Will .Com ever die?

[D. Wells]

I am a strong believer that ".Com" will always be King, but when I talk to a lot of other domainers, they suggest that ".Com" will die within the next few years.

Just wanted to here some opinions on this.

 

[JB Lions]

"You think like a domainer."

And a marketer, realist etc.

So keywords?

Ok keyword: cheap shoes

Specifically, how do you see that working out? I'm not seeing it but might agree with you, once some specifics get laid down.

I type in cheap shoes somewhere and then 1 company owns that or I get a list of companies that show up for it? Instead of company1.com, company2.com, I'll get company1, company2? Is that what you mean or something else?

And I'm going to get some 49 out of this.

 

[DU]

"You think like a domainer."

And a marketer, realist etc.

So keywords?

Ok keyword: cheap shoes

Specifically, how do you see that working out? I'm not seeing it but might agree with you, once some specifics get laid down.

I type in cheap shoes somewhere and then 1 company owns that or I get a list of companies that show up for it? Instead of company1.com, company2.com, I'll get company1, company2? Is that what you mean or something else?

And I'm going to get some 49 out of this.

Type in:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=cheap+shoes

I'm not trying to over complicate things.

Sending 49 :lol:

 

[JB Lions]

Link didn't work:

"Looking for something?
We're sorry. The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site"

Ok, I'm seeing a bunch of sites with domain extensions. So not sure what the link meant. If you're meaning one day, they won't have extensions at all? If so, we shall see but not in the foreseeable future/anytime soon.

"And I can point you to people that will ONLY shop online at Amazon. Nowhere else. PERIOD. They don't even realize that it's not always amazon anymore. If you put in any product - I will assure you that 50% of the time you will not be buying from amazon at all. That's the power of the Amazon platform now."

That's actually me btw. That's one of the things I like about them, all the other merchants available, more choice in prices/merchants/etc.

 

[alien51]

The question is:

If i build a legit cooking business around Cooking.PRO, will Cooking.COM sue me?

If i do my SEO and my Cooking.PRO ends up neck-to-neck with Cooking.COM on Google, will people avoid clicking me?

If my website looks professional, and my content emphasizes on the term "We Are Cooking Professionals" to train people's minds about the .PRO extension i'm using, will i build customer trust?

How much traffic will i siphon away from Cooking.COM, since we would both end-up on Page 1 on search? Or how much traffic will jump to my Cooking.PRO, after they have visited the Cooking.COM website?

I checked the US Trademark Database, i don't think you can trademark the word "Cooking".

 

[JB Lions]

Can't trademark cooking, they have the tm on Cooking.com®

 

[alien51]

Can't trademark cooking, they have the tm on Cooking.com®

That means other extensions are safe from trademark dispute.

 

[DNPanther]

The question is:

If i do my SEO and my Cooking.PRO ends up neck-to-neck with Cooking.COM on Google, will people avoid clicking me?

Dot PRO is not as popular as dot COM. So, it is a possibility that a new person will prefer to go to dot COM.But,domain extension is not the only thing that people care about. Most of the times, it is the content and the title based on which people decide.

If my website looks professional, and my content emphasizes on the term "We Are Cooking Professionals" to train people's minds about the .PRO extension i'm using, will i build customer trust?

You can.

How much traffic will i siphon away from Cooking.COM, since we would both end-up on Page 1 on search? Or how much traffic will jump to my Cooking.PRO, after they have visited the Cooking.COM website?

It depends on your position in page 1. I have heard that 50% of the total searchers go to the 1st ranking site. The rest of the sites have to fight for the other 50%.

 

[officevalue]

You can only go to the following sites. Rank in order which site you think would be the most likely to fulfill your need.

camera.com
Bhphotovideo.com
amazon.com
ritzcamera.com

I would bet that camera.com would be last in almost all cases for people under the age of 40. We've learned to not trust keyword domains.

...

The internet is still for cowboys.

With your chimp avatar and mention of cowboys (Troy Aikman?), reminded me of this:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_G_2iJxp_g"]Troy Aikman - Acme Brick commercial 2 - YouTube[/ame]

I recall this commercial from years ago. Somehow, I wonder why having a particular domain name equated to having a quality product.

 

[alien51]

It depends on your position in page 1. I have heard that 50% of the total searchers go to the 1st ranking site. The rest of the sites have to fight for the other 50%.

Welcome to NamePros.

 

[GiftedDomains]

I am a strong believer that ".Com" will always be King, but when I talk to a lot of other domainers, they suggest that ".Com" will die within the next few years.

Just wanted to here some opinions on this.

The only thing that could make .com die, is a completely new communication technology where there are no more domain names, internet addresses as we know them. Nothing else.

Until that time, .com will be the .king, no matter what people who are hoping to make few dollars from the new TLDs tell you.

 

[mwzd]

Excellent conversation folks, been a while since we had such food for the brain and it's very welcome.

Visit us at BankOfAmerica no dot, no nothing.

From what I understand this will not be possible.

I think they've applied for .BofA (which boggles the mind but that's another thread entirely)

So they could probably say visit us at www.account.bofa

Most one word names are TOO generic.

From an SEO perspective there is no such thing as "TOO generic".

If you own cars.com, you can then develop:
used.cars.com
new.cars.com
cars.com/tradeshows
buy.cars.com
sell.cars.com
cars.com/loans
ad nauseam

A bigger content footprint increases site value and inbound links across a spectrum of industry verticals. You'd need at least 50 top generics to compete with a cars.com - which is also why generics are the most valuable virtual real estate.

The internet is changing. Addressing the internet is changing. The structure, organization, and method of access are ALL changing. The needs and the purpose are changing.

I agree with this 100%, but the however much the world has changed in the last 5000 years, the need for names (places / people / etc) hasn't diminished, if anything it's higher than it ever was. The same holds true, imho, for domain names, since they're your brand... that's what people know you as and that's not about to change, even though apps might actually be the way forward for most new internet users. And if you're looking for global acceptability of said brand, .com is the gold standard, which is why it will never 'die'.

 

[Archangel]

Personally, I'd go to the .com. .pro looks like a poor man's ext. Pretty much all ext's do to me. Thinking about DU's earlier post: I'd be more interested in visiting camera.com over, say, camera.pro simply because the .com was more expensive. It'd show me that the site is likely legit. camera.pro look like something aa scammer would get. Think of .info -- same thing, in a way. .info is cheaper and thus I'd prefer camera.com (or cooking,.com) over their .info counterparts.

Dot PRO is not as popular as dot COM. So, it is a possibility that a new person will prefer to go to dot COM.But,domain extension is not the only thing that people care about. Most of the times, it is the content and the title based on which people decide.

 

[DnEbook]

if the product service is at the 'right price' i think many people are not too concerned about the extension "oh no it's a .net .....but it's five dollars cheaper" .....ummmmm

 

[snowbird]

I apologize on my last post. The topic was whether or not .coms will ever die and I posted about new forms of domains instead of mentioning what would happen to .coms. I have to say for as long as the extension remains profitable to registries and registrars, the extension will stay alive. To eliminate a whole entire extension that has been around for ages would eliminate profits that are made on new registrations as well as renewals. The only downfall the .com extension faces would be if there were to be a completely new platform for surfing the web as others may have already mentioned.

 

[DomainTalker]

.Com won't die?....Because its the 'gold standard'?....Or, because its currently the dominant internet address URL extension?...Or, because multi-billions of dollars have been invested in marketing & promoting online .Com brands? etc etc...The predominance of .Com won't change?

Of course it will change.


Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. It has always been so. The only thing that matters is what it will change to, and, when it will change.


In 1780, the horse & buggy/cart/carriage was the gold standard of personal & business mobility. It had been so for thousands of years. No one could imagine a world where the horse would not be the core part of travel & commerce & life....It changed completely.

In 1880, The steam engine & the steam ship had become the gold standard for travel & mobility & business factory production. Just 50 years had overturned the entire modus operandi of history, and made possible the Industrial Revolution....People, doubtless, could not imagine a world where the new power of steam could ever be overtaken....It was overtaken completely.

In 1980, electricity, the car, the jet airplane engine, engineering advances, the atom bomb, etc etc etc had totally overtaken the steam engine in all facets of life...The Fax machine and the Wordprocessor were state of the art communications technology.


...Today, in 2012, its the Internet - and its URL address mechanism - that is re-fashioning everything...how we work, play, buy things, sell things, learn things, and do things, and is central to everything...


...and now people are saying: '.Com will never die...'...


Of course, .Com will die.

...Of course it will be overtaken by some other mechanism. Like everything else throughout history, the internet, itself - as we now know it - and how we use it - is likely to change entirely.....and the core address mechanisms (ie all extensions - and the very notion of 'extensions') with it.


With the vast speed of change these days, this shift in communication system is likely to be sooner, rather than later...Its just a matter of when, and with what.


...I recommend we put the energy into reading the pace of inevitable change - and understanding the form & timing it will take - rather than the wishful thinking that .Com will never be overtaken.

It will be.

.

 

[DnEbook]

cant say phone numbers have changed much over the journey , phones yes, numbers ....no

 

[alien51]

Excellent conversation folks, been a while since we had such food for the brain and it's very welcome.

To be honest, since the time ICANN planned on launching hundreds upon thousands of new TLDs, the topic on "will .com die" has been repeatedly discussed and debated in NamePros on similar threads, eliciting the same arguments and answers.

The main points have been:

1) Reluctance of recognizable "trusted" brands, from shifting to these new, exotic TLDs. They already own trusted domain names on .COM, why shift the customer base to a new extension?

2) The amount of marketing dollars needed, to shift peoples' minds into accepting these new TLDs as legits.

3) Domainers taking over the nice domains in these new TLDs, holding them hostage, and preventing legit content from flourishing, and thus poisoning the "trust" value on these TLDs.

4) Massive defensive regs, to prevent competitors from using "keyword" domains in another extension, that will all end-up as nothing but "redirects" to their .COM sites.

5) The amount of potential defensive regs from end-users, will spur domainer motivation to grab these domains first. All these aftermarket infrastructure, will leave ordinary internet users disenchanted with these new TLDs, as they end up being either a blank site, a parking page, or a mini-site with crap content.

 

[GoKaizen]

BHPhotoVideo.com - I'd be interested to know who else thinks of them as a big brand.

Mmm... they are a HUGE brand actually! They are basically the go to store for any AV specialty equipment.

 

[DU]

Mmm... they are a HUGE brand actually! They are basically the go to store for any AV specialty equipment.

Good to know. I didn't realize.

cant say phone numbers have changed much over the journey , phones yes, numbers ....no

I do not know the phone number of my friends or my family. I type in the name I chose for them and hit dial. I also call people via Skype. I hit their name that I know them by and hit "Skype".

When I call a business? I search for their business online and hit the "number" if it's there but I'd be just as happy with an image of a phone. Sometimes the number is on their site, sometimes in their local listing, sometimes it's yelp, sometimes it's just I don't know... there. I don't care

Phone numbers are needed (for traditional calls) but I sure as heck don't need to know what it is. I have a long distance plan so I don't even care about that anymore - my phone does what I need it to (dial or not dial the area code). I even use Google Voice - I don't even use a number but the "word" that it makes up that matched my personal domain (which isn't a .com)

So yes. It has changed.

You're the one with the long tail thread going on about "voice search" and yet you still don't think it has changed ?!??!

 

[Kate]

Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. It has always been so. The only thing that matters is what it will change to, and, when it will change.

...

...and now people are saying: '.Com will never die...'...


Of course, .Com will die.

Obviously nothing is forever. But when .com ceases to exist or be valuable, other extensions will suffer the same fate and it's not going to take place overnight
In short, if you expect another extension to take over, the answer is 'no'. But the ccTLDs will be more important than the contender gTLDs. I know I repeat myself, but I am talking about the present that already exists

To be honest, since the time ICANN planned on launching hundreds upon thousands of new TLDs, the topic on "will .com die" has been repeatedly discussed and debated in NamePros on similar threads, eliciting the same arguments and answers.

As eloquently said in post #2, those who missed the boat, or took the wrong boat and are loaded with subprime extensions, want to believe the new TLD boom will amount to the second coming of .com.
Fifteen years ago people were already speculating on the end of .com, and how domain names would soon become irrelevant because of the search engines.
Dream on

 

[JB Lions]

Good to know. I didn't realize.



I do not know the phone number of my friends or my family. I type in the name I chose for them and hit dial. I also call people via Skype. I hit their name that I know them by and hit "Skype".

When I call a business? I search for their business online and hit the "number" if it's there but I'd be just as happy with an image of a phone. Sometimes the number is on their site, sometimes in their local listing, sometimes it's yelp, sometimes it's just I don't know... there. I don't care

Phone numbers are needed (for traditional calls) but I sure as heck don't need to know what it is. I have a long distance plan so I don't even care about that anymore - my phone does what I need it to (dial or not dial the area code). I even use Google Voice - I don't even use a number but the "word" that it makes up that matched my personal domain (which isn't a .com)

So yes. It has changed.

You're the one with the long tail thread going on about "voice search" and yet you still don't think it has changed ?!??!

But they still use a number. Like me using bookmarks to get to sites, they still have an address, I just get there via another means. Homes, the ones people live in, still have an address. Real estate. Just like virtual real estate. The phone number was a great example. They use country codes, area codes etc. They're needed for direction.

 

[Archangel]

To be honest, I don't see how any of this applies to .com's. All of the changes ppl made (specified in your post) were from ppl upgrading to something better. Are you saying that there will someday be something better than .com? That is the only thing I can surmise from this post of yours. There will never be an extension that's an 'upgrade' to .com, thus your comparisons are null.

.Com won't die?....Because its the 'gold standard'?....Or, because its currently the dominant internet address URL extension?...Or, because multi-billions of dollars have been invested in marketing & promoting online .Com brands? etc etc...The predominance of .Com won't change?

Of course it will change.


Everything changes. Nothing stays the same. It has always been so. The only thing that matters is what it will change to, and, when it will change.


In 1780, the horse & buggy/cart/carriage was the gold standard of personal & business mobility. It had been so for thousands of years. No one could imagine a world where the horse would not be the core part of travel & commerce & life....It changed completely.

In 1880, The steam engine & the steam ship had become the gold standard for travel & mobility & business factory production. Just 50 years had overturned the entire modus operandi of history, and made possible the Industrial Revolution....People, doubtless, could not imagine a world where the new power of steam could ever be overtaken....It was overtaken completely.

In 1980, electricity, the car, the jet airplane engine, engineering advances, the atom bomb, etc etc etc had totally overtaken the steam engine in all facets of life...The Fax machine and the Wordprocessor were state of the art communications technology.


...Today, in 2012, its the Internet - and its URL address mechanism - that is re-fashioning everything...how we work, play, buy things, sell things, learn things, and do things, and is central to everything...


...and now people are saying: '.Com will never die...'...


Of course, .Com will die.

...Of course it will be overtaken by some other mechanism. Like everything else throughout history, the internet, itself - as we now know it - and how we use it - is likely to change entirely.....and the core address mechanisms (ie all extensions - and the very notion of 'extensions') with it.


With the vast speed of change these days, this shift in communication system is likely to be sooner, rather than later...Its just a matter of when, and with what.


...I recommend we put the energy into reading the pace of inevitable change - and understanding the form & timing it will take - rather than the wishful thinking that .Com will never be overtaken.

It will be.

.

 

[DU]

But they still use a number. Like me using bookmarks to get to sites, they still have an address, I just get there via another means. Homes, the ones people live in, still have an address. Real estate. Just like virtual real estate. The phone number was a great example. They use country codes, area codes etc. They're needed for direction.

They're needed for directions - but in the way I describe I use them they are not directions I need to use. The directions are for the tools that I use. They aren't for me anymore. How do people exchange phone numbers now?

One person calls the other. One time, one number is used. You add me with my name and I add you to mine with your name. I don't even CHECK or LOOK at it. Some people bump their numbers.

I don't believe I said that .com was going away - I was trying to say that their value today is overstated for small/medium business.

I have a phone number via Google voice that works fine and is free ... the area code puts me in another state - one that I've only visited for weeks at a time.

When was the last time you paid $10,000s of dollars for better directions? You didn't need to. Domains are going the same way... there will be much better ways to get people to your store than your domain name. Take something like QR codes (which I don't like or believe in)... totally bypasses the domain. Coupons - totally bypass the domain. Want a deal at slickdeals? Link goes straight to the store.

You could navigate and get everything you ever wanted from the web today with first hand knowledge of about 5 domains. As an experiment... over the next month... count how many unique URLS you actually enter into a browser. Seriously. I bet I get no more than 20 and of those 20 - 15 will be old names that have used the name for years (trusted names/brands) and the rest will be on second rate names that just aren't worth that much. The site I go to most? Grauniad.com and Soccernet.com

---------- Post added at 06:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------

From what I understand this will not be possible.

I think they've applied for .BofA (which boggles the mind but that's another thread entirely)

So they could probably say visit us at www.account.bofa

I've seen mixed opinions on this. Some say yes, some say no. I'm sure Kate will let me know if I ask.

A lot of this could depend on the access points and not just the underlying network infrastructure (which is changing still). Browsers and phones and sites already do a lot of url manipulation for us (not that I advocate that).

I'll have to look into it.

 

[JB Lions]

They're needed for directions - but in the way I describe I use them they are not directions I need to use. The directions are for the tools that I use. They aren't for me anymore. How do people exchange phone numbers now?

One person calls the other. One time, one number is used. You add me with my name and I add you to mine with your name. I don't even CHECK or LOOK at it. Some people bump their numbers.

I don't believe I said that .com was going away - I was trying to say that their value today is overstated for small/medium business.

I have a phone number via Google voice that works fine and is free ... the area code puts me in another state - one that I've only visited for weeks at a time.

When was the last time you paid $10,000s of dollars for better directions? You didn't need to. Domains are going the same way... there will be much better ways to get people to your store than your domain name. Take something like QR codes (which I don't like or believe in)... totally bypasses the domain. Coupons - totally bypass the domain. Want a deal at slickdeals? Link goes straight to the store.

You could navigate and get everything you ever wanted from the web today with first hand knowledge of about 5 domains. As an experiment... over the next month... count how many unique URLS you actually enter into a browser. Seriously. I bet I get no more than 20 and of those 20 - 15 will be old names that have used the name for years (trusted names/brands) and the rest will be on second rate names that just aren't worth that much. The site I go to most? Grauniad.com and Soccernet.com

---------- Post added at 06:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:00 PM ----------



I've seen mixed opinions on this. Some say yes, some say no. I'm sure Kate will let me know if I ask.

A lot of this could depend on the access points and not just the underlying network infrastructure (which is changing still). Browsers and phones and sites already do a lot of url manipulation for us (not that I advocate that).

I'll have to look into it.

You're talking a lot how you get to places (travel), but those places are on domains with extensions and have been for some time now, (destinations).

And those small and medium businesses you're talking about, most of them want to get bigger. It's like the lil experiment I did earlier, going thru my stores bookmark folder, 38, all .com. There is a lot of would, could and should talk but then there's reality. Businesses get that reality.

"The site I go to most? Grauniad.com and Soccernet.com" Great, a couple of .coms.

 

[-EM-]

.com will die only if registering a domain will turn into registering a TLD :p
so you don't go for keyword.TLD, but whatever.keyword :D