discuss .com switches to .app in the wild

johnnie018 said:

Oh please, visit the site, it doesn’t say ‘jane app’ anywhere, there is about 50 references to just ‘jane’ on the page.

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They named their app "Jane" after their first customer and they have ALWAYS been called Jane App, since the very beginning. They only do one thing and that is to provide this app to a target audience.

What you are asking is the same as asking "Boston Pizza" to change their name to Boston. The pizza part is an integral part of their business. Same goes for Jane App so the use of Jane App makes sense and there is no need to spend 100k plus to acquire jane.com.

People call me Maple all the time here on the forum, why don't I just drop the "dots" part of my name?
That would not make sense, sure I would love to have maple.com but dropping dots from my business would not make sense.

Same goes for MicroSoft..... what the heck we will just call them micro.com

so on.... so on....

MapleDots said:

They named their app "Jane" after their first customer and they have ALWAYS been called Jane App, since the very beginning. They only do one thing and that is to provide this app to a target audience.

What you are asking is the same as asking "Boston Pizza" to change their name to Boston. The pizza part is an integral part of their business. Same goes for Jane App so the use of Jane App makes sense and there is no need to spend 100k plus to acquire jane.com.

People call me Maple all the time here on the forum, why don't I just drop the "dots" part of my name?
That would not make sense, sure I would love to have maple.com but dropping dots from my business would not make sense.

Same goes for MicroSoft..... what the heck we will just call them micro.com

so on.... so on....

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Stop the nonsense dots, they call themselves Jane and they are a software provider, it isn’t simply an app.

They have obvious domain issues and the .app has actually made the confusion worse as they are now bizarrely trying to use two domains. I’m assuming they switched to the .app and then got a bunch of email confusion issues. What a mess.

johnnie018 said:

Stop the nonsense dots, they call themselves Jane and they are a software provider, it isn’t simply an app.

They have obvious domain issues and the .app has actually made the confusion worse as they are now bizarrely trying to use two domains. I’m assuming they switched to the .app and then got a bunch of email confusion issues. What a mess.

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I was looking for a particular app for one of my businesses and that is how I found jane.app.
I was not confused even for a second, it was quite clear to me how they were marketing themselves.

In the end I decided to go with a different company but from the dozen or so companies I reviewed before making my decision the jane.app domain left an impression on me and I remembered it. Most of the others I could not remember the domain unless I checked my bookmarks.

SOrry to disagree... its not a mess, it's progressive forward thinking especially because they have a .com with a ,atching .app.

I say kudos to them...

The only mistake they are making is with the email and I hope to god that both the .com and the .app is active.

MapleDots said:

[...] They have the domain JaneApp.com but they are using Jane.app instead. [...]

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Absolutely not surprisinggg

jane.app is way better than janeapp.com < .com = 100 % redundant

Regarding their use of their .com - email - address, I agree in the point that I would also use the same domain for the email - address that I would use for my websiteee

But I assume they will change it and will use the .app - email - address in futureee

Bob Hawkes said:

I like the look and feel of Jane.app but I agree that using their previous .com for email seems confusing. I would use email addresses like info (at) Jane(.)app

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Totally agree! email (at) jane (dot) app doesn't look too bad.

Shaun Lun said:

Totally agree! email (at) jane (dot) app doesn't look too bad.

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Does anyone know how to use it? I doubt they are reverting to two different domains for no reason. Will this last beyond whatever marketing agreement they have with Google.

The biggest problem they have is Jane.com looks unbuyable (jane.ws also) and jane.com has their own “jane app”.

I think NPs should rebrand using a .pro to Name(.)pro

I reiterate, as several of us have said here or elsewhere, when TLD availability permit an exact match of their name and nothing more that is highly elegant and clear. More businesses in startup phase should consider these possibilities when they name themselves.

Thanks for bringing this interesting case to our attention, @MapleDots.

Bob

Doesn’t really mean as much when you consider that they probably paid about nothing for the Jane dot app domain.

xynames said:

Doesn’t really mean as much when you consider that they probably paid about nothing for the Jane dot app domain.

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Isn't that the whole point? Why pay more if you don't have too?..... I paid almost nothing for MapleDots.com and if Maple.Dots became available it would be a natural progression for me to add that one as a quick shortcut. Personally I would forward it to MapleDots and I would do the same with jane.app, I would forward it to janeapp.com.

Perfect domains though for quick shortcuts.

Neither mapledots dot com nor jane dot app will ever be worth much absent development of the sites and sale of any underlying businesses. Is the point.

xynames said:

Neither mapledots dot com nor jane dot app will ever be worth much absent development of the sites and sale of any underlying businesses. Is the point.

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Thats a given, businesses don't necessarily care about the value of a domain, I am speaking from an end user stand point. End users want to pay the smallest amount for a domain and if they can use a fresh hand reg it is the best possible scenario.

Very interesting thoughts....

However, would this lead to possible Trademarks infringement?

For example: a generic 2 words domain let's say xyznews.app was bought to cover the news near the xyz areas in xyz country. The owner was not sure to continue in developing the website and put the idea on hold and decides to sell the domain and list for sale.

Now there is an existing news channel in the UK with trademarks registered in the UK for xyznews.com or xyz-news.co.uk.

Now, currently xyznews.app owner receives a threatening email for unauthorised registration and usage for causing confusion with their brand in the UK from a lawyer.

What do you think should be done here?

Domain names used for examples only

MapleDots said:

Thats a given, businesses don't necessarily care about the value of a domain, I am speaking from an end user stand point. End users want to pay the smallest amount for a domain and if they can use a fresh hand reg it is the best possible scenario.

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They ALL care. Many just can't afford it yet.

It's a trade off. A business that wants to go somewhere picks a domain like ebay dot com versus echobaytechnologygroup dot com

If the business is never going anywhere BIG, or has no money, then they pick a crappy domain name. But at the back of their mind is the nagging thought...

I shoulda picked a short dot com,

I shoulda picked a short dot com,

I shoulda picked a short dot com.

They know they're selling themselves short, and when / if they come up with the money they will switch to the King.


I not too long ago sold a dot com for high five figures to a start up. They already had the exact domain in another extension that they had picked up for reg fee. They knew what they had to do.

MapleDots said:

Thats a given, businesses don't necessarily care about the value of a domain, I am speaking from an end user stand point. End users want to pay the smallest amount for a domain and if they can use a fresh hand reg it is the best possible scenario.

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Big difference between “using” and being on the ideal name. This company would know they have domain names problems. They’d be best off changing name but that it is seen as a mountain for many businesses.

Bob Hawkes said:

I think NPs should rebrand using a .pro to Name(.)pro

I reiterate, as several of us have said here or elsewhere, when TLD availability permit an exact match of their name and nothing more that is highly elegant and clear. More businesses in startup phase should consider these possibilities when they name themselves.

Thanks for bringing this interesting case to our attention, @MapleDots.

Bob

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Bad advice, nothing good about name.pro, it doesn’t even match.

Puneet Malhotra said:

UK with trademarks registered in the UK for xyznews.com or xyz-news.co.uk.

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It is my understanding that TM are not in general awarded to domain address (Hotels.com case exception) but rather to the name/term

even there is a trend that the online activiity move from PC to Phone , but the most people still by default expect u should have a .com website to visit..also expect u have email＃any.com....

any other extension just an alternative while no more choice....the question is some is good alternative for the desired name, some just bad...it have to be case by case...janeapp.com rebrand to jane.app is quite good in this case.

Zilla said:

most people still by default expect u should have a .com website to visit..also expect u have email＃any.com...

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Not in Canada where this company and the majority of their customers are located. If I did that I would be wrong for my 3 banks, my several credit card providers, my library, my orders for all online shopping I do regularly, my car share, most local businesses, my online course providers, all 3 of the insurance companies I use, my retirement investments, essentially all of the local businesses within walking distance of me, etc.

Bob Hawkes said:

Not in Canada where this company and the majority of their customers are located..

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tks Bob, so, in Canada, business mainly use .ca？ and users by default will not expect .com？not aware this, then after .de, .co.uk .ru which I aware, we have another big country dominated by cctld...

then, another question, if more and more country (specially big country which have more ecnomic or political impact)running business on its related cctld, does .com still the king？

I not aware too many other country, but in China, I know for most people .com is more respected extention while also .cn is quite acceptable, and no issue, but we are different than Geman or UK, cctld is much more stronger and more trustworth for them I guess....

I need learn more cctld situation now...any one have more sense on cctld status？

I think some people have missed what I read as the key point of this thread that @MapleDots started. It was not at all "oh a successful company is using an .app, maybe good domain investment to invest in those" - he was definitely not saying that, and I suspect from other posts he does not believe they are good investments.

What he was saying is that when an end user can elegantly uses a TLD permitting an exact match to their formal company name that can make sense (but make sure the overall online use is consistent).

Well known domain blogger Elliot Silver weighed in today on the topic, for the most part agreeing, but pointing out that they need to highlight the new name more effectively in their branding. A good point.

Can I get something off my chest? If you look down Elliot's note at the comments section well known personality Rick Schwartz has a short critical post. In one comment he manages to call them dumb, stupid (twice), and lazy (4 times including 3 times in one sentence). Now as far as I know he is still in the business of selling domain names. Now in what world does it make sense to call a potential future client names in a public post? If I was a company and read his comment online I would make a note to never ever consider doing business with him. Am I wrong? Does anyone see any upside of using insensitive and rude language in a public setting? If he wants to argue merits of using .com, absolutely smart. But to call names - what does he gain?

Bob

Zilla said:

Canada, business mainly use .ca？ and users by default will not expect .com？not aware this, then after .de, .co.uk .ru which I aware, we have another big country dominated by cctld...

then, another question, if more and more country (specially big country which have more ecnomic or political impact)running business on its related cctld, does .com still the king？

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I would not say it is dominated, and most of the biggest companies here do own both the .com and the .ca in their name, especially if they operate internationally. The .ca is doing well - in the most recent CENTR report .ca was the fastest growing of the top 15 country code extensions in the world. Various surveys have shown that .ca is highly respected and accepted among Canadians, which makes sense because it's level of abuse is an order of magnitude less than .com.

The key point is that even most companies that are huge and international have a separate .ca website just geared to Canadian customers with product availability, shipping, etc. set. So for example I virtually never search on Amazon.com but rather use Amazon.ca. Same with WalMart - I do online shopping but always through their .ca domain name. Almost all of Canada's financial, investment, etc. work with Canadians through their .ca. Small businesses sometimes use .com but many, I think majority, use .ca. Most organizations use .ca (or .org). My point is that one would never guess and assume it is .com here. There is a better chance it would be a .ca.

Bob

Bob Hawkes said:

What he was saying is that when an end user can elegantly uses a TLD permitting an exact match to their formal company name that can make sense (but make sure the overall online use is consistent).

but pointing out that they need to highlight the new name more effectively in their branding. A good point.

Can I get something off my chest? If you look down Elliot's note at the comments section well known personality Rick Schwartz has a short critical post. In one comment he manages to call them dumb, stupid (twice), and lazy (4 times including 3 times in one sentence). Now as far as I know he is still in the business of selling domain names. Now in what world does it make sense to call a potential future client names in a public post? If I was a company and read his comment online I would make a note to never ever consider doing business with him. Am I wrong? Does anyone see any upside of using insensitive and rude language in a public setting? If he wants to argue merits of using .com, absolutely smart. But to call names - what does he gain?

Bob

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Nothing elegant about this usage, it is a mess!

Often when a company become the ‘showcase’ forthe registry like this one it is because their current domain usage is messy, but when they just switch to a new tld they aren’t fixing the problem at all. They’ve actually made a similar mistake again. They need to get advice from 3rd party branding consultants as clearly they are making major mistakes making these decisions internally.

The company has an obvious issue in not owning jane.com, if purely Canadian then .ca may work also, jane.app doesn’t fix anything, it actually has made their situation worse. They don’t call themselves “Jane App” anywhere, so janeapp.com doesn’t quite fit right, it encompasses only part of their business as a software company with both mobile and desktop, and jane.app is even worse because most people won’t even know that is a url.

The best option they have is a rebrand to something they can buy in .com, but obviously that is a road businesses get lazy about.

As I said before, what a mess!

I would bet with this case whoever at this company chose janeapp.com also made the decision to use jane.app, it is the same type of basic domain mistake. Maybe some over controlling person in management who won’t seek or listen to advices and just make a decision themselves?

johnnie018 said:

I would bet with this case whoever at this company chose janeapp.com also made the decision to use jane.app, it is the same type of basic domain mistake. Maybe some over controlling person in management who won’t seek or listen to advices and just make a decision themselves?

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You seem to know exactly how other companies should run.... could you please show me a success you have had? I see you have a restricted account and a lot of opinions about other people's companies.

This jane app is hugely successful with what you call a crappy domain.

Could it be..... maybe just a bit that you are actually wrong?

Consider it....

MapleDots said:

This jane app is hugely successful with what you call a crappy domain.

Could it be..... maybe just a bit that you are actually wrong?

Consider it....

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Co’s can still do well despite mistakes.

Doesn’t mean it is a good idea to buy domains in bad extensions, especially for domainers who are supposed to be skilled in the area.

Consider it.....