.biz I love the .biz extension but it's not looking so hot!

MapleDots said:

Its still on topic because I am comparing a .co to a .biz so I think we are good there

I cannot disagree with you, the facts speak for themselves.

But...

.com = company and .biz = business

Soooooo much in common there - sad it is not more successful

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hahah well.. you know hwo it is.. logic does nto always win in life.. and domaining is part of life.. neither does always win what we prefer.. like or love more... which is why its always best to leave our personal preferences or likings out the window in domaining what sells is what sells. whether it makes us happy or sad

enough on that then... just remember... co > biz... ALWAYS.
im not saying co is the best extension in the world. just saying its infinitely better than biz.

cheers.

alcy said:

hahah well.. you know how it is.. logic does not always win in life.. and domaining is part of life.. neither does always win what we prefer.. like or love more... which is why its always best to leave our personal preferences or likings out the window in domaining what sells is what sells. whether it makes us happy or sad

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There is a lot of wisdom in that

Also, 'biz' is slang, doesn't look professional. What doesn't help is the fact that it's in direct competition to .com.

Another big factor since the early 2000s is the shift to ccTLDs. Anything else than .com is just that, an alternative, never a first choice.

enough on that then... just remember... co > biz... ALWAYS.
im not saying co is the best extension in the world. just saying its infinitely better than biz.

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I don't think you should be so certain here, a .co with a matching famous .com can be a serious headache for any business, they would almost always be better going for some thing that distinguishes them.

The fact that 'biz' is a crass abbreviation of business is the turn off for me. Doesn't seem very businesslike.

cooljub said:

The fact that 'biz' is a crass abbreviation of business is the turn off for me. Doesn't seem very businesslike.

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Not so crass, it is generally a well accepted term

Its on thesaurus.com
http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/business?s=t

British Dictionary definitions for biz
biz1
/bɪz/
noun
1.
(informal) short for business

biz2
abbreviation
1.
a business

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cite This Sour

Kate said:

Another big factor since the early 2000s is the shift to ccTLDs. Anything else than .com is just that, an alternative, never a first choice.

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In general I agree, but there are times .ORG might also be a first choice.

Brad

MapleDots said:

Its still on topic because I am comparing a .co to a .biz so I think we are good there

I cannot disagree with you, the facts speak for themselves.

But...

.com = company and .biz = business

Soooooo much in common there - sad it is not more successful

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The .COM TLD means commercial (there is a .company extension too.)

creataweb said:

The .COM TLD means commercial (there is a .company extension too.)

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Actually that part has been up for debate for a long time depending on who you ask but officially if you go by Wikipedia you are absolutely correct.

Now if you listen to Verisign, then the answer is not so clear.
https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/com-domain-names/what-does-com-mean/index.xhtml

The original selling point of the .BIZ gTLD was that it provided an alternative to .COM for businesses. However, that plan went a bit pearshaped when the expected registration numbers didn't happen and the whole "gTLD for businesses" dropped. Now it is mainly a Chinese/Japanese gTLD with very little use or gains outside those markets.

Regards...jmcc

I like .biz very much but only have a couple of them.... I looked into the history once and listed a bunch of sales here, the highest ones ever: https://www.strategicrevenue.com/16...lets-look-at-top-100-sales-over-past-5-years/

Per my experience with hundreds .BIZ domains during the past ~10 years...
Waste of money and time...

jmcc said:

The original selling point of the .BIZ gTLD was that it provided an alternative to .COM for businesses. However, that plan went a bit pearshaped when the expected registration numbers didn't happen and the whole "gTLD for businesses" dropped. Now it is mainly a Chinese/Japanese gTLD with very little use or gains outside those markets.

Regards...jmcc

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this reminds me of something

I agree with you Steven, there should be more widespread acceptance and/or use of the extension than there currently is and no real rational reason for the lack of success/popularity. Especially considering the extension stands for business much like its .com counterpart (which stands for commercial) and is the first choice for many when starting a business.

The other positive that the extension has going for it is that even though it stands for business it is generally regarded as a generic extension and is not specific much like other new gTLD's, limiting how I or others use the extension. i.e I can pretty much apply any name (keyword) left of the dot without having to worry about it meshing well or making sense with the word right of the dot (extension).

However, I think the main reason why the .biz extension has suffered over the years has much to do with the fact that early on, it was used by a lot of individuals with shady business tactics e.g. spamming, thus developing the reputation as being a spammy extension. Once that happened it was hard for the .biz extension to shake that reputation, even though as of late it seems to be recovering from that rep.

I also agree with others who previously mentioned that timing also is a factor in all of this. Possibly, if released later many would regard it as a top alternative to .com.

.Biz died the death of .info, It needs to be a Very top notch pairing to gain any sort of recognition in 2018.

I took a chance with about a dozen .biz (same with .info) at the time of launch, never sold any,. and just about to drop the last one. I have to agree with the comment that it just doesn't read as a professional usage for an extension. but equally everyone thought dot info was going to be a very practical extension for a large business or company just for an intro site - What on earth were we all thinking, Scared about future internet tracking probably, these were after all still the internet growing days

I am going to add, and I truly hope my American cousins can take my honest heart felt humour. when .biz came out, including during its pre-launch phase. I thought fuck-me (dot).biz sounds really crass. I bet the Yanks are going-to luv it. best get in there.

They are still selling though...

telegram.biz 102 USD 2018-02-25 GoDaddy
superb.biz 220 USD 2018-02-24 GoDaddy
chat.biz 645 USD 2018-02-22 Flippa
peach.biz 341 USD 2018-02-17 GoDaddy
exchange.biz 510 USD 2018-02-14 Sedo
each.biz 688 USD 2018-02-12 Sedo
bob.biz 7,500 USD 2018-02-02 Sedo
ex.biz 5,000 USD 2018-01-30 Afternic
alpha.biz 2,500 USD 2018-01-18 Sedo
million.biz 450 USD 2018-01-10 Flippa
alcohol.biz 1,100 USD 2017-12-29 NameJet
time-clock.biz 3,050 USD 2017-12-19 GoDaddy

Some of those biz keywords that are dropping might have some profit in them.

.biz has been weak for some time as investments go. But they are still selling.

Well, I for one like the extension and would have absolutely no reservations with starting a business using the .biz extension. in fact I have an idea for a business/website and one of the names I have an eye on is a .biz. I disagree with some who say that the extension looks and/or sounds unprofessional. It is a commonly used and acceptable term in the English language, especially in the states but I guess that is just a matter of preference.

I agree Silentptnr, of course they will always sell for a 'niche' market bit like all the other hundreds of extensions - get the fit that fits at the right price

as a side-story. I still own my registered company name in .com .(I'm long retired, since 50) I let the .co.uk drop the .biz owner contacted me to verify I'd let the .co.uk become available ( a flipper had offered it to him at a bargain price) I confirmed I let it go - so now it points to his .biz. but he won't pay a low reasonable amount for the .com. and this is a Global business (small admittedly) that happily pays probably my 'one-off' asking price each year, just for a fantastic global reach website on .biz.

I'm never one to take the piss (well not in business comms) but even I'm lost on their logic

Your best luck is probably 3L Chinese Premium .Biz I mean if your going to bother to play with .biz at all. Even, better is to get some with vowels only if they are real words, something like cup.biz for example would at least make sense.

In my observation, .biz in practice is used by small mom and pop companies or independent retail store owners who cannot afford, or do not value paying up for, a .com. It's an "also ran" extension where the potential end user buyers are budget challenged or otherwise cheap. Good luck with that.

If it's any consolation for .biz fans, .business is not much better. I registered a few like turnkey.business and industrial.business and ultimately determined that they were all bad investments not worth renewing. No interest from anyone. What large company would want to buy, own, and use them anyway? So, I've dropped or am dropping them to reinvest the savings in better, investment-grade domain names.

In the end, why invest in .biz or .business when you can invest in .com, the gold standard of domain name extensions?

@MediaCode "...com gold standard"-you. That is almost true however, it has been hurt a lot by all the new extensions or as they call them NGTLDS. Someone can get Mike.Cafe instead of paying x,xxx for mikescafe (dot) com for example, it appears there is plans for the development of mike.cafe for the record.

Daniel Owens said:

@MediaCode "...com gold standard"-you. That is almost true however, it has been hurt a lot by all the new extensions or as they call them NGTLDS. Someone can get Mike.Cafe instead of paying x,xxx for mikescafe (dot) com for example, it appears there is plans for the development of mike.cafe for the record.

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Exactly. Only a small mom and pop buyer would try to scrimp and save by buying Mikes.Cafe instead of investing in the much stronger MikesCafe.com which would benefit their business much more. MikesCafe.com is what most of their customers will type in relying on memory and their decades-reinforced habit of typing in .com into a browser. Most will not recall the new gTLD – if they even recognize it as a domain name – to type in Mikes.Cafe into their browser instead.

If you are an investor seeking to maximize your return on investment in domain names, it would be better to own and market MikesCafe.com to a potential buyer than to own and market Mikes.Cafe to a potential buyer, all else being equal. Given that a domain investor's capital is scarce, it's far better to go with the .com despite the existence of the new gTLDs. The odds of a sale and of high ROI are simply better with .com.

FarOutBrands said:

Well, I for one like the extension and would have absolutely no reservations with starting a business using the .biz extension.

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But would you buy one on the aftermarket, provided your preferred domain is not available for regee ?