As of now (~12 years elapsed) - .PRO is still ... NOT offered on their primary market (when checking keywords).
I'm not sure why you're not getting .PRO suggestions from GoDaddy because just a few minutes ago, I checked whether
WHATAPRO.XYZ was available for registration at GoDaddy (it was), and .PRO showed up no. 3 in the suggested extensions box, but more importantly, the no. 1 name at the top of GoDaddy's domain suggestion list under the headline,
"Protect your name with these domains:", is
"WHATA.PRO".
No doubt there's an algorithm looking for some kind of "pro" keyword interest or relevance. With close to 400 extensions available for registration, I wouldn't expect .PRO to show up for every domain inquiry -- only the ones that make sense based on what the end user is looking for.
Give it a little time.
As I've indicated in the past, .PRO, as an extension, is perfectly positioned to garner interest organically due to the longstanding popularity of the keyword, "pro". Most high profile domainers have shown little interest in this extension, and as a result, it appears the rank and file domain community is following their lead. Ultimately, success in any extension is going to be dictated by end users, not domain "gurus" who make proclamations from time to time based on little more than their own personal opinion and self-interest. What I see in .PRO is a keyword used pervasively in both local and global markets to describe products and services that are of
professional grade.
Go to your registrar of choice and see what newTLD registries are asking for specific domain names when the keyword "pro" appears to the left of the dot. The .NEWS registry wants $55K per year,
each and every year that the domain,
PRO.NEWS is renewed, while I hold
NEWS.PRO at the very modest renewal fee of $15 per annum. There's a reason for that based solely on the underlying strength and popularity of the keyword, "pro." Leaders in the domain community don't get to dictate TLD popularity any more than the old guard of the republican party gets to dictate who their nominee will be for POTUS.
One other thing I'd like to mention is that on Feb. 21, 2016, I made
THIS POST on this very same .PRO thread where I enthusiastically requested that a .PRO informational post I made to LinkedIn (shown two paragraphs above) be widely shared, distributed and dispersed. I also invited likes and comments to my LinkedIn posting. To say that response by members of this .PRO thread was disappointing is a
huge understatement. Two NP members shared the link, and about the same number indicated they liked my post.
So here's the question:
If NP members aren't willing to make the slightest effort to promote .PRO from within this forum, why should anybody expect domain registrars, saddled with hundreds of extensions to sell, to do the .PRO heavy lifting for them?
I'm trying to do
MY PART. These .PRO domains aren't going to sell themselves -- at least not right away.
