news A Threat to the Importance of Domain Names

[deez007]

Domain names face a number of threats, including AI personal assistants.

Our industry seems to spend a lot of energy battling between the relative value of old top level domain names versus new ones. It doesn’t spend enough time paying attention to the threats that the domain industry faces as a whole.

As I explained on the DNW Predictions podcast last week, one of these possible threats is starting to appear.

A lot of people have said that voice control is a threat to domain names. I disagree. The idea of people telling their web browser where to go via voice does not eliminate the need for navigational signposts like domain names.

Yet, we are now inviting a new way of getting information and ordering goods directly into our living room: Amazon’s Alexa, Google Home and the like. We also have AI-powered personal assistants like Google Assistant and Siri.

Full Article Here:
http://domainnamewire.com/2017/01/05/threat-importance-domain-names/

 

[Silentptnr]

I've seen this through a group of Amazon sellers that a domain name is optional. Some top sellers that makes 4-5 figures sales doesn't have a website, solely selling using Amazon market place. They use gmail for email, facebook for networking, sharing discounts, and marketing. Google Adwords for marketing that direct them to their Amazon stores.

Even going to event/seminars from these Amazon sellers doesn't really discuss much about domain name. It is more on how to market their products using Amazon. Because Amazon is also a wall garden, similar to Facebok.

We have so many supplies but low in demand. Domainer needs to diversify to stay in this business.

IMHO

I often tell small clients to wait on their own website and to build out on fb etc. They just dont have the budget or expertise to manage their own website.. I have seen so many small businesses abandon their own websites because they are too cheap or underfunded to do it right. Some still go forward and some thank me.

 

[TheWatcher]

I agree.

New Entrepreneurs or small business, prefer to have their own FB page simple to manage, no cost to them. Can't beat that. I establish good connection hopefully will contact again and move on to the next client

 

[carob]

1. Domain Radio Test is more important than ever. (i.e. "Alexa go to trip dot com" will hardly ever go to TRYP dot com) that domain was sold recently btw...
2. If anything I think domains are even more important than before, as pre-Alexa - people googled your site and it was at the mercy of Google/SEO. Now its probably gonna be "Alexa open namepros.com and read my inbox." vs. google "namepros" and if someone SEO'ed their way into 1 pos.....

Really interesting point about what happens when you give instructions to go to a site - will some form of bookmarking happen? Similar in virtual environments - what outside sites do you connect to and how is that decided?

Does the virtual assistant try and interpret stuff, for example if you say to go to a domain that is not registered? Will there be a lot of new traffic to cough.com errr.com and um.com, not to mention waitaminute.com and ohsh*t.com?

There probably are several classes of interactions, where domains could behave differently:

Ask for info.

Instruct to buy.

Go to website.

Ask for advice.

Access bookmarks or history or preferences.


Google have said that voice search means people inputting longer phrases than they would type.

 

[platey]

And that is precisely what Amazon and Facebook want to do - kill the open internet and keep you in their walled gardens.

I have actually seen businesses shut down a website and just sell through Amazon marketplace. No need for a domain then, especially an
aftermarket one.

where amazon win etc is that even tho you actually have stock that you can touch right now in your shop home office or warehouse etc amazon can pick it pack it and send it to your customer cheaper than you can and your looking at your stock etc

plus you have order stock in pay postage etc and sort out returns etc it just easier to let amazon do it

plus a potential customer has to leave amazon website which they are probably already on and find your website but if they can find your product on amazon they can get it delivered free with prime etc

but as Google make so much money from rankin domains eg digital addresses etc and even the audio assistants will provide info via audio ranking ? if domains were to become out of date etc audio rankings would be the new domains or speech marks

 

[platey]

alexa in vehicles will revolutionize cars etc especially in traffic jams etc with people asking alexa why has the traffic suddenly stopped and if alexa is linked to video alexa will produce video footage of the traffic situation other visual tweets by audio request when vehicle stationary etc

 

[Sorror]

I think there is much similarity between all this and Snap's Spectacles. The latter redefines video recording to some extent, but will never replace digital cameras. Voice assistants are here to make some activities easier and less time-consuming. But their overall influence on the shape of Internet or domain names in particular will be rather insignificant in my opinion. They are part of IoT and that environment will see less non-vocal interactions in general.

Voice assistants, while very useful, are yet another manifestation of current strategy employed by the market leaders: to bind us to their services in a more aggressive way, through physical objects and removal of traditional, open user interfaces. First they let you find what's best for you. Now they tell you what's best for you. Perhaps some day they won't even ask.

 

[Silentptnr]

My new business cards this year will only have my domain name on it...nothing else.

 

[platey]

I think there is much similarity between all this and Snap's Spectacles. The latter redefines video recording to some extent, but will never replace digital cameras. Voice assistants are here to make some activities easier and less time-consuming. But their overall influence on the shape of Internet or domain names in particular will be rather insignificant in my opinion. They are part of IoT and that environment will see less non-vocal interactions in general.

Voice assistants, while very useful, are yet another manifestation of current strategy employed by the market leaders: to bind us to their services in a more aggressive way, through physical objects and removal of traditional, open user interfaces. First they let you find what's best for you. Now they tell you what's best for you. Perhaps some day they won't even ask.

we aren't that far away from the internet being just one website onus onefomain name if that even

but to get that stage - investment strategies will change

currently investors decide whether an investment is a good investment or not before they invest

that will soon change in tech start ups because they become too successful too quickly and as such it won't be long before the competition to buy start ups will be huge and one tech giants will soon just buy pretty much anything tech start up etc
because by doing so its far cheaper long term to buy a tech start up failure and let it go than not buying the ne t snap chat or fa book and having to pay stupid amount of billions to buy it the ne its worth 200bn + etc and that is the way to pretty much own the internet on one domain name

 

[platey]

My new business cards this year will only have my domain name on it...nothing else.

back in the day a businesses used business cards purely so that potential customers could contact them etc

but now websites are effectively nothing mote than a business card

but website owners want to make money from the ads from the potential buyer that visits their website and make money from the sale of their products and service from the same customer

 

[Kate]

Remember what they were saying already 20 years ago: domain names will become less relevant/irrelevant because navigation is increasingly taking place through search engines.
Yeah right.

 

[Addison]

IMO, all of this is going to make premium domain names more important than ever.

 

[offthehandle]

Whats dangerous is the possibility of search engines capturing website data and repacking web content to provide a complete web experience without the need to leave the safety of their site.

It is already happening now, "People Also Ask", this new box thing under the search results where Google certainly must have live real person who goes to the particular website(s) and this editor creates a brief, succinct definition from a particular reference article, and put their own rewritten little definition up from that top ranking website eliminating the need to search any further at the website that they originally got the information! Google DOES put the URL there, to credit the website which is a "patronizing" sort of credit. The problem is that now the searcher/user has no motivation at that point, once the question is sufficiently answered. I have done it recently myself. Reduces time when you look up definitions on certain words.

 

[Silentptnr]

I think it is already happening now, "People Also Ask", this new box under the search results where Google must have live real person editors who chop out quite abit of a particular reference article, and put their own little definition up from that top ranking website eliminating the need to search any further at a website that they originally go the information. Google DOES put the URL there, but the user has no motivation at that point, once the question is sufficiently answered. I have done it recently myself. Reduces time when you look up definitions on certain words.

Exactly! Google is putting alot more out there every day.

 

[deez007]

Some interesting view points here indeed.

IMO the biggest threat to the internet as a whole is government trying to regulate it.

I just watched the Snowden movie last night.... man, it's crazy what goverments are getting away with.... As much as I was following the Snowden case from day 1, it was good to have an accurate account of what transpired in a well formatted movie plot...

I suggest everyone watches it.....

 

[Sara Vivanco]

I don't think there is a true threat, after all, we all want to be unique, we are more and more people online, and the new domains ease the pressure to the old ones in getting attractive names!

 

[deez007]

I don't think there is a true threat, after all, we all want to be unique, we are more and more people online, and the new domains ease the pressure to the old ones in getting attractive names!

Yeah, I think the author of the article was probably just trying to create some "hype" to get more eyes on page.

 

[parkerpeter223]

Yeah , It doesn't seems to be of much threat.

 

[deez007]

My new business cards this year will only have my domain name on it...nothing else.

Hmm this got me thinking..... instead of actual business cards. A good invention (assuming it does not exist already) would be a sort of "button" let's say a tiny device the size of a button. that u keep clipped on to ur shirt or in ur wallet or wherever u would normally keep u business cards....Then when u want to give someone ur details u just whip out ur button and tap their phone and boom..ur details are sent to their phone... the button ideally should not require a separate app that needs to be downloaded but able to integrate with the existing contacts system on IOS and Android phones. Maybe even a double tap for "personal contact details" and a single tap for "business contact details"

Hmmm sounds like a nice idea to use to launch a Kickstarter / IndieGoGo campaign on ..nice name for the business and domain could be ContactButton.com

Run along now... go get it developed and launch a crowdfunding campaign - take full credit just give me 10% royalties on all the funds raised

 

[Kuffy]

It is a very real threat. Surfers seem to want a one stop solution, and don't seem to realise what they lose as a result of this. I've tried to get people to use direct navigation, but they insist on typing the url into their google search box, even if they want to go to ebay. It has become worse, and Google chrome now combines the search box and adress bar into one unit. This means that they can control your access, and re-direct if they feel like it. In fact I'm finding that if I make a typo, then the browser clears my entry, and sends to to some location that it selects. This also happens if your registrar has a problem, and your name is removed from the zone.

You still need a way to send the surfer to an IP address, and domain names are still the best way to guide the surfer. What will happen if Google reserves a block of IPs, and then offers its own addressing system to pull up websites. It could use a system such as ->tickets, or ??cars - how much appeal would that have for surfers, and how much could they charge for the names?

 

[HotKey]

Hmm this got me thinking..... instead of actual business cards. A good invention (assuming it does not exist already) would be a sort of "button" let's say a tiny device the size of a button. that u keep clipped on to ur shirt or in ur wallet or wherever u would normally keep u business cards....Then when u want to give someone ur details u just whip out ur button and tap their phone and boom..ur details are sent to their phone... the button ideally should not require a separate app that needs to be downloaded but able to integrate with the existing contacts system on IOS and Android phones. Maybe even a double tap for "personal contact details" and a single tap for "business contact details"

Hmmm sounds like a nice idea to use to launch a Kickstarter / IndieGoGo campaign on ..nice name for the business and domain could be ContactButton.com

Run along now... go get it developed and launch a crowdfunding campaign - take full credit just give me 10% royalties on all the funds raised

Or just plaster your personalized QR code somewhere on your shirt or tie. Have it as an embedded redirect url to your site. A simple scan, and viola!.

I did this a few years back when QR was all the hype, but instead made this cool printout and stuck it in a picture frame hung on my living room wall. People would walk in and ask what it was, and I'd tell them to just scan it to find out.

 

[carob]

Hmm this got me thinking..... instead of actual business cards. A good invention (assuming it does not exist already) would be a sort of "button" let's say a tiny device the size of a button. that u keep clipped on to ur shirt or in ur wallet or wherever u would normally keep u business cards....Then when u want to give someone ur details u just whip out ur button and tap their phone and boom..ur details are sent to their phone..

Well QR code, NFC tag, beacon... on newer Android phones they can act as beacon transmitters so everyone within a certain radius can get alerts about you in the Chrome browser without you even buying a beacon. So the future is already here.

But those nearby things they browse in the Chrome browser need urls which mean they need domains...

 

[deez007]

Well QR code, NFC tag, beacon... on newer Android phones they can act as beacon transmitters so everyone within a certain radius can get alerts about you in the Chrome browser without you even buying a beacon. So the future is already here.

But those nearby things they browse in the Chrome browser need urls which mean they need domains...

Yep, the technology exists with QR codes and NFC tags but I'm talking about a stand alone button...that doesn't communicate with anything unless u turn it on and it must be tapped on to a device to transmit...purely to act as a business card... the reason why people still use business cards boils down to them still being the most quickest and convenient way to give someone ur details..chances are the person will go home and enter ur details onto their phone and then file ur card away... as much as even QR codes work fairly well...it's still somewhat cumbersome and not as quick...u still gotta whip out ur phone.. activate the camera and scan the code... handing someone ur business card is still easier... but now if u could have a button that woudl take the same "effort" as handing someone ur business card... quick and easy ...just tap and ur details are send to the person phone... ... if it was available thats something I would definitely buy..... even though QR codes are free... I would stil pay to have a Contact Buttton purely for the convenience and simplicity

 

[Silentptnr]

Google actually started displaying "personalized" search results years ago. At first it was really bad because when doing seo, the search results would fool me into thinking my sites were on page 1. Then over time I just kind of forgot about it.

Google is so crazy complex, its like ai.

 

[deez007]

Google actually started displaying "personalized" search results years ago. At first it was really bad because when doing seo, the search results would fool me into thinking my sites were on page 1. Then over time I just kind of forgot about it.

Google is so crazy complex, its like ai.

Yep, thats why when checking sites SEO, you had to always always ensure you not logged into any Google accounts - as it would manipulate the results based on ur personal preferences

 

[Silentptnr]

Yep, thats why when checking sites SEO, you had to always always ensure you not logged into any Google accounts - as it would manipulate the results based on ur personal preferences

Exactly!