discuss About.com Rebrands to DotDash.com ...A Good Move?

Bad idea for nice brand. ABOUT to dotDash

Not a great move imo..

I personally can't see the logic in changing from About.com to DotDash???? Would anyone do that?

here's what I think, they want to build standalone separate brands/urls for their verticals and don't want the about brand hurting their credibility.

From site "The Dotdash website will have a directory of its brands for advertisers, media and trade, but won't be consumer-facing."

The .Dash on their site can be confusing, are they planning on getting .dash, what if a registry gets .dash? do they even care?

I can think of a great reason

Maybe they have an offer for about.com and intend to sell it. They put in a clause to forward for 60 days and get the best of both worlds.

Its about not only.com its about all Dot____..

MapleDots said:

I can think of a great reason

Maybe they have an offer for about.com and intend to sell it. They put in a clause to forward for 60 days and get the best of both worlds.

Click to expand...

I don't know if selling such a widely known domain would be a good idea. It's like an actor known for a particular role. The domain is sort of type cast. If About.com became an adult site, that would be funny.

The change is such a big leap. I could see them rebranding to AB.com or something, but to go from About to DotDash is weird. I know Big G created ABC but to me that was different and they are still G for search, etc.

Terrible name. I'm shocked that there are rooms of people that approve this idiocy, and they get paid millions to do so.

You know there will be people typing .-.com

I like dot branding, hehe.... that's probably pretty obvious
It can look good when it works


Here is a rough draft of one I put together....

Interesting tidbit from Wikipedia

Closure[edit]
On April 26, 2017, it was announced that About.com would shut down effective May 2, 2017. Vogel commented that when asked by IAC CEO Joey Levin about his opinion of the site, "my answer — in perfect arrogance — was 'I don't.' Who thinks of About.com? Nobody." Vogel had stated in March that "we were not growing. In fact, we were kind of shrinking. We had great content, but we were doing the wrong thing." The company will instead place a larger focus on its vertical-based spin-off websites, including The Balance, Lifewire, The Spruce, VeryWell, and the upcoming TripSavvy.

Also, now the About.com wikipedia page is even dotdash.

Well, they will have to live with it:
https://www.dotdash.com/our-team/


Another aspect is that the term "DASH" is heavily trademarked. In the USPTO database you can find over 6,000 entries of registered and abandoned "DASH" trademarks.

Even the term "DOT DASH" has entries:

DOT DASH Dinnerware And Related Accessories Made Of Bone China; Namely, Dishes, Plates, Bowls, Cups, Mugs, Saucers, Platters, Covered Butter Dishes, Sugar And Creamer Sets, Condiment Dispensers, Salt And Pepper Shakers, Gravy Boats And Coffee Servers 21 (Crockery, Containers, Utensils, Brushes, Cleaning Implements) ABANDONED - NO STATEMENT OF USE FILED
Tue Jul 19, 1994

Tue Mar 31, 2015 DOT DASH 3 Art Gallery Services; Operation Of Online Galleries For Others; Arranging And Conducting Exhibitions In The Fields Of Art For Commercial Or Advertising Purposes; Advertising Services, Namely, Promoting And Marketing The Goods And Services Of Others In The Fields Of Art; Online Retail Store Services Featuring A Wide Variety Of Consumer Goods Of Others,Providing Temporary Use Of On-line Non-downloadable Software For Exhibiting, Displaying, Viewing, Renting And Selling Goods Via Computers, Tablets, Mobile Phones, Wired And Wireless Communication Devices, And Optical And Electronic Communications Networks; Development, Testing And Implementation Of Software For The Purpose Of Exhibiting, Displaying And Selling Goods Via Computers, Tablets, Mobile Phones, Wired And Wireless Communication Devices, And Optical And Electronic Communications Networks 35 (Advertising, Business Consulting),42 (Scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto) REGISTERED
Tue Mar 31, 2015
Tue Jan 17, 2012 DOT DASHBOARD Software As A Service Services Featuring Software For Providing Drug Testing Program Administrators With Real-time Updates On The Compliance Of Their Program With The Various Requirements Of The United States Department Of Transportation 42 (Scientific and technological services and research and design relating thereto) REGISTERED
Tue Jan 17, 2012
DOT DASHBOARD Software For Providing Drug Testing Program Administrators With Real-time Updates On The Compliance Of Their Program With The Various Requirements Of The United States Department Of Transportation 9 (Computers, Software, Electronic instruments, & Scientific appliances) ABANDONED - NO STATEMENT OF USE FILED
Mon Apr 19, 2010

DOT DASHBOARD Software For Providing Drug Testing Program Administrators With Real-time Updates On The Compliance Of Their Program With The Various Requirements Of The United States Department Of Transportation 9 (Computers, Software, Electronic instruments, & Scientific appliances) ABANDONED-FAILURE TO RESPOND OR LATE RESPONSE
Sat Jun 04, 2011
Tue Mar 07, 2000 DOT DOT DASH Mail Order Catalog Services And On-line Catalog Services For Clothing, Footwear And Accessories 35 (Advertising, Business Consulting) CANCELLED - SECTION 8
Sat Dec 09, 2006
DOT DOT DASH Records (phone) Computer Discs, Tapes, Cassettes, Other Forms Of Formats In Which Music And Music Related Products,Fashion Goods Such As Clothing And Accessories 9 (Computers, Software, Electronic instruments, & Scientific appliances),25 (Clothing, Footwear and Headgear) ABANDONED-FAILURE TO RESPOND OR LATE RESPONSE
Fri May 24, 1996
Tue Jul 01, 2008 THREE DOT DASH Educational Services, Namely, Conducting Conferences In The Field Of Leadership Training And Development, Story Telling And Media Training And Distribution Of Course Material In Connection Therewith 41 (Education, Amusement, Entertainment, Reproduction) SECTION 8 & 15-ACCEPTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED
Thu Jan 22, 2015
Tue Jul 01, 2008 THREE DOT DASH Educational Services, Namely, Conducting Conferences In The Field Of Leadership Training And Development, Story Telling And Media Training And Distribution Of Course Material In Connection Therewith 41 (Education, Amusement, Entertainment, Reproduction) SECTION 8 & 15-ACCEPTED AND ACKNOWLEDGED
Thu Jul 24, 2014
Tue Dec 20, 2011 ·- DOT DASH Eyewear; Sunglasses; Parts, Fittings And Accessories For Eyewear And Sunglasses, Namely, Cases, Chains, Cords, Frames, Support Bands And Straps 9 (Computers, Software, Electronic instruments, & Scientific appliances) REGISTERED
Tue Dec 20,

"You can find out more about us @ double u double u double u dot dot dash dot com slash about."

DotDash ? why not a
DotHyphen ?

Yeah, probably they have an offer or hope to get an offer of $x,xxx,xxx with about.com
DotDash is more like brandable store type and would probably be priced at around $2k...

Premiums said:

DotDash ? why not a
DotHyphen ?

Click to expand...

They were considering PeriodHyphen and had hard time deciding )

Try spelling out loud dot dash dot com or even better ask someone outside domaining to write down the site name after you spell it loud...see how it goes, it's funny

super idea! but only if you have nice offer for about.com and wanna make a lot of money from it!

hxp said:

Click to expand...

Er - Sick - Rolling on the floor

I don't recommend getting sick and then rolling on the floor

I can only imagine the pitch room for this brand change.

Ignoring domains for a second, I would probably have recommended leveraging the About part of the name instead of going to DotDash. For example switching to "AllAbout" in terms of brand direction- if they really wanted a change.

But yeah, DotDash gives the fast vibrant vibe that they are probably looking for. At the beginning of the year Ogilvy decided to go to centralised branding. About/DotDash has decided the polar opposite. So interesting for me.

Haha that's a horrible move

Really strange move from them....I mean sure the CEO is right that About.com was not as popular as it used to be but they were still a well-established brand... I would have thought some changes to their business model, revamp and a fresh new look and content could have been a better move than ditching the About.com domain/brand completely...but then again, I'm not a CEO so what to I know.