domainnamewire.com/2011/04/29/icann-investigates-united-domains-pre-registration-of-new-tlds

 

[NameLogistics]

man, you're point is valid.. sure! But I really really do not think something like a ".apparel" could make it.. really I don't. it's like the .com would be downtown Manhattan and .apparel equivalent to some cheap deserted peace of land in harlem or something. I think we're a new generation of virtual real-estate mogul.. we were fortunate to live at a time when we could still grab a few .com, .net and .org... In 20 years from now.. God only can imagine how valuable they will be by then, of course if the world is still around after 2012 !!

 

[Archangel]

It will. Marty McFly's been to 2015 or so.

if the world is still around after 2012 !!

 

[alien51]

But my point still stands that if an established extension is #2, it'd likely be clicked opposed to the #1 with a little known/unknown extension.

That's true, especially to the discerning and savvy web surfers. But hey, people do love to 'window-shop' even on the internet. Even if you get the 3rd click or 5th click down the order, you still have a chance to prove your worth. Not to mention that Lindsey Lohan clicked one of my domains listed at #23 the other day.

Will people come back or be willing to swipe their credit card on your weird extension? I agree, there is still an aura of 'trust' advantage when you put a legit .com, side-by-side with a legit .weird.

Which is why, in my earlier proposition, if ICANN decides to flood the internet with all sorts of TLDs... and ... many of them end up on end-users' hands, perhaps the level of trust among netizens will smoothen out in the long run. And people will start becoming comfortable with .weird domains.

I think one reason why the earlier extension weirdos never panned out into the mainstream, is because most of the nice domains on those extensions were snapped again by domainers, so they never got developed or marketed properly to consumers. So in some way, domainers are suppressing the growth of these beautiful domains into useful websites because they chain them inside their cellar until the right money comes along to unlock their full potential.

Take sex.com for example. What kind of perv with some dignity left inside will visit that com site and click on the ads (yes i'm sure many people still click on them)? It's a nice com domain. But absolutely useless. I have seen .info torrent sites that get hundreds of thousands of hits every day. Which means-- if your content is useful to people, they will comeback no matter what extension you are in.

And lastly, with today's "in-your-face" reality-tv-inspired shock culture, people are actually attracted to unusual and weird stuffs. Something like if you stand out from the rest of the boring crowd with a rubbershoes.apparel domain, people (especially the younger ones) will find you "hip" and "cool".

Check the mainstream media and even Youtube. Those who get millions of hits sometimes do crazy things. People are trying to blast themselves out from the ordinary. So perhaps, having some kind of weird domain extension can become a cool marketing gimmick that can sell.

---------- Post added at 08:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:45 PM ----------

But I really really do not think something like a ".apparel" could make it.. really I don't. it's like the .com would be downtown Manhattan and .apparel equivalent to some cheap deserted peace of land in harlem or something.

Your analogy is presuming that the domain .apparel is stuck into being a minisite.

Again, as i have said, you buy a weird extension, you have to spruce it up to look legit. If you are located in Harlem (no offense) but why dress like a beggar? Dress up in a suit that says "We are Open for Business, how may i help you?".

When i was watching Discovery Life & Living on cable tv, they featured obscure restaurants hidden away from the limelight which they say "true" New Yorkers go to. Time Square is only for tourists. You go where the real New Yorkers hang out, and surprisingly some of those places are hidden away from the maddening crowd... and they have lots of customers.

 

[LegitimeDomains.com]

People are born every day so maybe if they commercialize (asseenontv such) new TDLs one day in soon future, the new TDLs kids even don't know for .Com extensions.The big guys can and will do what ever they want.But this is only my opinion. Cheers

 

[carob]

But let's add a little to your theoretical situation. Assuming the domains you mentioned: If the #1 result was rubbershoes.apparel & #2 was rubbershoes.com, the #2 would most likely get the click despite not being #1. Why is that? Because .com is well-established while .apparel is the new kid that no one knows.

True, good point. People's perceptions matter.

But I actually think a good many businesses also perceive domains as status indicators, and think about how they look graphically. Whatever the pros and cons of .co, mybusiness.co looks great graphically and is super for visual advertising. So would sex.bomb or drug.store...

But we are all assuming that search in future will be the way it is now - a vertical list of results to click on. I'm not so sure, if there is big change in search domains and SEO will be very affected.

Voice search, personalised search and local search results change the game considerably, and what other new factors are we forgetting?

 

[Archangel]

Good points. Reps added.

Alien51: I'm too fond of lol They won't let me rep ya.

True, good point. People's perceptions matter.

But I actually think a good many businesses also perceive domains as status indicators, and think about how they look graphically. Whatever the pros and cons of .co, mybusiness.co looks great graphically and is super for visual advertising. So would sex.bomb or drug.store...

But we are all assuming that search in future will be the way it is now - a vertical list of results to click on. I'm not so sure, if there is big change in search domains and SEO will be very affected.

Voice search, personalised search and local search results change the game considerably, and what other new factors are we forgetting?

 

[ZOX]

Why?

The question now is, WHY would ICANN approve ALL these (some ridiculous imho) TLD's when there are so many new ccTLD's marketed as gTLD's now (.CO, .ME, .TV, etc.), not to mention .NET, .INFO, etc. that are not even "well-known" yet!
...
And CHECK OUT these "Other Proposed Top Level Domains":
...
.basel
.canon
.car
.deloitte
.hitachi
.post
.usa
...
.It's like applying for a "domain" AFTER the dot!
And .USA??? ...as if .US is not good enough?? :o

 

[Archangel]

There doesn't seem to be an edge of reason with these things...

And CHECK OUT these "Other Proposed Top Level Domains":
...
.basel
.canon
.car
.deloitte
.hitachi
.post
.usa
...
.It's like applying for a "domain" AFTER the dot!
And .USA??? ...as if .US is not good enough?? :o

 

[lincolndsp]

There doesn't seem to be an edge of reason with these things...

the reason can be clearly identified with all these things happening. but if said here, most would think it's a conspiracy theory
but what lies on the surface i will tell - the goal is one - to make surfers dependent only on google and google only to navigate the web

 

[alien51]

Why not just break the TLDs wide open?

I mean what if you let people register domain names with no limitation on the extension, except that it should be just one word?

So that means, i don't need to register "rubbershoes.apparel". I can do "rubber.shoes" which is cooler.

You know what, if Google starts showing up all sorts of weird extensions on its search results, people will get used to it in no time.

You just need one weirdo to become successful, and it will open the door for the rest to become "normal".

One single publicity from a popular chain adopting its own extension, will pave the way to the eventual death of DOT COM values.

For the latest news in queer world, visit us at "Brokeback.Mountain" for details. (I'm sure Paramount Pictures will sue anyone who will register that though)

Your email address will be "[email protected]"

Not bad, right?

 

[gpmgroup]

brokeback.mountain

hmmmm....

Big market in .mountain TLDs? @$185,000 upfront + $25,000 p.a. on going thats one expensive set of domains and email addresses.

To get mindshare takes years and/or requires an existing real world infrastructure. If Google starts showing up all kind of extensions sure people will get used to it but they won't remember most of them and the real world signals won't be there to reinforce them.

.info the largest newer gTLD has taken 10 years to get to its current level of usage. So for a new TLD that's 2022. Plus back in 2002 there wasn't much new competition (.biz was really the only significant contender).

ICANN's proposing 100's of new gTLDs - Domains outside the premium generics of successful existing TLDs are a thin / wide market i.e. only a handful of people are competing for each one. That will make most second level domains in new gTLDs effectively reg fee.

This is going to put huge pressure on the weaker new gTLDs, once domainers and brands realise most domains in these new gTLDs don't have any resale value.

 

[alien51]

If Google starts showing up all kind of extensions sure people will get used to it but they won't remember most of them

That's exactly the idea: You don't need to remember the entire hook, line, and sinker. You just Google it. And let the advances in artificial Google intelligence show you the domain you are mostly likely be looking for.

Some say, weird extensions look bad on billboard signs and bus stop signages. But hey, people won't look for your website while walking. Evenif they did with their smartphones, again, just type the keyword and let Google find it for you.

One added benefit is that it "equalizes" the competition among merchants. A "rubbershoes.apparel" can go side-by-side with a "rubbershoes.shop" on search results. There is no David versus Goliath advantage.

Can't remember that damn domain on some weird extension? Once you located it on the web.... bookmark it! You won't get lost the next time around.

 

[gpmgroup]

It's an interesting idea for short term marketing, but you would need to do it for each product / product range and you could do the same thing with your brand by promoting sub pages in Google. The advantage being your existing other products/pages would help you establish trust with Google. The Google model really severely limits people ranking pages in the short term (beyond an initial few days in a newsflash kind of way) unless they feel they can trust you.


The advantage of having your own brand is you are not entirely dependent on a third party. Relying on Google to rank you to sell your products would be a roller coaster ride if you were affected by Google updates.

Plus a page that ranks highly in Google can be different from one that ranks highly in Bing etc.

Not saying it can't be done, people do build businesses around third parties like Facebook, but its a risky strategy for your core marketing, look at what would have happened if you had invested all your time and efforts in MySpace etc.

 

[waqarsh]

Amidst the myriad new, admittedly lacklustre domain extensions are some very important geographic extensions.

.nyc, .berlin, .london, .paris could potentially all be huge.

These are very large cities with economies of their own, quite distinct from the rest of their countries.

The .berlin domain is especially supported by a massive industrial effort by some very big corporations. Check their website. I have a feeling this particular domain is destined for big success.

There is also a huge cultural push for .nyc

.london has kept a lower profile, but out of all the major metropolises, London might have the most to gain of its own domain name as it is an international city with huge global significance.

 

[Archangel]

It could just be me but I don't like the idea of an extension being over 4 letters. Not only would website.london look confusing (ppl are not used to seeing extensions so long. .museum doesn't count because no one's ever seen a .museum site lol), it'd be better prone to typos.

Amidst the myriad new, admittedly lacklustre domain extensions are some very important geographic extensions.

.nyc, .berlin, .london, .paris could potentially all be huge.

These are very large cities with economies of their own, quite distinct from the rest of their countries.

The .berlin domain is especially supported by a massive industrial effort by some very big corporations. Check their website. I have a feeling this particular domain is destined for big success.

There is also a huge cultural push for .nyc

.london has kept a lower profile, but out of all the major metropolises, London might have the most to gain of its own domain name as it is an international city with huge global significance.

 

[alien51]

.nyc??

With so many untaken .us domains out there, i'm sure creating a .nyc TLD is not because people are running out of domains to buy.

If they do push through with this, then I believe Google should be wise enough to kick these domains down the sewer on search results if:

1. The Googler did not put any 'new york' or 'nyc' in his search string.

2. The Googler's IP address is not from NYC



p.s. Heard that Paris Hilton is now trying to sunrise-secure the domain "hilton.paris". But since she's not French, she's trying to pay a French-proxy to buy the domain in her behalf (that's how you go around the domain restrictions, right?).

 

[Kate]

With so many untaken .us domains out there, i'm sure creating a .nyc TLD is not because people are running out of domains to buy.

That sounds obvious. I don't know why people are even trying :]
There is room for growth in .fr too. Don't see the need let alone the point of .Paris either.

 

[carob]

It could just be me but I don't like the idea of an extension being over 4 letters. Not only would website.london look confusing (ppl are not used to seeing extensions so long. .museum doesn't count because no one's ever seen a .museum site lol), it'd be better prone to typos.

well try .versicherung - German for insurance and allegedly already got big backers. And a lot of German insurance domain sales are reported on DNjournal.

I don't like typing long extensions, but again I wonder if we really will be typing them in future due to voice search and location-based services finding stuff for you.

IMO some of these big geo extensions will succeed, some will be mediocre - to me it depends on how good their content and promo is. I guess rather than fail outright they can be sold to a speculator if they underperform.

 

[mwzd]

To be insanely profitable an extension only needs to sell $6 million worth of domains, which at $30 a pop will be around 200k registrations.

Pretty much explains the launch of so many city extensions.

But a city is but a part of a country, which is where ccTLDs will score over these extensions and by a long shot.

 

[gpmgroup]

IMO some of these big geo extensions will succeed, some will be mediocre - to me it depends on how good their content and promo is. I guess rather than fail outright they can be sold to a speculator if they underperform.

To have any chance of success I would guess they need to have a strong community with all the social ties already built in. Plus that community has to see itself as a distinct community and want to present itself to the world that way.

For example .cat with Catalonia has around 7 million people its own region, language and culture and that has resulted in around 50,000 domains after 6 years.


Somewhere like London I just can't see the passion or need to be honest. The core is very compact and many people in the suburbs don't really see themselves as being in "London". They see themselves traveling into "town" when visiting or working in the centre and actually living somewhere else. (Ealing, Chiswick, Croydon, Ilford, Romford etc.)

 

[ZOX]

Icann

ICANN Overwhelmingly Approves New gTLD Program:
...
http://www.thedomains.com/2011/06/19/icann-approves-new-gtld-program/