.co $6 million wasted on .co registrations.

[snoop]

$6 million wasted on .CO registrations.

I am somewhat surprised at the level of interest in .co over the last couple of days, from bloggers claiming it is now in the "top 4 extensions" and being worth 10% of a .com to others talking about developing these names and other madness.

A few comments about .co,

1. In my view the main appeal with this extension is typo traffic. Having said that, looking at some Alexa rankings, compete scores and Google Adwords data I would say only the very best generic .co's are going to get much traffic. The registry made a calculated decision when deciding to go public. The main area is likely to be ™ names (registry passes the buck). Even then it seems the registry has done a good job connecting with big sites. Still I think the ™ typo area is the main opportunity.

2. Considering point one, that these names are totally confusing, how does it makes sense to consider developing these names names.

Would you develop a misspell?
Would you develop a .cm?
Then why would you develop a .co?

The extension is going to be totally confusing for the average person on the street. .biz would be a better choice for development.

3. Reg fees - they aren't cheap and it is going to suck out a lot of the profitability from these names. Whatever value was there is 25% of that with reg fees 4 times higher than other extensions.

4. It's different this time! Isn't it?

.ws, .cc, .tv, .biz, .info, .us, .eu, .mobi, .tel, .me.

Supposedly with every new extension it is going to be different. There is always some compelling reason or argument as to why the latest extension will succeed where other have failed. People will debate it for the next year or two.

In reality it never is different. People get excited for a few months. .co is cool and new, and the fact that nobody actuallly uses it isn't that important yet, after all there is time for growth. Then interest wanes, things turn out not quite as planned. A year later everyone is dropping. People then get angry with the registry saying a lot was promised and not delivered.

Why do the same mistakes keep getting repeated? The registry is setting people up for today, the day when they part with their money and register 200,000 .co names. Most of the money goes into the launch and promoting premium auctions. Afterwards doesn't matter much. Get ready to be strung along a lot.

6. Staged sales/usage: You've been sold to!

disrupt.co, no_url_shorteners, o.co

There is not much genuine news in this. Disrupt.co was part of an advertising deal. Did you really think techcrunch just chose to use that name? o.co, a sale that appeared a few hours before the launch, the registry is pouring some fuel on the fire here. They want to get you excited for today.

7. Who is even using this extension?

This is .mobi all over again, instead of the big backers who weren't really backing (Google, Microsoft etc) we've got 3 well known sites supposedly adopting .co (Twitter, Overstock, Techcrunch), do you think these people will be anywhere near the extension in 12 months time? How significant is this usage anyway, a url shortener? Overstock doing a url redirect to their main site? Techcrunch promoting a site for a week or so?

 

[Kate]

I think .co has a chance to be made cctld neutral by google ala .me/.tv

It only has significance for SEO purposes.
Geoneutral status in google didn't make .tv or .me any more successful.

 

[gazzip]

You know what I would like to see Brad?

A tax on these jackals who register domains before they are open to everyone else, at least $10,000 per domain per year that they register before everyone has a chance to should do it.

I'm not so sure jackals is the right term for them, I'd call them Smart, clever, sneaky, inventive or just great entreprenuers.

They see, create, make or take an opportunity(.co) long before others do, they bend, make, sometimes break or circumnavigate the rules to suit their needs, they see an opportunity(.co) to capitalise on other people needs, dreams or misfortunes (ie: companies buying .co for defensive purposes).

In effect many of the registrars have become portfolio holders, domainers, resellers & auction houses, would'nt you hold back the names of value and sell them yourself if you could?

Icann have also become domainers, speculators and "soon to be" auction house creating new extensions the majority of which are probably not needed or wanted by the general public or businesses. Not bad for a non-profit corporation eh? :bah:

I guess we could debate till the cows come home if its ethical, fair or a level playing field or not but "most of the time" its pretty much legal, its just Business on another level....same happens in other markets.

Love it or Hate it its up to YOU if you want to play with it or not.

If you do, Good Luck :tu:


.

 

[Sparhawke]

I get that Gazzip, but the thing is that every country generally has only one country code for commercial use...

The bribes that some people take to give these people first chance at whatever they want to take sets that countries internet back many years since they do not generally develop their names, they do not promote them or help them in any way and simply make it so other domainers don't give a damn, so there is never any of the investment you need on such a level made by anyone.

Lets say there are 40,000 generic domains and 99% are taken before release, that means only 400 people might actually astoundingly snap up something that was overlooked. And even that is not very likely.

Who in their right mind is going to even bother with the rest of the scraps?

Now, swap tht around and let 1,000,000 domainers come in and land rush that same 40,000 generics and 1 in 20 has a chance of getting an elite domain for themselves.

The revenue and taxes from that far outstrip the one-off from a few shady characters handing out bribes which are tiny in comparison.

For a reasonable analogy look at Microsoft compared to all the open source coders. Microsoft has the name and was there first but it is very slow to actually do anything about anything, compare this with millions of coders working in conjuction and giving investment of time and you end up with something amazing, like Wikipedia.

When will ICANN ever realise this?

 

[DNProperty.com]

Is anyone reporting any type in traffic for .co ? If there is, you should be seeing it already..

Picked up a decent generic one myself (not a great one), no type in so far that I can see.

 

[nameboi]

Snoop is dead on right here. CO is just garbage. It has all the liabilities of all the other junk extensions, plus it has a huge extra liability of being a typo.

 

[hawkeye]

Snoop, I think your poll question should have noted 'who' it would or wouldn't be a success for. The registries: all laughing to the bank. The ones who'll sell some for high dollars: grinning from ear to ear. The registries again: chuckling away in line at the bank from the influx of regs because of those 'few' sales. Some developers: will be smiling at what they can do with their skills and a great keyword. And of course the 'This could be my home run' domainers: next year shaking their heads at drop time, mumbling "heck it was only $x,xxx. ..or abouts".

 

[theoretical]

300,000 sold - the title of the post show now be $9 million wasted by domainers

 

[jmcc]

I'm not so sure jackals is the right term for them, I'd call them Smart, clever, sneaky, inventive or just great entreprenuers.

Sounds like an irregular verb, Gazzip.
I invest in domains,
You speculate on domains,
He is a jackal who beat me to the domain I wanted.

Regards...jmcc
(An old "Yes Minister" joke recycled.)

---------- Post added at 02:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:15 PM ----------

By the way, it is obvious this Animator has no idea what he is talking about, everyone here knows that .US is a useless extension that nobody wants for the exact same reason that we are discussing with .CO

I would agree that Animator's knowledge is somewhat lacking but I would disagree with your comment on .US ccTLD. The latest data on .US shows that about 43.95% of domains in .US have their equivalent in com/net/org/biz/info/mobi/asia hosted on the same hosters and there is a lot of brand protection registration going on in that ccTLD.

That is because the US government in all its tiny wisdom withheld it for no good reason and made it so that the American people had no extension of their own so they were forced to accept .COM by default.

The .US ccTLD really only came alive for second level registrations in 2002, after the Dot.Bomb era when the .COM was the defacto king of domains.

.CO.UK by comparison is known by 90% of the English population, it is one of the strongest domains in the world for that reason even though the double dot is unwieldy and I hate it.

It is also celebrating its 25 year anniversary this year. The .UK is a good example of what happens when a ccTLD dominates its country market. But .DE is even better.

Ask anyone here, ask anyone you want who actually knows what they're talking about about if they could choose between insurance.us and insurance.co.uk and I can guarantee what they will choose.

If I was targeting the US market, then insurance.us (or insure.us) would make the most sense. If I was targeting the UK market, then insurance.co.uk would be the obvious choice. However there's another argument as to the effectiveness of generic terms in ccTLDs. They work well in .com where people expect there is a website of that name and so type in the word as a website. But in ccTLDs, people navigate by brands and what they remember.

Regards...jmcc

 

[.X.]

it's a high yield investment at up to $29 a reg IMO, People have to hope that it isn't just another domainer craze and that end users take to it.

 

[PinguSpy]

.co never ever can't replace the .com !!
trust me.. did u think all web industry can easily change their domain extension to .co?? like facebook.co / google.co to be a main URL address = NO!!

.com aways save in our people mind(since internet started) ..

 

[.X.]

.co never ever can't replace the .com !!
trust me.. did u think all web industry can easily change their domain extension to .co?? like facebook.co / google.co to be a main URL address = NO!!

.com aways save in our people mind(since internet started) ..

I agree with you to a point. I fore see the country codes becoming a factor here very soon, The internet has grown to proportions that countries will begin to us their country code extension to frequent web sites that pertain to their lives in their countries IMO

I am not quite sure what to make of Columbia as a big internet player. I haven't done any research.

I do have a frequent tendency to type in .co and leave out the "m" , I think that in it self will bring .co traffic, If nothing else.

 

[NLP]

Country codes are already widely used, especially in places like Spain and Germany, where .es and .de are the preferred extensions. It's just that in the US, .us is seen as third or fourth tier at best, because people tend to think of .com as our extension.

Considering ccTLDs and non .coms were the leading sales in DNJournal for the last two weeks, it's clear they're playing a larger role.

 

[.X.]

Country codes are already widely used, especially in places like Spain and Germany, where .es and .de are the preferred extensions. It's just that in the US, .us is seen as third or fourth tier at best, because people tend to think of .com as our extension.

Considering ccTLDs and non .coms were the leading sales in DNJournal for the last two weeks, it's clear they're playing a larger role.

True Dat, But all have yet to peak, India is growing into .in and co.in as we speak. The USA will begin to use Dot US once corporate America uses it exclusively. At this point and time, Change would be very good for the internet, As well as the domain name industry. Then one has to ask, Will .com depreciate, Is Sex.com being sold because the .xxx extension is coming, And will devalue the .com , With all that said, Will million dollar .com names, reduce down to $100,000 resale value. After all, If countries are using their code. Sex dot ? whatever country actually has the same value as .com IMO.

Then comes the next fall, .net and .org , Most country codes offer a .org version of their own country code.

Only the future will tell, But i am optimistic that change is coming, And for the better of the internet, As well as a possibility of stimulating the domain name industry.

 

[DNProperty.com]

Its very simple, if you are not getting any Type In traffic from .co domains (assuming some people are going to type domain.co instead of domain.com, domain.co.uk, domain.co.in, domain.co.cctld), this extension is no different than other country codes.

Sure, if you are going to develop the domain for Colombia or otherwise, then we are not comparing the same thing here. With the right amount of resources, we could develop any domain extension to rank on the search engines (for the most part). The valuation will be based on the Colombia market.

The added hype here for .co is purely based on Type in (Trickle down traffic) and by now we should have the stats in hand for the domains we hold. We are talking generic domains only, branded TM names may do better (but your asking for trouble)

(As an example: for a search term that gets about 100,000 searches per month, lets say you get 1-2 percent type in traffic - equates to 2000 per month and if we assume 10 percent of that to be Typos in .co, you get about 200 per month - 10% typo in .co might be generous)

 

[doubleU]

Soon it will be goodbye .Co (R.I.P) and hello Custom TLD's - IMO

 

[Kate]

From thedomains.com: E.Co Back Up For Sale But Now The Price Is $500K

I say good luck with that.

 

[doubleU]

From thedomains.com: E.Co Back Up For Sale But Now The Price Is $500K

I say good luck with that.

"Don't believe the hype it's a sequel" - Public Enemy

 

[DU]

10% typo in .co might be generous)

I have never in my life, that I can recall, typed in .co. If I had I would have immediately hit back and tried again. 10% is EXTREMELY high based on my personal usage.

I have often typed in .cm which annoys me but even this far less than 1% of the time.

 

[bmugford]

I have never in my life, that I can recall, typed in .co. If I had I would have immediately his back and tried again. 10% is EXTREMELY high based on my personal usage.

I have often typed in .cm which annoys me but even this far less than 1% of the time.

I think the .CO typo is more like 1 in 500 or 1 in 1000. Also, with autocomplete in most browsers that number goes down even farther.

For generics .CO typo traffic will be minor. The only time you will get major traffic is TM typos that get millions of hits per day.

Brad

 

[mwzd]

You notice none of '.CO is the NEXT GOD' posters are actually buying any .co, only selling? :p

It should be a source of 'some' traffic, beyond that, don't see any mass adoption by existing companies anytime soon.

Still, money to be made I'm sure, you just need to get your timing right.

 

[enlytend]

I expect it to be a haven for tm squatters and scammers alike and not much else.

And phishing - and that is, imo, what will drive the final nail into the co-ffin. The extension will get an unsavory reputation and end users will want nothing to do with it.

 

[bmugford]

You notice none of '.CO is the NEXT GOD' posters are actually buying any .co, only selling? :p

Yes, and most of the premium .CO owners were awarded their domains without competition. They were not acquired in the free market vs other interested buyers.

When you acquire premium names without competition it seems like it is in your self interest to hype the extension. Take the cash and move on.

Brad

---------- Post added at 06:55 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:50 PM ----------

And phishing - and that is, imo, what will drive the final nail into the co-ffin. The extension will get an unsavory reputation and end users will want nothing to do with it.

Yeah, it is too easy for phishing. You don't even need to send out phishing emails.

Let's say you buy a domain like BOFA.co

1.) Setup a spoof Bank of America website
2.) When typo traffic goes there it will look legit.
3.) Capture login info.

I think the credibility of this extension will be eroded when people realize it is mainly for typos and is in reality the ccTLD of Colombia, not what they are marketing it as.

Brad

 

[Kate]

And phishing - and that is, imo, what will drive the final nail into the co-ffin. The extension will get an unsavory reputation and end users will want nothing to do with it.

IMO that is a valid concern.
Soon we are going to see a lot of disputes stemming from bad faith (TM) registrations, and a lot of bad press. This time, it will be mentioned that .co is indeed the TLD of Columbia (not exactly a country with a squeaky-clean reputation).

 

[bmugford]

IMO that is a valid concern.
Soon we are going to see a lot of disputes stemming from bad faith (TM) registrations, and a lot of bad press. This time, it will be mentioned that .co is indeed the TLD of Columbia (not exactly a country with a squeaky-clean reputation).

Yeah, let's not forgot this registry is being run by Colombia. I am not sure you can trust a country with the track record of corruption when it comes to running the registry in a fair and honest manner.

I think the vast major of mainstream media coverage will be in regards to the negative aspects of .CO (squatting / phishing).

Brad

 

[DU]

I think the .CO typo is more like 1 in 500 or 1 in 1000. Also, with autocomplete in most browsers that number goes down even farther.

For generics .CO typo traffic will be minor. The only time you will get major traffic is TM typos that get millions of hits per day.

Brad

I have however seen a number of people type .com when advertising their latest .co registrations... :hehe: