IT.COM

analysis After .COM, What Comes Next?

NameSilo

After .COM, what do you think is currently the next strongest general extension?

  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.
  • .CO

    114 
    votes
    22.3%
  • .IO

    155 
    votes
    30.3%
  • .NET

    123 
    votes
    24.1%
  • .ORG

    84 
    votes
    16.4%
  • .XYZ

    35 
    votes
    6.8%
  • This poll is still running and the standings may change.

Almost everyone agrees that .com is the extension of choice for a global business. But if the .com is not available, what is the order of other extensions that are not specialized to a specific sector or country? In this article I look at registrations, aftermarket sales volume, number of major sales, web traffic, and number of major websites for each extension.

Which Extensions To Include

The first tough question is deciding which extensions, or top level domains (TLDs), to include in the analysis. While .net and .org had different original intention uses, they have become widely used general purpose extensions. On the other hand, I would argue that .info is geared to just one type of use, and should not be included. It probably makes sense to include the .biz extension, though.

What about country code TLDs? The Google list of which are considered Generic Country Code Top Level Domains for search was used as a starting point. It is clear that .co and .io from that list should be included, and probably .cc as well. Others on the list, such as .tv, .ms, .la, .fm and .dj seem too sector specialized. Another extension on the generic Google list is .me. While it could be argued that not all terms work effectively with .me, it is so widely used that I have included it in this analysis.

What about new gTLDs? While Google treat almost all new extensions as generic, most are only optimal for narrow sectors. Some of the most popular, like .club and .app, seem too narrow to include in a general purpose list, even though both have significant numbers of sales. Clearly .xyz is generic in nature. I kept two other widely registered and fairly general extensions, .online and .site as well.

Registrations

In order for an extension to lay claim to being a global generic extension, it needs visibility. One measure of that is number of registrations. That data is plotted below. I used registration statistics from DomainNameStats, the Verisign quarterly domain market reports, NameStat and Domain Tools.

GraphRegistrationsTLD.png


Clearly .net and .org have a substantial registration advantage over the other extensions in the study.

It should be kept in mind that registration numbers are heavily influenced by promotions, as well as renewal costs. Registrations in extensions like .io are higher in price and never substantially reduced. Not surprisingly, registration numbers are lower in that extension. Also, renewal costs in extensions .io and .co, as well as in .online and .site, are higher than the others, again impacting registration numbers. Therefore registration numbers may not be a good indicator of TLD strength.

Aftermarket Sales Volume

A measure more directly applicable to the interests of domain name investors would be the dollar volume of aftermarket domain name sales. I limited attention to sales at $300 and up in order to eliminate many wholesale acquisitions. I also restricted the analysis to the preceding 12 months of sales.

GraphVolumeTLD.png


While .net leads in registration numbers, .org is higher in sales dollar volume.

Number of Major Sales

I also took a look at the number of $5000+ major sales in each extension. I restricted the view to 2021, to show what is selling very recently (data in NameBio database up to May 25, 2021 included).

GraphMajorTLD.png


While .org has a clear lead, after that .net, .io and .co are nearly equal. However, .io continues to trend up, so the picture may well be different by the end of 2021.

Website Traffic

Another indictor that an extension has achieved high generic status is taking a look at website traffic. One measure is obtained from CISCO Umbrella statistics. The data is based on the number of unique DNS queries made for a domain, only counting those from different IP addresses. Cisco do not provide numerical use data in the public feed, simply the rank order, so it is possible that some differences in rankings are not significantly different.

Here is the ranking of the extensions based on web traffic as measured by Cisco Umbrella data.
  1. .net
  2. .org
  3. .io
  4. .co
  5. .me
  6. .xyz
  7. .cc
  8. .online
  9. .biz
  10. .site
Number of Alexa 1M Websites

Another indicator of use is the number of websites in the extension that have achieved Alexa 1M status. That data is plotted below. The legacy .net and .org extensions have a clear advantage, with io and .co about equal to each other but down by a factor of 3 compared to .org. Although still less than io and .co, .xyz has increased over past year and is now the next highest extension from our list.

GraphAlexaTLD.png


Startup Use

Another obvious indicator is to look at the extensions being adopted by startups. The Dofo Blog took at look at the extension preference of Y Combinator companies. After .com, they found that the most used extensions were .io by 5.8% , .co by 3.7%, and .org by 1.8%.

A number of months ago, James Iles performed an extensive analysis of com alternatives among 60,000 startups from the Crunchbase data over the years 2015 through 2020. Of the extensions considered here, .io was used by 4364 companies, .co by 2878, .net by 936, .org by 767, and .me by 459.

More Information

I had hoped that the analysis would have suggested a clear ordering. It is likely that the .io, .net, .org and .co extensions are the next four, in some order. If one concentrates on sales or startup use .io can perhaps claim the title of number two. If one places more emphasis on web use or registrations, it seems that .org or .net might deserve the number 2 position. The position of .co is not much below the others.

Likely .xyz has risen to be next in line after the main four. It has increased during the past year in all of registrations, sales, major sales and web use. That said, it is still well below the other four overall.

Please vote in the associated poll and share in the comments your views of the order of general purpose extensions after .com.

Some of the extensions in this analysis have been the topic of detailed NamePros Blog analyses. I summarize the links below.

.IO

.ORG

.CO

.NET

.CC



I acknowledge data from the following sources DomainNameStats, Verisign quarterly domain market reports, NameStat, Domain Tools, NameBio, Cisco Umbrella, and Alexa, as well as data in blog posts from the Dofo Blog and James Names.
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
for jobs, that would be a possible tm infringement, because that job is widely associated with monster.com

Other than that, another limited use vague extension. Outside of the few words/names (like Game.Monster, Rob.Monster etc.) that go well with it, not worth bothering.
We actually agree on a number of things Elkan. I see where someone owns Recons.online, and it isn't me. I also see that no one owns Recons.xyz and I wouldn't waste $1 on it telling you what I think of the .xyz:xf.rolleyes: extension. I'm a little curious, do you own any .online domains like Houston.online? The end users I talk with still haven't a clue that .online is an extension, but when they learn it's the best alternative to .com, their response is very interesting:xf.wink:
 
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We actually agree on a number of things Elkan. I see where someone owns Recons.online, and it isn't me. I also see that no one owns Recons.xyz and I wouldn't waste $1 on it telling you what I think of the .xyz:xf.rolleyes: extension. I'm a little curious, do you own any .online domains like Houston.online? The end users I talk with still haven't a clue that .online is an extension, but when they learn it's the best alternative to .com, their response is very interesting:xf.wink:

I agree that we agree on things ) We also do differ on some, which is normal )

I am not opposed to lots of new extensions per se. I wouldn't mind owning names like Houston.Online if a) the acquisition price was fair b) the renewals would be similar to .com

Unfortunately, online doesn't provide that. The names that are available for hand reg with .online don't interest me.
 
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I agree that we agree on things ) We also do differ on some, which is normal )

I am not opposed to lots of new extensions per se. I wouldn't mind owning names like Houston.Online if a) the acquisition price was fair b) the renewals would be similar to .com

Unfortunately, online doesn't provide that. The names that are available for hand reg with .online don't interest me.
It's a funny thing about the name Houston;

1. Houston.com - is for sale at a site called 7CityDomains@gmail
2. Houston.Online - is taken and GD values it at $1,668
3. VisitHouston.com - leads to a beautiful site VisitHoustonTexas.com
4. VisitHouston.Online can be bought at GD for .99 cents and it renews @ 24.99 a year (not too bad)

Elkan...I own about 30 .online sites like VistVegas, VisitOrlando, VisitFlorida VisitManhattan and I just bought VisitNASA speaking of Houston.

Anyway, i just wanted to share with you some of my strategy. I believe when you say "Visit Vegas Online" it really is a natural fit for the .online extension, and especially if your business is totally online like Golf Equipment Online. These names would be considered "Premium" in the .online extension and my pricing will be around a thousand dollars and possibly $99 a year to the end user for renewal.....keep in mind I'd be paying 24.99 annually. Does any of this make sense to you? I appreciate the dialogue.
 
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It's a funny thing about the name Houston;

1. Houston.com - is for sale at a site called 7CityDomains@gmail
2. Houston.Online - is taken and GD values it at $1,668
3. VisitHouston.com - leads to a beautiful site VisitHoustonTexas.com
4. VisitHouston.Online can be bought at GD for .99 cents and it renews @ 24.99 a year (not too bad)

Elkan...I own about 30 .online sites like VistVegas, VisitOrlando, VisitFlorida VisitManhattan and I just bought VisitNASA speaking of Houston.

Anyway, i just wanted to share with you some of my strategy. I believe when you say "Visit Vegas Online" it really is a natural fit for the .online extension, and especially if your business is totally online like Golf Equipment Online. These names would be considered "Premium" in the .online extension and my pricing will be around a thousand dollars and possibly $99 a year to the end user for renewal.....keep in mind I'd be paying 24.99 annually. Does any of this make sense to you? I appreciate the dialogue.

I believe word+word works only for .com, .org (special cases like Doctor+Care, Pet+Shelter etc.), and some top cctlds, if we were to develop general rule of thumb for investment grade domains.

Also, Visit+City+Online is not the same meaning as Visit+City or City+Online. Visit+City aims to bring people PHYSICALLY to a place. City+Online provides all the info needed for the place online. While Visit+City+Online should mean a service to experience the city virtually, maybe VR experience or something. Don't see many services like that or demand for that. It will also not contribute to city's economy for sure.
 
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I believe word+word works only for .com, .org (special cases like Doctor+Care, Pet+Shelter etc.), and some top cctlds, if we were to develop general rule of thumb for investment grade domains.

Also, Visit+City+Online is not the same meaning as Visit+City or City+Online. Visit+City aims to bring people PHYSICALLY to a place. City+Online provides all the info needed for the place online. While Visit+City+Online should mean a service to experience the city virtually, maybe VR experience or something. Don't see many services like that or demand for that. It will also not contribute to city's economy for sure.

Actually Covid generated a lot of interest in virtual travel. A good friend and his wife have been hooking up with their 9 year old grandson remotely every Saturday and have spent the last 50 weeks visiting major countries and cities around the world. They've been to Rome, Africa, Scotland, New York, and the list goes on.

Bricks and mortar are on the way out and marketing/selling anything online is taking it's place.....just look at Amazon:xf.smile: Circling back to VisitHouston.com....anyone reading this should check out their website. There you will find a very professional site "all about Houston". My point is that VisitHouston.Online is equally as good, and it's only a dollar.....think risk vs. reward:xf.wink:

Finally, and no disrespect to you, i really don't care what other domainers think. I only care what a potential "end user" thinks. Make sense?
 
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If xyz names are valuable why hasn't someone registered games.xyz $ 3125? Renewal fee $ 3125 yes but a valuable name like GAME can earn that in one day trading.
 
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I think one day we could see browsers natively offer a domain without a tld.
For example you just type in "NamePros" into your browser and it automatically takes you here to the forums without having to type ".com" at the end. By default the .com owner controls this, but you can still visit other sites by simply adding .net, .org, .info, etc. to the end like you always have.

The other (more likely) way I see things going is everything just slowly moving to becoming an app in an App Store. You just download the app for whatever you want to use with websites phasing out one day.
 
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What an interesting thought.
Never thought about browsers making an end run around dns registrations before.
 
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If xyz names are valuable why hasn't someone registered games.xyz $ 3125? Renewal fee $ 3125 yes but a valuable name like GAME can earn that in one day trading.

@henrypcyeung How can you disagree with a question?
 
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@henrypcyeung How can you disagree with a question?

I disagree about one-day trading. Unless you have insider information about potential buyers or you have a very good luck, one-day trading does not work in domaining because domains are illiquid assets.
 
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I disagree about one-day trading. Unless you have insider information about potential buyers or you have a very good luck, one-day trading does not work in domaining because domains are illiquid assets.

Sorry mate I said it wrong. Meant to say one day trading as a gaming website with gaming ads, betting offers and subscriptions. Let's suppose that gaming.xyz is a live website with 20000 daily visitors and each customer visit is worth 17 cents. That's how gaming site can reach $ 3125 in one day of trading. I don't even know what one-day trading is. If gaming.xyz is available and not registered I don't see the value in the extension. Gaming + XYZ are perfect together like the buttons on a gaming controller. Keyword gaming 200000 monthly visits U.S. and A. google. Cheers.
 
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@redemo

Credit Card
Country Club
Community College
Car Club
Christian Church
Clinical Center
Community Center
City Council
College Center
Customer Care
Computer Center
Cable Connection
College Council
Call Center
Country Code
Community Club
Comedy Central
Cyber Cafe
Communications Center
Control Center
Cyber Crime
Carpet Cleaning
Contact Center
Cash Card
Cash Credit
Cash or Check (CC)
Crypto Currency
 
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@redemo

Credit Card
Country Club
Community College
Car Club
Christian Church
Clinical Center
Community Center
City Council
College Center
Customer Care
Computer Center
Cable Connection
College Council
Call Center
Country Code
Community Club
Comedy Central
Cyber Cafe
Communications Center
Control Center
Cyber Crime
Carpet Cleaning
Contact Center
Cash Card
Cash Credit
Cash or Check (CC)
Crypto Currency

Perfect. Cheers mate.
 
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@redemo You're right with what you said. There is indeed plenty use
 
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Sorry mate I said it wrong. Meant to say one day trading as a gaming website with gaming ads, betting offers and subscriptions. Let's suppose that gaming.xyz is a live website with 20000 daily visitors and each customer visit is worth 17 cents. That's how gaming site can reach $ 3125 in one day of trading. I don't even know what one-day trading is. If gaming.xyz is available and not registered I don't see the value in the extension. Gaming + XYZ are perfect together like the buttons on a gaming controller. Keyword gaming 200000 monthly visits U.S. and A. google. Cheers.

Please note the fact that games//xyz was registered and used to redirect to hype//games//com according to WayBack Machine, and gaming//xyz was registered before according to Whois historical record. Also, some gaming-related .xyz domains such as game//xyz, gamer//xyz and gamers//xyz are now registered.

Besides, I strongly disagree that a value of an extension is determined by registration of a keyword domain. Instead, we should look into the demand for the extension.

In terms of usage, .xyz is used by end users from various industries around the world, such as blockchain/cryptocurrency businesses, 3D businesses and personal websites. You may see some active websites in https://gen.xyz/live.

In terms of sales, there are .xyz sales every month with an average price of ~$3,000 in 2021 (as of today) according to Namebio.

Based on the above two aspects, there is demand for .xyz and hence .xyz has value.
 
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@henrypcyeung What I don't understand is all premium .xyz names come with the same annual registration fees so it's not just games.xyz but all premium names with that extension. Games in ALL other good extensions is gone. Registered in more than 450 extensions. For me that devalues the entire .xyz extension and would put off investing it. So I think the value of .xyz developed is in the site not the extension. Nothing against .xyz just how it looks to a year one newbie.
 
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Look what else is not taken in .xyz extension. News, seo, shop, 888, hotel, hotels, insurance, art, sex, real estate, security, store, gold, diamond, job, jobs, poker, sport, cars, forex, support, website, software, porn, fitness, shopping, wine, office, tax, beer, tickets, gold, rent, dating, gay, healthcare, party, wedding, menu, technology, fund, loan, menu, mortage, maps, pharmacy, lawyers, gym, loans, photography, tennis, investing, storage, university, vacation, for sale, cruise, coupons, directory, racing, diet, properties.........................................
 
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@henrypcyeung What I don't understand is all premium .xyz names come with the same annual registration fees so it's not just games.xyz but all premium names with that extension. Games in ALL other good extensions is gone. Registered in more than 450 extensions. For me that devalues the entire .xyz extension and would put off investing it. So I think the value of .xyz developed is in the site not the extension. Nothing against .xyz just how it looks to a year one newbie.

Look what else is not taken in .xyz extension. News, seo, shop, 888, hotel, hotels, insurance, art, sex, real estate, security, store, gold, diamond, job, jobs, poker, sport, cars, forex, support, website, software, porn, fitness, shopping, wine, office, tax, beer, tickets, gold, rent, dating, gay, healthcare, party, wedding, menu, technology, fund, loan, menu, mortage, maps, pharmacy, lawyers, gym, loans, photography, tennis, investing, storage, university, vacation, for sale, cruise, coupons, directory, racing, diet, properties.........................................


1. There are different pricing tiers for premium .xyz domains. As I know, the renewal fees of premium .xyz domains ranges from low 3 figures to 5 figures. The keywords you show have very high renewal fees (4-5 figures) that affect registration. There are actually many good .xyz domains having much lower renewal fees (2 figures to low 3 figures) but most of them have already been taken.

2. Registrations in more than 450 extensions just mean "games" is a popular keyword.

3. Different extensions have different pricing tiers. Generally, domains with lower renewal fees are easier to be registered. How many of the 450 domains have lower renewal fees than games//xyz ($3,000)? Are there any good extensions that are not yet registered?

4. I really do not understand why a small portion of unregistered domains with very high renewal fees can devalue the whole extension. How about other 3 million registered .xyz domains? Why the registered .xyz domains cannot increase the value of .xyz in your mind? How many of the 450 extensions have more than 3 million domain registrations?

5. How many of the 450 extensions have better sale records than .xyz?

6. How many of the 450 extensions have more active websites than .xyz?

7. I think I have explained a lot. I recommend you to do an in-depth research on .xyz extension. If you still think .xyz does not have value, then you can choose to invest in other extensions and leave the profit opportunity to others.
 
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