alexsimon said:
I think that porn.com sold for $9 millions, but correct me if I am wrong.
You are wrong...
It was 9.5 million.
I think a couple of very relevant facts left off your previous list is .cn and .in.
You are getting ready to see some whooper numbers in the next year or so regarding these ccTLD's, especially the .cn.
It may be inconceivable to most, but China declares that they want more .cn in the world than .com. They will achieve this goal.
After the 2008 Beijing Olymics, look for China to mandate to all citizens and businesses in China to stop using the .com. They are already instituting this with all government institutions.
The internet is about to become the most fractured and unstable mess you have ever seen. China wants and will get its own language usage in the form of IDN. This is closely followed by India.
How anyone can choose to ignore the two most populated countries on earth expressing their desire that their nations' ccTLD become mainstream along with their native script and language is beyond me. You can not ignore this push. Neither can their populations. One is more of a democracy than the other but both are world leaders in commerce.
So add .in and .cn to your list. And check this on a weekly basis.
Where does .mobi fit in? I guess you would have to stop asking the 30-50 mobi people on this forum and ask the 4 billion or so cell phone users. I think that is what the major banks, airlines, auto manufacturers, credit card companies, and other fortune 500 companies are doing at this moment...reach out and touch someone via the mobile.
The numbers presented are terribly misleading. Take one company, BMW. European, world wide well established firm.
Check each extension listed. Then list where that extension ends up.
The results may be surprising. But not surprising to some.
This is what makes companies successful. Having the right marketing plan and strategy. This is what makes leaders in the industry. Why are some extensions developed and why some simply redirected?
You would have to ask why not and why waste money reaching the same market and customers on the same format by repetitiveness. Redirecting is the simplest and most logical solution, not to mention cost effective.
You mention approaching this as domainers. Let's approach this as consumers. You are at your computer. You want some information. How long to you wait for a page to load before you get frustrated and move on? Mere seconds. Businesses know this. At least the smart business who do marketing studies and focus groups.
These same industry leaders know that the frustrations encountered when trying to navigate a site are also very prone to losing viewers who are would be potential customers.
Now take those same concerns...slow load pages and difficult navigating sites...and miniaturize it to fit a smaller screen.
But then there is another market...the small portable handheld device. Why not give them what they want and need? Easy to navigate, fast loading, information rich content.
I could be completely wrong in all my market studies and assessments. But facts as presented in the run down of extensions does little to give a true and accurate picture of the health of the industry. I own now close to 3200 domains. Most are parked. How many of those in the numbers reflected are actual stand alone sites? Sure, dot com is healthy, sales are brisk, it is not going anywhere. But when countries start demanding change in the industry and begin to dictate to their own populations what to use then I think that should be cause for some concern.
