.biz 1 Character .biz Auction - Is it too late to save .biz?

[Spade]

Its recently been announced that Neustar (operators of the .biz registry) will hold an auction to release 31 of the remaining 1 character .biz domain names.

ex: a.biz

Is it too late to "save" this less than desirable TLD?

 

[thebutler]

Might help

Its recently been announced that Neustar (operators of the .biz registry) will hold an auction to release 31 of the remaining 1 character .biz domain names.

ex: a.biz

Is it too late to "save" this less than desirable TLD?

That might actually help. Hopefully someone who'll blow their marketing budget once they get their hands on the 1 letter domain that they want.

Hopefully.

 

[dombastic]

31 domains can't save the TLD

nobody seriously uses biz instead of business
it's too informal

 

[bmugford]

.BIZ is decent for certain keywords. But I don't think releasing 1 character .BIZ will have much impact on the extension as a whole.

Brad

 

[Spade]

My thoughts are in tune with most. I see this as a desperate attempt to "jump-start" a TLD that was plagued by poor use. It would take some serious posturing with larger commerce companies to even come close to getting that "scammy" stigma cleaned up.

In my eyes, this TLD will never be on par with the big 3.

 

[quality]

I'm gonna be in there with some big bids. Minimum $20,000 each as far as I can see,:hearts::imho::bingo::p:wave:

 

[DnEbook]

i.biz i think will fetch the most

 

[JamesDavid]

I think it is interesting on ).biz isnt in there.... anybody know why.... I have read places Oprah & overstock.com has expressed interest in O.com... Should OverStock.com grab a name like that and rebrand itself using "O.biz" it could shed ALOT of light on the extension. I know from talking to people when they hear about a new extension they love testing the waters so I could see it drive up traffic for generics...

I also noticed among others 3.biz wasn't in the auction.. any ideas?

Another point I think it funny is how the dotBIZ registry held applications for people to file to see who would use the name the best. I think applications were $350/piece, as you can imagine they probably received tens of thousands of apps... say 10,000 apps * $350 app = 3.5 million.... and and they are still sending 31 to auction...... they already made out!

 

[Kate]

Last call before icann opens the floodgates and .biz becomes even more irrelevant than it is today :imho:
BTW only 5 names were assigned through RFP process before the auctions. Even 1-character .biz are not hot it seems.
Imagine if it were .com... :yell:

 

[Spade]

Another point I think it funny is how the dotBIZ registry held applications for people to file to see who would use the name the best. I think applications were $350/piece, as you can imagine they probably received tens of thousands of apps... say 10,000 apps * $350 app = 3.5 million.... and and they are still sending 31 to auction...... they already made out!

No way they had 10,000 apps for this. Id guess the number is likely under 200.

 

[JamesDavid]

No way they had 10,000 apps for this. Id guess the number is likely under 200.

That would mean that at 26 letters and 10 numbers... 36 domains.. that there was an average less than 6 applications per name? no chance... X.biz had get more than 200 alone....

 

[Spade]

That would mean that at 26 letters and 10 numbers... 36 domains.. that there was an average less than 6 applications per name? no chance... X.biz had get more than 200 alone....

You do realize a proposal goes along with the app right? Your thinking more than 200 entities paid $300 per pop + detailed proposals (or else you'd be wasting your $300).

 

[FanCube]

I have recently seen a lot of small businesses use .biz domains and it seems to get more attention from end-users compared to .info. However many end-users probably choose .biz because they just need a small website and e-mail and are not prepared to pay for the .com or .(country TLD)...

 

[budgetname]

e.Biz

Yes please for my eCommerce website!!!

 

[kev]

Probably too late to save .biz. They should maybe have done this a while back.
Still, wouldn't mind a name like e.biz in my portfolio :tu:

 

[GoneWalkabout]

nobody seriously uses biz instead of business
it's too informal

I agree - but a good example of the exception to the rule is Bing dot biz

That is a nice informal company!

 

[enlytend]

It seems to have some acceptance in the gaming industry (a .biz name I sold a while back became a popular games industry business news/community site, and it's not the only big site of that type on a .biz.)

Overstock getting o dot biz isn't going to hurt the extension any. If a few other high-profile businesses follow suit it could definitely increase interest in the extension. While there are some situations where it really sounds bad (imo, medical/legal/professional - legal .biz names especially sound like ambulance chasers to me!) the biggest problem with the tld is that the average person is unfamiliar with it and doesn't "trust" it. Get a few legitimate, name-brand companies to use it, throw in some marketing and that could change.

The other 4 missing from the auction are 0, 3, Q and I. Anyone guesses who might be in the running for them?

(I think they should just give e.biz to me :D!)