discuss About.com Rebrands to DotDash.com ...A Good Move?

[Silentptnr]

Why would they do that? If you go to About.com you are redirected to the new name DotDash.com...

"About.com -- the 20-year-old general interest site with hundreds of thousands of articles about everything from "The right way to handwash clothes" to "What to do if you hate your in-laws" -- has a new mandate, and a new name to to go with it.

The New York-based, IAC-owned company, which actually began as MiningCo.com, is now "Dotdash," a nod to the company's history of having a "dot" in its previous names and logos, and a "dash" meant to represent what comes next, said CEO Neil Vogel. The dot and dash also represent the letter "A" in Morse code."

Source: http://adage.com/article/tech/a-dotdash/308884/

I have no idea why they would go from About.com to DotDash.com. What does everyone else think?

 

[offthehandle]

If we don't live where the market is, then we don't know the brand name. We are looking at this from a western perspective. Buy while the dot com is valuable, short etc those customers than spent $38 billion voted with their brand they knew.

 

[Silentptnr]

Here in california, DOT means department of transportation.

They should have created or bought a true brandable.

 

[Silentptnr]

I have a DotDomain up for auction right now. Not even a $1 bid.

Thats how much we like DotDomains.

Maybe know you will see my brilliance.

 

[offthehandle]

Here in california, DOT means department of transportation.

They should have created or bought a true brandable.

They do.

http://dot.ca.gov/

 

[MapleDots]

If we don't live where the market is, then we don't know the brand name. We are looking at this from a western perspective. Buy while the dot com is valuable, short etc those customers than spent $38 billion voted with their brand they knew.

Absolutely correct except for one thing...

In our western society their name is now on the previous page and I am trying my best to remember it so I can go there and buy something. Oh, the hell with it.... I'll just punch in buy.com and hope like hell they kept the forward.

 

[offthehandle]

Absolutely correct except for one thing...

In our western society their name is now on the previous page and I am trying my best to remember it so I can go there and buy something. Oh, the hell with it.... I'll just punch in buy.com and hope like hell they kept the forward.

After this thread, I will completely forget both. I have not used buy in years and forgot about them with Amazon ranking everywhere... the new name, aw... just forget them they don't want your business, they want you to go to Amazon.ca anyway instead. lol.

 

[MapleDots]

After this thread, I will completely forget both. I have not used buy in years and forgot about them with Amazon ranking everywhere... the new name, aw... just forget them they don't want your business, they want you to go to Amazon.ca anyway instead. lol.

HeHe, don't get me started..

Chromebook on Amazon.com $289.00

Same Chromebook on Amazon.ca $689.00 (hehe, what is the closest icon for f off that we have?)

 

[JoeE]

Weird move, but it's understandable that they rebrand because they're not growing (getting too stale). Will the next move be the sale of About.com domain? Who knows, it comes with a great SEO profile.

 

[Silentptnr]

HeHe, don't get me started..

Chromebook on Amazon.com $289.00

Same Chromebook on Amazon.ca $689.00 (hehe, what is the closest icon for f off that we have?)

Are you serious? 689?

 

[Silentptnr]

I guess saying We are now dotdash is better than saying We closed About.

 

[Premiums]

so why dash?

 

[MapleDots]

Are you serious? 689?

Just generalizing to make a point but traditionally it is a far higher price even after you factor in the exchange rate.

 

[Silentptnr]

So many internet type businesses incorporate the ".com" into their generic names. Flowers is really Flowers Dot Com and so on. Generic one word domains sound better when said with the extension imo.

 

[JoeE]

they will discard all ranked websites and re-present the information themselves.

Remember their famous mantra "Do no evil"? Well, they morphed from that into the epitome of evil. Google should have "the devil" as their new logo/mascot.

 

[Silentptnr]

Big G sure sucks at selling domains.

 

[Kingslayer]

About.com not for sale guys.

Was worth a try though.

 

[Silentptnr]

About.com not for sale guys.

Was worth a try though.

yet...

 

[MapleDots]

About.com not for sale guys.

Was worth a try though.

HeHe, for now..... when the business motto tanks they will start selling off assets and the domain name is the only asset they have unless you count the chairs with the big ass prints on them as they sat for hours trying to think up this moronic decision in the first place.

 

[Silentptnr]

HeHe, for now..... when the business motto tanks they will start selling off assets and the domain name is the only asset they have unless you count the chairs with the big ass prints on them as they sat for hours trying to think up this moronic decision in the first place.

That's funny.

 

[Silentptnr]

The same corp that owns About/DotDash also owns Ask.com. As a matter of fact, the whois for DotDash, shows the Technical Contact info of a person and their ask.com email address.

 

[Silentptnr]

and..About has even bought google ads because they are not ranking at all for DD.

 

[MapleDots]

The same corp that owns About/DotDash also owns Ask.com. As a matter of fact, the whois for DotDash, shows the Technical Contact info of a person and their ask.com email address.

Maybe they should have asked for some advice before rebranding

Unless ask is becoming DotQuestionMark

 

[offthehandle]

HeHe, don't get me started..
Chromebook on Amazon.com $289.00
Same Chromebook on Amazon.ca $689.00 (hehe, what is the closest icon for f off that we have?)

Serious? wow. Maybe Buy .com or that name I already forgot would be cheaper.

 

[offthehandle]

and..About has even bought google ads because they are not ranking at all for DD.

It's the master plan of G. Make everybody pay them, no free listings. Wait til the entire SEO industry collapses and becomes obsolete.

 

[Silentptnr]

They should have just followed the trend to shorter names. They could have gone from About to just Out.