discuss A worldwide shift away from .com

[MapleDots]

A worldwide shift away from .com?

Could it be?


I'm going to say that ccTLD's as a single entity are now the most relevant extensions period.
If you look at the UK, Germany, China, Russia, India, and Canada the ccTLD's are more widely used than the .com's.

There are a few exceptions like apple who will use apple.com/ca instead of apple.ca but the vast majority of companies like BestBuy.com will use BestBuy.ca for Canada. It absolutely shocks me at how dominant .ca is in Canada.

As the oldest extension .com's continue to have the biggest resale value but if you were to add up the sheer number of all ccTLD's they would easily surpass .com registrations.

So because each country code is unique the ccTLD's can never have the same numbers of registrations as the .com's but if you were to consider all the ccTLD's as one extension they would comfortably surpass .com registrations.

I think the trend of ccTLD's will continue on an upward scale, I think .com has plateaued and will only see nominal growth moving forward. ccTLD's will continue to grow as each countries economy grows and becomes more connected.

As a Canadian, when I do a google search I don't even look at .com's because I want to shop in Canadian dollars and same goes for people from Russia, China, UK etc.

As the Trumps of the world alienate other countries you will see more of a shift away from .com as other countries try to distance themselves from the USA.

Take Canada as a for instance.... the greatest ally the USA has ever had and Trump blew off Canadians as if they were yesterday's news, slapping tariffs on their goods and basically saying very inappropriate things about their leader. By comparisons other countries have been very reserved to bring any criticisms towards the USA. It is undeniable though that the populations of each country are feeling more and more alienated by the usa and because .com is perceived as being dominantly U.S. the entire future of the extension will see limited growth as other countries bring in protective measures for their economies.

So I personally think the future growth of the .com industry is directly linked to how open the US economy is. With Tariffs on other countries there will be repercussions and the .com's will slowly start to erode as other countries shy away from anything that could even remotely be considered american.

Please try to keep this a civil discussion and understand that you cannot look at the .com from yesterday, we are looking at times that are very different where most countries are looking seriously at protecting their own economies by asking the population to shop local products. A .com will NEVER be a local address unless it is in the USA.

In closing..... it is entirely feasible that another extension like .global could eventually become the new international extension for companies as the world distances itself from the USA. Will it be .global, .international, .business etc.... that is anyone's guess but I can tell you for sure, a lot of companies will second guess relying on a .com for local commerce.

 

[MapleDots]

Dot com is still king. Over 90% of companies still use dot com versus any other extension.

Again if you use my example of companies that do commerce in numerous countries they own several ccTLD's to every one .com.

 

[MapleDots]

@MapleDots is from Canada.
.ca is king in Canada. Like for real. Maybe thats why his opinion is biased.

.ca is tiny compared to .uk or de or .cn

Take Germany as an example.... the .de market is absolutely huge and many domainers make their living on just .de domains. Sure they will sell .com's in the mix but if one does it right one can make great money off the ccTLD.

With most companies adopting multiple ccTLD's for their businesses the job of the .com will be that of a collector domain ie.....

You go to BestBuy.com and it will take you to your country of origin as in BestBuy.ca and BestBuy.de and etc.
One would have to be blind to not see that the .com will eventually be out numbered and hence the point of this article.

 

[MapleDots]

One final point....

If you subtract the sheer amount of .com domains hoarded by speculators from the actual number of domains in use for commerce then ccTLD's will absolutely tower over the .com's

Remember each worldwide company has many ccTLD's compared to a single .com.

 

[MapleDots]

Not good numbers and cctlds have been going nowhere for years.

Sorry but that is not quite correct....

ccTLD's are actually in use and readily available for businesses as they need them. In most cases there is no need to hoard them because by adding a second word in most cases you can register your desired domain. The usage stats you see on them are domains mostly in use as opposed to millions of them collected for speculation.

 

[MapleDots]

The OP treats cctlds as single entity

Yes exactly.... that is the whole point of my article comparing the .ccTLD's as a single entity to the .com's.

 

[MapleDots]

The current political climate is FOR SURE affecting the relationship of other countries to the USA. I have never seen as many people in Canada starting to shift against their northern neighbors as when Trump took office. Businesses ar no longer making the assumption that the USA is open to their commerce. With that in mind the .com will not be as dominant as it once was. In fact with Tariffs and such Canada and Mexico would be ill advised to rely on anything coming out of the mouth of the current President. He has shown that previous Treaties and contracts mean nothing. THerefore with the .com domain's predominantly under American control world opinion on that extension will change. In fact I am certain that it will eventually affect the numbers.

Lets look at China...... hmmm who can argue the market for .com's has dramatically shrunk, especially so in recent times. In fact the shrink started to happen even before the current political instability happened. Add that instability on top and there are going to be some meager times for .com.

There will always be the top sales in .com but more and more speculators will throw in the towel as their .com inventory sits stagnant.

 

[wwwweb]

When you own the .com extension you never have to worry about second best.

I never want to build a business at the second best location, or with the second best construction company.

I sold a 5 figure .com keywordsystems.com, I offered them the keyword.systems for $500 they were not even interested. Silicon Valley startup who had some very nice exits previously. I gave him a quote, he made a very close counter, and submitted payment the next day. All they wanted was the .com, they said they didn’t need the gtld, surprising even for a cheap brand protection, maybe they come for it later who knows.

.com is not exclusive to the US, but many of the top countries license technologies from
the US, or sell into their spend happy Market, whereas Canadians are more spend thrift when it comes to spending their disposable income than Americans. In the .ca market you can hand reg LLL.ca’s, one very well known investor who made headlines 2 years ago for some very negative news kept the .ca aftermarket lit for many years, until the unfortunate.

As for a global online strategy I doubt many global companies are going to reshift on the bias of a one term, or maybe a president who doesn’t even finish a single term in office as the cloud continues to grow darker with all the investigations.

All I know is we all want to own the best, and not have to look back over our shoulders. Go back, and read Mind and Machines PR from 2015 when they proclaimed .com as dead, ironically the two founders who started that were kicked out of their own company a few years after, and did not go willingly.

GTLDS are not new, we heard the same buzz with .biz back in the day, .mobi etc... If you go look back, all the alt extension specultors are gone, .com investors are standing stronger than ever.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I think ultimately what China and India do as their economies take more and more of the world market will have the biggest impact on whether .com remains dominant. As I understand it so far in China most companies seeking global markets have stuck with .com. I think country codes will stay strong in Europe and Canada (and some other places). I think .com will always be strong. What I am less sure of is whether it will continue to be almost (not quite) as big as everything else combined.

Although his argument was based more around censorship, this article quotes the co-founder of Google that the Internet would split into two parts within 10 years, one US led and one China led. I could see a serious breakdown in global relations as possibly hastening that.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technol...predicts-china-will-cause-internet-split-two/

If I had a choice, I would personally prefer a domain extension that:

• Was not ultimately controlled by the government of any country (that rules out the generic country codes, as well as .net and .com)
• Was not operated as a for-profit business by any company (that rules out virtually all of the ngTLDs)
• Had long term promises with respect to renewal costs.
• Has the respect of the world.
• Is operated as a sort of co-operative by all of those who are invested in it (somewhat like the CIRA model)

The first two leave me with I think only a handful of ngTLDs run by nonprofits (but they are all narrowly focussed and the next two considerations on my list rule them out) and to some degree .org. I only have 2 .org in my portfolio currently, but based on how it has done in real world use in last decade, how it is managed, and sales data from last year, my New Year's Resolution is to look for niches where .org makes sense and pick up more of them.

Thanks for the informative and well argued points, everyone.

Bob

 

[wwwweb]

I think ultimately what China and India do as their economies take more and more of the world market will have the biggest impact on whether .com remains dominant. As I understand it so far in China most companies seeking global markets have stuck with .com. I think country codes will stay strong in Europe and Canada (and some other places). I think .com will always be strong. What I am less sure of is whether it will continue to be almost (not quite) as big as everything else combined.

Although his argument was based more around censorship, this article from the co-founder of Google that the Internet would split into two parts within 10 years, one US led and one China led, is at least interesting reading.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technol...predicts-china-will-cause-internet-split-two/

If I had a choice, I would personally prefer a domain extension that:

• Was not ultimately controlled by the government of any country (that rules out the generic country codes, as well as .net and .com)
• Was not operated as a for-profit business by any company (that rules out virtually all of the ngTLDs)
• Had long term promises with respect to renewal costs.
• Has the respect of the world.
• Is operated as a sort of co-operative by all of those who are invested in it (somewhat like the CIRA model)

The first two leave me with I think only a handful of ngTLDs run by nonprofits (but they are all narrowly focussed and the next two considerations on my list rule them out) and to some degree .org. I only have 2 .org in my portfolio currently, but based on how it has done in real world use in last decade, how it is managed, and sales data from last year, my New Year's Resolution is to look for niches where .org makes sense and pick up more of them.

Thanks for the informative and well argued points, everyone.

Bob

Many of the gtlds run by special
interest, or non profit are restrictive, therefore will never be able to market their existsance to the general public, or even within their own industry. They will never get enough attention to gain traction, .com is default which is why even 50 cent at the .club launch party when he was doing his speech said .com for the web URL which was a total cluster duck. He was paid by .club there, but you can’t fault him because even though he was probably paid 5 figures to say 50inthe.club he said 50inthe.com club, it’s a default trigger we all naturally have.

 

[MapleDots]

When you own the .com extension you never have to worry about second best.

I never want to build a business at the second best location, or with the second best construction company.

I sold a 5 figure .com keywordsystems.com, I offered them the keyword.systems for $500 they were not even interested. Silicon Valley startup who had some very nice exits previously. I gave him a quote, he made a very close counter, and submitted payment the next day. All they wanted was the .com, they said they didn’t need the gtld, surprising even for a cheap brand protection, maybe they come for it later who knows.

.com is not exclusive to the US, but many of the top countries license technologies from
the US, or sell into their spend happy Market, whereas Canadians are more spend thrift when it comes to spending their disposable income than Americans.

As for a global online strategy I doubt many global companies are going to reshift on the bias of a one term, or maybe a president who doesn’t even finish a single term in office as the cloud continues to grow darker with all the investigations.

All I know is we all want to own the best, and not have to look back over our shoulders. Go back, and read Mind and Machines PR from 2015 when they proclaimed .com as dead, ironically the two founders who started that were kicked out of their own company a few years after, and did not go willingly.

GTLDS are not new, we heard the same buzz with .biz back in the day, .mobi etc... If you go look back, all the alt extension specultors are gone, .com investors are standing stronger than ever.

Your post mostly talks about gTLD's which are not ccTLD's.

Look at most companies in question that buy the .com, they are using it as a collector domain and then shifting to the matching ccTLD for each country. Look at the top 10 retailers world wide as an example.

The question is not what will be stronger .com or ccTLD's as a whole because .com cannot keep up to ccTLD's as a whole. The question is only if and when another worlwide extension finally gets a foothold and BECAUSE of the political climate companies start to distance themselves from the .com.

 

[MapleDots]

Many of the gtlds run by special
interest, or non profit are restrictive, therefore will never be able to market their existsance to the general public, or even within their own industry. They will never get enough attention to gain traction, .com is default which is why even 50 cent at the .club launch party when he was going his speech said .com for the web URL which was a total cluster duck.

CCTLD's not gTLD's

Most countries strongly encourage their businesses to use ccTLD's

 

[imadoer]

A lot of companies will start off using thier country code. As they grow and want to go global they will try and aquire the .com not the .io not the .ca not the .frog .....THE .COM

.global wont over take .com people don't recognize .global for shit. You know what they do recognize? .COM

STOP BEING A HATER. .CA WILL NEVER BE .COM

 

[UmerK]

Here's my two cents on this one.

I don't see any notable shift, CCTLDs in some countries have always been preferred .com.au and .ca are two examples I can think. I think cctlds and com are not in competition or alternatives of each other they rather go hand in hand.

Also on a side note, I have sold at least 7 Canadian .com geos in last 30 days and there's only been one reply that stated that I would be interested if its a .ca, I think that speaks of the volume of how valuable com is even in markets like Canada where cctld is widely used.

I would also like to point out that on my outbounds I notice that Canadian folks have some great category killer .coms, they seem to own .ca as well.

 

[wwwweb]

Here's my two cents on this one.

I don't see any notable shift, CCTLDs in some countries have always been preferred .com.au and .ca are two examples I can think. I think cctlds and com are not in competition or alternatives of each other they rather go hand in hand.

Also on a side note, I have sold at least 7 Canadian .com geos in last 30 days and there's only been one reply that stated that I would be interested if its a .ca, I think that speaks of the volume of how valuable com is even in markets like Canada where cctld is widely used.

I would also like to point out that on my outbounds I notice that Canadian folks have some great category killer .coms, they seem to own .ca as well.

Do you guys realize some of the best .com portfolios were owned by Canadians Kevin Hamm, Yun Ye, Frank Schilling, Garry Chernoff, Shaun Philford, Kevin Lau, etc...

If you collectively look at the quality of .com’s these guys own, or had owned it
would be in the top 10 percent of .com’s.

Names like jet.com, lawyer.com, bible.com etc...

Most Canadian companies who employ a larger base of employees need the border partner of the US to stay in business, without cross border sales into that market they are out of business.

 

[MapleDots]

A lot of companies will start off using thier country code. As they grow and want to go global they will try and aquire the .com not the .io not the .ca not the .frog the .com

.global wont over take .com people don't recognize .global for sh*t. You know what they do recognize? .COM

STOP BEING A HATER. .CA WILL NEVER BE .COM

That is totally out of context to my opening post, I never once implied a ccTLD will become a .com.
I also did not imply that .global will be, I said .global or something similar.

So no hate here, just open discussion and nobody is attacking .com

 

[MapleDots]

lso on a side note, I have sold at least 7 Canadian .com geos in last 30 days

Really???

I have been selling geo .com's since 2000 in one way or another, with what you are implying geo .com's in Canada has better traction than .ca?

Really??? Hmm...

Would you like to share where your 7 Canadian Geo .coms are in use?

Thats like saying geo .de domains have better traction in Germany or the UK as the ccTLD.
That is not true even for a second and I can tell you that as an experienced Geo .com seller for almost 20 years.

 

[MapleDots]

Do you guys realize some of the best .com portfolios were owned by Canadians Kevin Hamm, Yun Ye, Frank Schilling, Garry Chernoff, Shaun Pickford, Kevin Lau, etc...

Yup... some smart people right from the get go but with absolutely enormous unsold inventory.

 

[imadoer]

That is totally out of context to my opening post, I never once implied a ccTLD will become a .com.
I also did not imply that .global will be, I said .global or something similar.

So no hate here, just open discussion and nobody is attacking .com

Worldwide move from dot .com to cctlds

The com military has taken this as a act of war!

We are prepared to defend against all terrorists at all costs!

 

[deez007]

This is something I suspected as well which is why I started grabbing some decent ccTLD domains, however I have to admit that sales have been rather slow on even good CCTLD's.

 

[MapleDots]

Most Canadian companies who employ a larger base of employees need the border partner of the US to stay in business, without cross border sales into that market they are out of business.

Trust me... a shift has begun, with the new protectionist environment in the USA Canada is actively traveling the world establishing stronger ties to other countries. The current US administration gave us no choice but to do so.

 

[UmerK]

Really???

I have been selling geo .com's since 2000 in one way or another, with what you are implying geo .com's in Canada has better traction than .ca?

Really??? Hmm...

Would you like to share where your 7 Canadian Geo .coms are in use?

Thats like saying geo .de domains have better traction in Germany or the UK as the ccTLD.
That is not true even for a second and I can tell you that as an experienced Geo .com seller for almost 20 years.

With quite a few REALLLY? in there, I feel there's sense of superiority and sarcasm mixed. I did not imply what you said, what I said just nullifies your argument.

I have sold .COM Canadian geos and that indicates there is no notable or a sensational shift you claim there is, just because you said so I will tell you two geos I have sold in last 2 months. Calgary/wigs and Calgary/Garage/Builders

The price wasn't high but it was outbound and I made a profit, if you want I could send you invoices for them as well, I did not say they were in use or not but I SOLD them.

As far as .ca is concerned, I would only know once I experiment the market but I am quite sure I can get a lot of quality .ca geos compared to .com Canadian market geos.

 

[MapleDots]

This is something I suspected as well which is why I started grabbing some decent ccTLD domains, however I have to admit that sales have been rather slow on even good CCTLD's.

Speculation in the ccTLD world is very difficult because availability is so good.

Example....

I had a low ball offer on Red(dot)ca and the person asking for it immediately said they will not pay a high dollar value for it because they can just add a second word and register it for 10 bucks.

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY THE CCTLDS will become more popular. Good availability without the need to overpay speculators like us. That is why I switched focus and am now only purchasing single word ccTLD's. For those eventually there will be a buyer but for most two word combinations there will be limited resale because of the large availability to draw on.

Everytime I talk about this I am not singling out a specific ccTLD but talking about them as a whole.

 

[UmerK]

There is no way a cctld or any other extension can survive email and traffic leak without being affects - PERIOD

This above is the single most important reason why .com will always be king, I have a catch-all setup on a .com which is in use in .co.uk and I get tons of emails from customers requesting refund, wanting to buy something and what not.

CCTLD and COM are not competitors, they add value to each other.

 

[MapleDots]

With quite a few REALLLY? in there, I feel there's sense of superiority and sarcasm mixed. I did not imply what you said, what I said just nullifies your argument.

I have sold .COM Canadian geos and that indicates there is no notable or a sensational shift you claim there is, just because you said so I will tell you two geos I have sold in last 2 months. Calgary/wigs and Calgary/Garage/Builders

The price wasn't high but it was outbound and I made a profit, if you want I could send you invoices for them as well, I did not say they were in use or not but I SOLD them.

As far as .ca is concerned, I would only know once I experiment the market but I am quite sure I can get a lot of quality .ca geos compared to .com Canadian market geos.

There is very little demand for geo .com's in Canada.
I can sell you some if you like.

Seriously though.... I'm not making fun, just stating a fact.

 

[UmerK]

There is very little demand for geo .com's in Canada.
I can sell you some if you like.

I respect your opinion but the Canadian market seems to be working a lot better for me for now. When I run out of my lists and have no more to reg for $1, I will probably hit you up and buy some