.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?

 

[ctbon]

LMAO taking a screenshot of this thread.

I can't believe there are so many haters still spouting off against .co. Guess what, domainers? Your opinion of it means nada, zilch, zero. I can say with absolute certainty that the end user won't give a flying fat squirrel that .co is for Colombia...in fact, they will likely not even know.

---------- Post added at 01:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 PM ----------

time to proof your love/hate for .co in money! talking won't solve anything :D

I think we've already done with our domain purchases...time will show who is the wiser.

---------- Post added at 01:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:37 PM ----------

sdsinc, I shouldn't have used your quote as an example...you only said it was a humorous thread...and I agree.

 

[hawkeye]

I can't believe there are so many haters still spouting off against .co. Guess what, domainers? Your opinion of it means nada, zilch, zero. I can say with absolute certainty that the end user won't give a flying fat squirrel that .co is for Colombia...in fact, they will likely not even know.

So why not just then buy, and sell (to 'unknowing' endusers) extensions already out, like .biz, .me, .pro, .mobi, .cm, etc. etc.??? Why is .co any different??? (psst.. it's not!)

I think we've already done with our domain purchases...time will show who is the wiser.

What some just don't want to see or accept.., is that - 'time has shown' the wisdom!! Again, and again, and...

 

[bluesinjid]

In 2020, there will only be ugly long ass .com domain names left that nobody wants.
In 2020, .com is totally exhausted to the point that it stop growing. (see the graph below.)
In 2020, there will still be some good .co domain names left. (Like today's .com)
In 2020, people will start to see more .co then .com because of it's shortness.
In 2020, new non-sence gTLD will be created. (.xxx .web .art .shop .corp .ltd .sex .kids ...)
In 2020, people lose faith in gTLD and go with ccTLD.
In 2020, .cn and .de will reach twice the registration number then .com
In 2020, population will double and young people will think .com is the thing of the past.

Renewals are going down for .com:

Domain names are designed to replace IP addresses into short and memorable web addresses.

The shorter = The better.

Nice charts :P Good luck with your .co investment. Again, in 10 years, I think the biggest change is going to be not domains, but development of them.

 

[Kate]

Sorry, I meant no disrespect.
Because I am a ccTLD believer myself (I was already active in ccTLDs a decade ago), and it goes without saying that I have utmost respect for .co which is uniquely relevant to the Colombian market :talk:
Now it is as 'generic' as .tv. Just because a few 'domainers' have blinders on, does not change the perception of the public at large.


PS: regardless of renewal rate, .com is still growing. Go figure.

 

[chillaxin]

Well i regged a .co for 25 bucks sold the same one 300 bucks last week.

 

[ctbon]

So why not just then buy, and sell (to 'unknowing' endusers) extensions already out, like .biz, .me, .pro, .mobi, .cm, etc. etc.??? Why is .co any different??? (psst.. it's not!)


What some just don't want to see or accept.., is that - 'time has shown' the wisdom!! Again, and again, and...

Hawkeye, with all due respect, it IS different. There are several reasons why but the most relevant is for commercial purposes. Co. has been short for company or corporation for over 500 years. I think that is reason enough. I'm happy that a lot of domainers think it's a waste of money. It will allow end users to get what they want and hopefully .co wont be littered with parked pages like .com.

 

[hawkeye]

...with all due respect, it IS different.

The 'only' difference is that .co is the current - 'flavored extension being hyped'. Trust me, there will be another 'it's different because' extension, just around the 'landrush cash-cow bend', headed this way!!

(That difference, and the fact the prices keep going up with each new extension!!)

 

[ctbon]

The 'only' difference is that .co is the current - 'flavored extension being hyped'. Trust me, there will be another 'it's different because' extension, just around the 'landrush cash-cow bend', headed this way!!

(That difference, and the fact the prices keep going up with each new extension!!)

So, you don't agree that Co has been short for company or corporation for 500 years? If you want to deny reality, that's fine.

Look, I'm sorry you missed out. There's probably not much of the great stuff left but you can probably get some decent ones. If you don't have the money or you're too afraid to invest...fine..those are decent reasons to stay away.

You may have been in this game for longer than a lot of us but you are certainly no authority. I think a lot of us have already profited from .co so your comments from the sidelines have no bearing on what we do.

 

[snoop]

So, you don't agree that Co has been short for company or corporation for 500 years? If you want to deny reality, that's fine.

I don't see him disagreeing with that, I think he is saying that is poor reason to buy.

 

[jmcc]

Amazing that so many people still think they are experts when it comes to new TLDs and domain stats. Animator - you still haven't a clue about domain names, .com, domain statistics or how TLDs work. Merely posting some bar charts from the Verisign Domain Brief does not make you an expert. What you and a lot of other newbies don't see is the millions of domains that drop each year without being renewed. The .com of 2010 is actually a very different set of domains to the .com of 2000. Some domains are still registered and some are owned by new registrants but there is a continuing process of deletions and new registrations that most people never really see.

The most common abbreviation for Company in the UK and Ireland tends to relate to the type of company. The term 'Limited' or abbreviation 'Ltd.' is the one most used. There is also 'PLC' for public companies. As for the US, there are many different types of corporate legal structures. What about all those German companies using Gmbh? Or the French with their Sarls?

The .co is currently in its landrush period and most of the growth in these Landrush periods is speculative. The new registration volume is also far higher than usual. (I had posted a few links showing what a Landrush looks like in a new TLD (.asia) and how the first and second anniversaries of the Landrush have large deletion spikes but the post appears to have been deleted as part of some thread moderation.) The speculative activity in any landrush falls into three categories: professional, gullible and developer. With professional speculation, there is an element of risk but only high value and fast turnover domains are targeted. These guys know what they are doing and are in it purely for the money. (They will often put a lot of work into PR and ensure that the fanboy bloggers and domain fanzines cover their high value sales - it makes the other keyword domains look more valuable.) The gullible element tends to think that the new TLD is the best ever TLD since, well the last one. But they hope to make their money back on this new TLD because it is completely different from every other TLD out there and it will even be a .com killer. The developer is in it for the long haul and has plans to develop the domains rather than just sticking them on Sedo or some PPC service. They don't really pay any attention to the fanboy ramblings on the various fora, fanzines and blogs as they are too busy developing useful sites.

Regards...jmcc

 

[gilescoley]

Amazing that so many people still think they are experts when it comes to new TLDs and domain stats. Animator - you still haven't a clue about domain names, .com, domain statistics or how TLDs work. Merely posting some bar charts from the Verisign Domain Brief does not make you an expert. What you and a lot of other newbies don't see is the millions of domains that drop each year without being renewed. The .com of 2010 is actually a very different set of domains to the .com of 2000. Some domains are still registered and some are owned by new registrants but there is a continuing process of deletions and new registrations that most people never really see.

The most common abbreviation for Company in the UK and Ireland tends to relate to the type of company.. The term 'Limited' or abbreviation 'Ltd.' is the one used. As for the US, there are many different types of corporate legal structures. What about all those German companies using Gmbh? Or the French with their Sarls?

The .co is currently in its landrush period and most of the growth in these Landrush periods is speculative. The new registration volume is also far higher than usual. (I had posted a few links showing what a Landrush looks like in a new TLD (.asia) and how the first and second anniversaries of the Landrush have large deletion spikes but the post appears to have been deleted as part of some thread moderation.) The speculative activity in any landrush falls into three categories: professional, gullible and developer. With professional speculation, there is an element of risk but only high value and fast turnover domains are targeted. These guys know what they are doing and are in it purely for the money. (They will often put a lot of work into PR and ensure that the fanboy bloggers and domain fanzines cover their high value sales - it makes the other keyword domains look more valuable.) The gullible element tends to think that the new TLD is the best ever TLD since, well the last one. But they hope to make their money back on this new TLD because it is completely different from every other TLD out there and it will even be a .com killer. The developer is in it for the long haul and has plans to develop the domains rather than just sticking them on Sedo or some PPC service. They don't really pay any attention to the fanboy ramblings on the various fora, fanzines and blogs as they are too busy developing useful sites.

Regards...jmcc

Very well said jmcc, great post!!


I see 3DTV.co is up to $1051 after just one day, 6 days left...11 bidders....wonder how high they will go??

 

[DU]

The most common abbreviation for Company in the UK and Ireland tends to relate to the type of company. The term 'Limited' or abbreviation 'Ltd.' is the one most used. There is also 'PLC' for public companies. As for the US, there are many different types of corporate legal structures. What about all those German companies using Gmbh? Or the French with their Sarls?

And in Colombia? S.A.

Luckily though, .CO also means Colombia so they're lucky in that respect.

:zzz:

 

[hawkeye]

So, you don't agree that Co has been short for company or corporation for 500 years? If you want to deny reality, that's fine.

...and that affects the price of tea in China.., how?

Look, I'm sorry you missed out.

Yea.., me too. Que sera.

You may have been in this game for longer than a lot of us but you are certainly no authority. I think a lot of us have already profited from .co so your comments from the sidelines have no bearing on what we do.

You're right. You're making money, and that is the game. I didn't realize how well they're selling on the aftermarket. I'd buy some more with your profits now, before what's still left gets taken!! You see something a lot of us just can't seem to. And, seriously, seeing how quickly you've grasped the domain game, you may want to see if you can make some more dough putting out a Domaining eBook! They're hot now. GL!

:wave:
..over here, on the sidelines!​

.

 

[ctbon]

And, seriously, seeing how quickly you've grasped the domain game, you may want to see if you can make some more dough putting out a Domaining eBook! They're hot now. GL!

I know that was an attempt at biting sarcasm but I'm not a domainer. I don't care about the domain 'game'. I am an opportunist. I saw nothing of interest when the other 'next great TLDs' were launched. I didn't think they would amount to much, investment wise, and they didn't. I am happy with my .co purchases and I won't be buying any more. I have enough to keep me busy developing and selling for quite a while. Quite frankly, I don't know anything about 'domaining' but it seems a bit boring and one-dimensional. That's just me...if domaining is your passion...rock on!

 

[Animator]

Quite frankly, I don't know anything about 'domaining' but it seems a bit boring and one-dimensional.

Some of them don't think outside of the .com box like the above.

 

[hawkeye]

Some of them don't think outside of the .com box like the above.

:hehe: We'll see who's thinking outside the box, or 'wishing they had', come the first two renewal times.
Better buy more, while they're available!!

 

[bmugford]

Some of them don't think outside of the .com box like the above.

Just thinking "outside the box" is not always a good thing. You need to have a good idea to make it work.

Brad

 

[Kate]

And in Colombia? S.A.

Luckily though, .CO also means Colombia so they're lucky in that respect.

:zzz:

Bingo. SA is also used in other countries including France (société anonyme).
So all we need is Saudi Arabia to release the 2nd level, and no doubt we have the successor to .com (after .co of course) :lol:

 

[Animator]

Just thinking "outside the box" is not always a good thing. You need to have a good idea to make it work.

Brad

Up until recently .COM was the strongest extension but with so many alternatives available, and the fact that many more ppl are web-saavy (and understand extensions other than .com) that you can't really go wrong with using most any extension.

 

[DU]

Bingo. SA is also used in other countries including France (société anonyme).
So all we need is Saudi Arabia to release the 2nd level, and no doubt we have the successor to .com (after .co of course) :lol:

:hehe:

 

[Animator]

Many of them register a cocktail of hard to remember characters in the .com extension as their domain name, because they are misinformed by the “it must be .com argument”, (although this is becoming less common).

 

[jmcc]

This is what a domain name landrush looks like:
HosterStats.com: Domain Name Landrush Graph for .asia sTLD

The .co ccTLD is just after the start of its landrush phase and its registration volume is far higher than normal.

Regards...jmcc

 

[metronome]

I think we've already done with our domain purchases...time will show who is the wiser.

Wrong,
Time will only show who is wiser if you are willing to bet which side is going to win. If you are not willing to bet your love for .co in term money, then doesn't matter what you says happen or not, you will still be the looser.(same goes to the opposite)
There is no proof that in 2020 you will be .CO haters too! (I don't say there is guarantee that in 2020 the 2010's .CO haters will become .CO lovers, that's the point).

Too bad really namepros doesn't have gambling system, sigh....

 

[ctbon]

Wrong,
Time will only show who is wiser if you are willing to bet which side is going to win. If you are not willing to bet your love for .co in term money, then doesn't matter what you says happen or not, you will still be the looser.(same goes to the opposite)
There is no proof that in 2020 you will be .CO haters too! (I don't say there is guarantee that in 2020 the 2010's .CO haters will become .CO lovers, that's the point).

Too bad really namepros doesn't have gambling system, sigh....

I barely understand what you just said...

 

[Animator]

This is what a domain name landrush looks like:
HosterStats.com: Domain Name Landrush Graph for .asia sTLD

The .co ccTLD is just after the start of its landrush phase and its registration volume is far higher than normal.

Regards...jmcc

.asia is a stupid TLD because first of all, it's a long TLD, secondly it's a racial TLD... i mean seriously what's next? .negro? .latino? .white?, third it's restricted to people who lives in "asia" and fourth, what is "asia" anyways ?

Asia is not a ccTLD, it's a gTLD pretending to be a .cn .ru .ph .au .in .pk .jp .in ect... all in one but failed because Google see it like a normal gTLD. You can geo-target americas with it !!! Totally pointless.

Also, google don't see .asia as a ccTLD, they see it like normal gTLD without purpose.

I would hate to have a domain name that targets a human race. It's just not right. Also, these people are still at war with each other.