discuss Are gTLDs affecting .Com price and growth

[Isac]

I think there is a decline in demand and price of .com domains because of new gTLDs. What's your opinion ?

 

[Kate]

.com is widespread in Italy alongside .it.
.com is popular in the UK too.
However in the Netherlands .nl is everywhere. During my last trip I have seen just one .org, one .eu, and two or three .com that belonged to large companies like ING or Philips (Dutch companies).

Generally speaking Europeans like their local extension, many small businesses register their names in the local extension and even leave the .com unregistered... But there are still many companies that think the ccTLD is too limiting, and will go for .com instead. Some of the bigger companies will gladly use .com, or those that cater to foreigners like hotels, restaurants , or those that trade a lot with other countries.
Of course, the best to own both and cover bases.

But I am not convinced Europeans have a lot of interest in the other extensions. Also, they now have geoTLDs like .berlin or .paris that are in competition with the local extension. But they don't seem to be very successful. They are sometimes used by some official websites or public institutions.
I think there isn't a lot of upside to limiting your business scope to a single city/region. Likewise, many nTLDs are niche extensions and limit your scope too. While they add focus and precision, they still limit your scope. Good branding should be reasonably future-proof.

 

[dordomai]

I've just searched avvocato, there are 3 local companies using com in the first 40 results and two Us websites, one data base related and some US lawyers who are active in Italy, so not a big difference.

And probably they are a little bit higher percentage, 7-8% in the first pages because there are some big companies, who have offices in US and other english speaking countries, this dot not mean anything. If you will try to do the same for the first 100 pages or more, I'm sure that the percentage will be much lower.

if you look further you will see a lot of local italian lawyers going with a .com , on some pages 30% and upwards.

 

[Samaira Khan]

This is such an exceptional resource, to the point that you are giving and you give it away to no end. I love seeing locales that grasp the advantage of giving a quality resource for nothing. It is the old what bypasses comes around plan.

 

[dordomai]

.com is widespread in Italy alongside .it.
.com is popular in the UK too.
However in the Netherlands .nl is everywhere. During my last trip I have seen just one .org, one .eu, and two or three .com that belonged to large companies like ING or Philips (Dutch companies).

Generally speaking Europeans like their local extension, many small businesses register their names in the local extension and even leave the .com unregistered... But there are still many companies that think the ccTLD is too limiting, and will go for .com instead. Some of the bigger companies will gladly use .com, or those that cater to foreigners like hotels, restaurants , or those that trade a lot with other countries.
Of course, the best to own both and cover bases.

But I am not convinced Europeans have a lot of interest in the other extensions. Also, they now have geoTLDs like .berlin or .paris that are in competition with the local extension. But they don't seem to be very successful. They are sometimes used by some official websites or public institutions.
I think there isn't a lot of upside to limiting your business scope to a single city/region. Likewise, many nTLDs are niche extensions and limit your scope too. While they add focus and precision, they still limit your scope. Good branding should be reasonably future-proof.

smaller businesses and individuals also use the .com when it is cheaper than the cCTLD. .com is well known and they don't care that much about the URL.

It is not true that they see .com and think US, they see .com and think Internet/Website.

 

[boker]

smaller businesses and individuals also use the .com when it is cheaper than the cCTLD. .com is well known and they don't care that much about the URL.

It is not true that they see .com and think US, they see .com and think Internet/Website.

I've tried to find a statistic made by a australian company related to tld usage in europe, but I can't find it right now. They have asked random peoples in each country what site they will use/trust first if they want to shop/need info: example.fr(for France) or example.com/ngtlds
The result was between 61% to 87% will choose the cctld, the 61% being in UK, the average being around 80% in most countries. So, when you have 80% of the customers choosing a cctld, why would you want to use a com to loose tones of traffic? Also, 2,6% were saying that they will trust a ngtld, the example being a .insurance domain, for auto insurance.
Regarding .com being considered more as US tld than international I don't know about any statistic, but I can tell you what business owners and customers with whom I interact are saying and I'm dealing with peoples from 7-8 european countries, so it's not something true for just an area. It's simple, go on the street and ask peoples with what they associate example.com and example.it, or more accurate something like amazon.com and amazon.it and you will notice the response. In reality it's exactly the same, they use .com for US market and cctld for the rest of them, so probably it's their fault as well, if you ask somebody in Europe what tld they will use if they want to buy from a company from US, over 90% will say .com, I don't think you will find to many(if any) who will say something about using .us Also, .com being controlled by US government and US laws doesn't help, it's a difference of views between EU an US, from data protection to laws, that the 90% of business owners will choose to be protected by Eu laws in contrast with US laws, so being protected by local governments it's another plus for using a cctld.
As far as I know in Australia is the same, the wast majority will use a com.au than a .com, excepting hotels and international companies.

 

[dordomai]

I've tried to find a statistic made by a australian company related to tld usage in europe, but I can't find it right now. They have asked random peoples in each country what site they will use/trust first if they want to shop/need info: example.fr(for France) or example.com/ngtlds
The result was between 61% to 87% will choose the cctld, the 61% being in UK, the average being around 80% in most countries. So, when you have 80% of the customers choosing a cctld, why would you want to use a com to loose tones of traffic? Also, 2,6% were saying that they will trust a ngtld, the example being a .insurance domain, for auto insurance.
Regarding .com being considered more as US tld than international I don't know about any statistic, but I can tell you what business owners and customers with whom I interact are saying and I'm dealing with peoples from 7-8 european countries, so it's not something true for just an area. It's simple, go on the street and ask peoples with what they associate example.com and example.it, or more accurate something like amazon.com and amazon.it and you will notice the response. In reality it's exactly the same, they use .com for US market and cctld for the rest of them, so probably it's their fault as well, if you ask somebody in Europe what tld they will use if they want to buy from a company from US, over 90% will say .com, I don't think you will find to many(if any) who will say something about using .us Also, .com being controlled by US government and US laws doesn't help, it's a difference of views between EU an US, from data protection to laws, that the 90% of business owners will choose to be protected by Eu laws in contrast with US laws, so being protected by local governments it's another plus for using a cctld.
As far as I know in Australia is the same, the wast majority will use a com.au than a .com, excepting hotels and international companies.

i don't know what you are trying to say. I said that ccTLDs tend to dominate in the EU and the second most popular extension is .com.

Also if you think the .com will lose traffic to the ccTLD, the nGTLD will lose even more.

Everything you said will apply to the new extensions as well. So if you think businesses won't use a .com they are even less likely to use a new extension.

It is absolutely not true that they use .com for international sites only. A lot of local businesses in the EU use a .com in their native language to target a local audience.

I just looked up a local directory of italian lawyers and over 30% use a .com

 

[boker]

i don't know what you are trying to say. I said that ccTLDs tend to dominate in the EU and the second most popular extension is .com.

Also if you think the .com will lose traffic to the ccTLD, the nGTLD will lose even more.

Everything you said will apply to the new extensions as well. So if you think businesses won't use a .com they are even less likely to use a new extension.

It is absolutely not true that they use .com for international sites only. A lot of local businesses in the EU use a .com in their native language to target a local audience.

I just looked up a local directory of italian lawyers and over 30% use a .com

It's very possible that the lawyers segment it's something special, maybe they have offices in US or maybe they don't want italian government to have access to their data, so they use a tld which is not controled by authorities and it's much harder to reach them in US, it's a practice for politicians and real estate developers in my country as well, so that they can hide things. I have an offline business so I know very well how things works, I dare you to invest lot's of money in a business which targets customers in a certain EU country and try to use a .com, and you will see the result. Even more, try to access amazon.com from Italy or other EU country and you will see all the prices in US dollars, all the stuff coming from US and most of them don't deliver in Italy or they charge huge amounts for deliveries.

 

[dordomai]

It's very possible that the lawyers segment it's something special, maybe they have offices in US or maybe they don't want italian government to have access to their data, so they use a tld which is not controled by authorities and it's much harder to reach them in US, it's a practice for politicians and real estate developers in my country as well, so that they can hide things.

I did the same looking for italian architects and they use .com even more.

I see some italian MDs using .com as well.

.net and .org is also used.

 

[boker]

I did the same looking for italian architects and they use .com even more.

So there are two options, 1. the italians lied when they answered to the questionnaire that 80% of them trust .it businesses and not .com businesses, or 2. the lawyers, architects and others don't count to much on local customers and they target more of international/US based customers.

 

[dordomai]

So there are two options, 1. the italians lied when they answered to the questionnaire that 80% of them trust .it businesses and not .com businesses, or 2. the lawyers, architects and others don't count to much on local customers and they target more of international/US based customers.

i don't know how one can interpret this this way. .com is not viewed as US extension. It means internet/website to most people around the world.

I don't think they lied. Most italians will want an .it first, second will be .com, third will be .net, .org, then .eu, nGTLD, .info etc..

The questionnaire does not contradict anything we are seeing.

 

[boker]

i don't know how one can interpret this this way. .com is not viewed as US extension. It means internet/website to most people around the world.

I don't think they lied. Most italians will want an .it first, second will be .com, third will be .net, .org, then .eu, nGTLD, .info etc..

The questionnaire does not contradict anything we are seeing.

The question is if 80% of italians will choose/trust the .it website in front of the others, why an architect will want to choose .com to loose 80% of the traffic and use a .com? Also, I have one cousin who has a few shops related to baby products and he will extend to a few EU countries, but he will use a ngtld, not com. I bought him the .com be he said to drop it, he doesn't want to reach US market. Also, another friend with a business related to auto parts will use a ngtld and not .com. Also, one of the biggest wholesale dealers in the UK it's using only .co.uk, the com is for sale, but he doesn't care and he's dealing in all EU countries and a few other countries outside EU.

 

[dordomai]

The question is if 80% of italians will choose/trust the .it website in front of the others, why an architect will want to choose .com to loose 80% of the traffic and use a .com? .

why would they want to choose a nGTLD if they lose 98% of traffic to the ccTLD?

I bought him the .com be he said to drop it, he doesn't want to reach US market. Also, another friend with a business related to auto parts will use a ngtld and not .com. Also, one of the biggest wholesale dealers in the UK it's using only .co.uk, the com is for sale, but he doesn't care and he's dealing in all EU countries and a few other countries

Looking at search results when doing the research mentioned above I have seen many .com, many .nets, some .org, a few .biz and .infos and .eu and only 2-3 nGTLDs and 1 .tk

 

[boker]

why would they want to choose a nGTLD if they lose 98% of traffic to the ccTLD?

They own the cctld and .eu( just redirected)but opening shops in a few other countries, they need something more general. Also, the first thing my cousin did after acquiring the ngtlds, before the ngtld even revolving, was to order the logo and business card, being very proud how catchy the ngtld looks...so maybe a hint about how other end users are choosing.

Also, as something unrelated, he started with an EMD, he still own's the EMD, but he is using a brandable for general use now and invests lot's of money to build it.

 

[passini]

I am based in Italy and I can tell you that after .it comes .com. If you make business also outside Italy like an ecommerce or a fashion brand, just to make some examples, you go with .com. Also Italian keywords in .com do sell in the aftermarket, last week I sold a two word .com for mid XXX, note that both .eu and .net are still available for registration, this happens often. There is no reseller market for .eu or .net so I can't imagine how you can try to sell a gTLD, nobody uses them here and this is also true for almost all other European countries.

 

[VRdommy]

I think there is a decline in demand and price of .com domains because of new gTLDs. What's your opinion ?

I don't see gTLD's affecting the price of a .com
But I do see them in direct competition of all 'alternate names'.
(being any name someone will not pay or can not pay a premium price for ...2nd/3rd best representation)

Till someone can show me a data chart where they are in use by END USERS in volume,
I will refrain from using them as a investment tool with minor exception.
Now, the alternatives have alternatives and you can't corner that market. But good luck trying.

I do have a hard time understanding investors buying a gTLD where the tld 'does NOT compliment the name' and the .net and .org are still available for a hand reg.
Doesn't that tell you that the name is weak even to investors ? The gTLD won't help in that case.

 

[boker]

I am based in Italy and I can tell you that after .it comes .com. If you make business also outside Italy like an ecommerce or a fashion brand, just to make some examples, you go with .com. Also Italian keywords in .com do sell in the aftermarket, last week I sold a two word .com for mid XXX, note that both .eu and .net are still available for registration, this happens often. There is no reseller market for .eu or .net so I can't imagine how you can try to sell a gTLD, nobody uses them here and this is also true for almost all other European countries.

The story is not that it's not used, but it's used by a small minority. Also, when you ask the question to 100 italians on the street, what they will trust, a website using .com and a website using.it and 80% of them will trust .it, it should say something about usage. Of course, there are tourist related companies, others involved in international trade using a .com, but that' s just normal.
Regarding ngtlds, when you have a .uno in top 50 italian websites and I know at least two retailers using a .srl, that should say something.

 

[JB Lions]

It says semi-restricted for .srl, only 4,000 regs. How would that affect the price and growth of .com?

".SRL Domains are only available to companies, which are administered i.e. as Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada or Società a Responsabilità Limitata."

Has nothing to do with any .coms I own.

So .uno. 1 out of 50. Says what's already been posted. Doesn't seem like European countries are into these new gtlds. passini's post above makes sense.

 

[boker]

I don't see gTLD's affecting the price of a .com
But I do see them in direct competition of all 'alternate names'.
(being any name someone will not pay or can not pay a premium price for ...2nd/3rd best representation)

Till someone can show me a data chart where they are in use by END USERS in volume,
I will refrain from using them as a investment tool with minor exception.
Now, the alternatives have alternatives and you can't corner that market. But good luck trying.

I do have a hard time understanding investors buying a gTLD where the tld 'does NOT compliment the name' and the .net and .org are still available for a hand reg.
Doesn't that tell you that the name is weak even to investors ? The gTLD won't help in that case.

You misunderstood, I don't think that somebody is trying to convince somebody else to invest in them, I think it will e good for everybody less competition. Also, ngtls will be a hard investment for domainers, because there are over 1000 of them and it will hard to cover everything. Also, with over 3k sold in the last 2 years, with around 1,7k sold over 1k, that should mean that somebody can do some money by selling them.

 

[boker]

It says semi-restricted for .srl, only 4,000 regs. How would that affect the price and growth of .com?

".SRL Domains are only available to companies, which are administered i.e. as Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada or Società a Responsabilità Limitata."

Has nothing to do with any .coms I own.

So .uno. 1 out of 50. Says what's already been posted. Doesn't seem like European countries are into these new gtlds. passini's post above makes sense.

So, they are restricted to small companies, there should be around a couple of millions just in Italy and 90% of the websites in Europe are run by small companies( excepting personal websites, which don't count for domainers)

 

[JB Lions]

So, they are restricted to small companies, there should be around a couple of millions just in Italy and 90% of the websites in Europe are run by small companies( excepting personal websites, which don't count for domainers)

Right, so doesn't affect .com price and growth, title of this thread. And not much usage since they tend to use .it. Makes sense, it's what the people know already.

 

[boker]

Right, so doesn't affect .com price and growth, title of this thread. And not much usage since they tend to use .it. Makes sense, it's what the people know already.

At 3-5% usage of .com it can't affect to much, they are the one's involved in tourism an international trade, they will keep them. I deal with at least two retailers using a .srl, so maybe it should say something. Also, having a possible market of around 2 millions just in Italy, it should be enough for them

 

[dordomai]

I think the main point is that businesses are usually not experienced domainers and buy all kinds of junk and shiny objects because they don't know any better but that does not mean it is a good idea to invest in junk and glass perls.

I can't see thew Gs ever being successful in non-English speaking markets, because you would have to create domains that consist of one English language TLD and one local language SLD.

I don't think this will give you good combos. A few exceptions apply: .club, .tv, .internet etc. these words can work because they are globally used.

.com can work with any language because it does not mean anything.

I would say the new Gs are dead in Asia(at least China) and hardly used in Europe.

 

[dordomai]

The story is not that it's not used, but it's used by a small minority. Also, when you ask the question to 100 italians on the street, what they will trust, a website using .com and a website using.it and 80% of them will trust .it, it should say something about usage. Of course, there are tourist related companies, others involved in international trade using a .com, but that' s just normal.
Regarding ngtlds, when you have a .uno in top 50 italian websites and I know at least two retailers using a .srl, that should say something.

IMO .srl is not good as a consumer brand. Why would one use the legal structure of the company as a brand?

Also you make it seem like new TLDs are all over the place. In reality you hardly find any when searching Google.

 

[boker]

I think the main point is that businesses are usually not experienced domainers and buy all kinds of junk and shiny objects because they don't know any better but that does not mean it is a good idea to invest in junk and glass perls.

I can't see thew Gs ever being successful in non-English speaking markets, because you would have to create domains that consist of one English language TLD and one local language SLD.

I don't think this will give you good combos. A few exceptions apply: .club, .tv, .internet etc. these words can work because they are globally used.

.com can work with any language because it does not mean anything.

I would say the new Gs are dead in Asia(at least China) and hardly used in Europe.

I think that domainers are valuating a domain because of the legacy, but you should not forget that the end users are the one's who give value to a domain by usage. The same was with .com in the 90's, when pushed by US government and the lack of competition by other tlds, the first companies in from 'the com bubble' start using it. Also, what peoples tend to forget is that there are over 1000 ngtls. So,is like a single entity. If the top 10% will reach the 1 million usage mark, like club for example, it will be enough for them to have more registrations together than .com, and 1 million is not that hard. Also, it's very possible that 50% of them will have just a few thousands registrations, but they willl be just niche tlds and don't really matter.

 

[boker]

IMO .srl is not good as a consumer brand. Why would one use the legal structure of the company as a brand?

Also you make it seem like new TLDs are all over the place. In reality you hardly find any when searching Google.

I never said that ngtlds are all over the place, just that europeans are more open to use them then US, so they have a market here. The hard market for them is US because of .com usage, but in most places end users are not tied to a certain tld so much. For us as a domainer .com for sure has more value because of the sale tag, but for an end user from outside US not so much...I can give you another example, a it company with offices in 7 european countries and Australia and I needed two months to explain them why they could use .com, the owner never wanted to buy, eventually the it guy said the will pay some symbolic amount just to forward it, otherwise they don't need it.