Interesting read:
New Web Domain Names: Should You Pass?
"Nearly two-thirds of small businesses, though, have no idea the new extensions are coming, according to a recent survey by domain vendor Sedo. The poll included roughly 600 small business owners and managers, and 94% of them said they currently had no plans to purchase a new gTLD for their company. "
"Take Hobart Swan, head of the PR agency Vocalize PR. "I hadn't a clue" of the new domain names, Swan said in an email to InformationWeek. "This should be interesting as it is hard enough to get people to your site without worrying about whether they've entered a) the correct spelling of your domain name, b) the correct extension and c) the correct spelling of the correct extension."
"The way we see it, all these new domain names will simply be money sinks," said Ian Aronovich, president and co-founder of GovernmentAuctions.org, in an email to InformationWeek. "Not only will everything be much more confusing for domain owners, but also online visitors who will have to remember whether sites end in .com, .org, .net, .info, .accountant, .movies, .lawyer, .doctor, .diapers or something else."
"Our research shows a majority of consumers are unaware that these changes are coming," a recent report by registry and DNS provider Afilias noted. "And once users hear about them, they would likely avoid the new extensions due to their unfamiliarity."
"58% indicated they wouldn't visit a website with an extension they didn't recognize."
"Old habits die hard. [Our] research shows consumer are currently reluctant to experiment with new TLDs," the Afilias report reads. (Afilias should know: the company launched with the .info domain registry in 2001.) "Confidence in 'heritage' domains has been built over many years and dot brands have tough shoes to fill."
http://www.informationweek.com/clou...ew-web-domain-names-should-you-pass/240151540