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information We Talk .CARS with XYZ's COO, Mike Ambrose

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Record car sales in 2015 have seen new growth within online automotive business that could change the way the industry operates forever. According to eMarketer, the US automotive industry will spend $8.71 billion on digital campaigns within 2016, with outlays set to reach $14.14 billion by 2020.

More dealerships, manufacturers and startups are expanding their online presence to accommodate a new generation of drivers. Companies such as Vroom have raised over $100 million to target online car buyers.

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Mike Ambrose, COO, Cars Registry
Any automotive company looking to expand their online presence will need a memorable domain name. This is where Cars Registry comes in. Overseen by COO @Mike Ambrose, Cars Registry has released three new TLDs aimed at this growing online market; .CARS, .CAR and .AUTO.

In this interview, we speak with Mike about these new TLDs, their reception amongst end users and whether there is any room for domain investors to acquire names for their portfolios.


NP: Can you describe your role within XYZ?

Mike: Yes, I am the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of XYZ. I monitor and manage all operations company-wide and report directly to the CEO.


NP: In 2015, you oversaw the release of .cars, .car and .auto. Have these TLDs matched your expectations in terms of number of domains registered?

Mike: The launch and subsequent reception of .CARS / .CAR / .AUTO to the automotive industry have surpassed my expectations. With over one thousand registrations in the first few months of release and dozens of websites that have gone live I have been impressed by our performance.

It feels good to see these new automotive domain endings gaining in popularity and the automotive industry become increasingly aware of the new naming options available to them. As a registry, we decided to release almost all one-letter/number, two-letter/number, and one-word domains at the same price. There is no variable pricing which presents a unique opportunity and less confusion for prospective registrants.


NP: What has the reception been to these three TLDs from end users?

Mike: A majority of our registrants have been end users and the reception has been spectacular. There is a wide range of businesses that have registered their new domains including:
  • Dealerships (ex: STL Motorcars moved from STLMotorcars.com to STL.cars)
  • Lead Generation Companies (ex: Long Island Media just built out Find.cars)
  • Large Tech Companies (ex: Apple.car, X.car, Google.cars, QQ.auto, etc…)
  • Fortune 500 Companies (ex: BOFA.cars, Ebay.cars, Hartford.car)
Many of the above listed companies have also either migrated their old URL to their new automotive domain or they have developed new websites on .CARS / .CAR / .AUTO domains.


NP: In which country are these TLDs currently most popular?

Mike: The TLDs are currently most popular in the US, as a good portion of our marketing spend has been allocated towards automotive businesses located in the US. However, we have also seen traction in the countries of Canada, UK, China, Korea, Germany, and Italy to name a few.


NP: Do you consider these TLDs to be worthy of investment from domainers?

Mike: We launched .CARS / .CAR / .AUTO specifically for the automotive industry, because we felt that there was a need for dealerships, OEMs, and other automotive businesses to have short & memorable URLs. At a MSRP (suggested retail price) of $3,000 per domain, this is a premium namespace.

Our intention is for these domain names to be registered and developed by businesses who have automotive related products & services. As an unrestricted namespace, and with almost every domain combination available with no variable pricing, naturally there has been some level of speculation.


NP: How much money does XYZ plan to invest marketing the TLDs outside the industry?

Mike: XYZ has a major budget for marketing in 2016 and beyond outside of the domain industry / registrar channels. For example, this month we sponsored and exhibited at NADA, a dealer conference in Las Vegas with over 20,000 attendees. I was interviewed by multiple media outlets, including Automotive News.

We look forward to seeing additional media placements & attending many more events this year for not only .CARS, but for .xyz, .College, .rent, & more.


NP: Out of .CARS, .CAR and .AUTO, which is most popular TLD amongst end users?

Mike: .AUTO is the most popular new automotive gTLD, in terms of both registrations & use. I believe its popularity is due to the worldwide appeal of the term “auto”. For example, in Germany, Italy and many parts of Europe, “auto” is used more often than “cars”.


NP: Why did you opt to partner with Uniregistry in order to launch the TLDs?

Mike: I have been a long time friend of Frank’s and I admire his vision, drive and track record. We opted to partner with Uniregistry because of their excellent backend technology and framework for new gTLDs.

Uniregistry is a forward-thinking company that has been growing rapidly as a result of their remarkable technology & thirst to create best possible user experience. Uniregistry has been a fantastic partner, and it has been a pleasure to work with Frank & the Uniregistry team on .CARS / .CAR / .AUTO.


NP: How does Uniregistry help you to promote the TLDs within and outside the industry?

Mike: While we take on a majority of the marketing/promotion of .CARS / .CAR / .AUTO, Uniregistry does help to promote the gTLDs as well through their own registrar & registrar partners.

For example, Uniregistry built out uniregistry.cars specifically to market / promote .CARS / .CAR / .AUTO. Uniregistry has also developed an affiliate program for these new automotive gTLDs.


NP: What is the domain industry missing?

Mike: I believe that the domain industry as a whole is missing a lot, but I would like to focus on one aspect that I feel is often overlooked: marketing. I believe that domain registries should be doing more marketing to create greater consumer awareness.

While many people that I encounter in my daily life do know that new domain endings exist, many do not understand their importance. The domain industry needs to provide consumer education & awareness in order for consumers to begin to understand their available naming options.


NP: What do you expect to see happen within the domain industry in 2016?

Mike: In my opinion, 2016 will be a banner year for new gTLDs, particularly with regard to end user adoption. We already saw Alphabet use ABC.xyz in 2015 and I think we will continue to see large companies worldwide use more new gTLD domains in their marketing campaigns to appeal to the next generation.

We will also see more and more startups & Generation Y / Z’ers begin to use new domain names as registrars continue to feature new gTLDs prominently.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
That's a mutual admiration society. Mike and Dan are 2 of the youngest most creative, driven and intelligent guys a man could hope to partner with. They are never too big to learn or grow and have secret talents and even personalities that will see each of them eclipse the greatest of success anyone reading this could imagine for them. I'm lucky to work with them.
 
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TOP is catching up
1 .xyz 2,787,526 2,286
2 .top 2,367,130 21,226
 

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@Frank.Schilling domainers are the one who spread the newTLD to the world. They made registrars and registries millionairs? The domainers are the biggest investors of domain names.
 
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Thanks for the ngTLD insight.
 
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Thanks for the interview, always some good quality posts by James.
 
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Mike: The launch and subsequent reception of .CARS / .CAR / .AUTO to the automotive industry have surpassed my expectations. With over one thousand registrations in the first few months of release and dozens of websites that have gone live I have been impressed by our performance.
When he says "one thousand registrations" he sure means all three extensions combined.

Some stats courtesy registrarstats.com. Last column is current registration count:
Code:
AUTO     1     0     0     1     0     413
CAR     0     0     1     0     0     377
CARS     0     0     0     0     0     371
Impressive what marketing can achieve.

That leaves the question open: what were his expectations then ?
 
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