news Google uses a .XYZ for their new parent company Alphabet - the Internet melts

[DomainVP]

Multiple news outlets are reporting that "Google" has decided to change their parent company name to "Alphabet" and has launched it on the domain ABC.XYZ.

I have seen many companies that operate multiple businesses under one umbrella and also use terrible domains without ever intending to own the exact match .COM - but for Google, this move is surprising.

It’s a win for Daniel Negari and selling one of the few domains that the .XYZ registry is good for: the alphabet. The other being abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvw.xyz

I think Google summed it up by saying, "[we make] smaller bets in areas that might seem very speculative or even strange when compared to our current businesses.”

As this story unravels, I’m sure Mr. Negari will have a larger role to play within Alphabet, possibly even heading their .google extension when Google decides that we should all be using a .google instead of .COM.

Speculation for a speculative move.


From the announcement G is for Google:

What is Alphabet? Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google . . . companies that are pretty far afield of our main Internet products [will be] contained in Alphabet instead.

Alphabet Inc. will replace Google Inc. as the publicly-traded entity and all shares of Google will automatically convert into the same number of shares of Alphabet, with all of the same rights. Google will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet. Our two classes of shares will continue to trade on Nasdaq as GOOGL and GOOG.

Don’t worry, we’re still getting used to the name too!

Your thoughts?

 

[JB Lions]

There's no grasping on straws here, my points are valid and well founded .... I speak also of the unborn as they are our future .... they may not even know which came first .com or .tickets or even care .... it is likely that some type-ins will be more popular non-com eg. basketball.tickets instead of basketballtickets.com ....

So now you're pinning your hopes on the unborn. And no, your example is not more relevant. basketballtickets.com says it all. It has the exact same keywords, except it actually looks like a url and on an extension people know. The owner of a .com like that would love it if somebody tried to build a business on an extension like that. You would just be making .coms even more valuable.

 

[doubleU]

So now you're pinning your hopes on the unborn. And no, your example is not more relevant. basketballtickets.com says it all. It has the exact same keywords, except it actually looks like a url and on an extension people know. The owner of a .com like that would love it if somebody tried to build a business on an extension like that.

Already I'm conditioned to think the best place to buy basketball tickets is basketball.tickets and not basketballtickets.com ... I don't think I will be the only one either ....

basketballtickets.com is starting to sound like a site for wholesale distribution of tickets for resale through affiliation at sites like basketball.tickets ....

But if the .com were to sell tickets direct to the public then I'm sure the owner of basketball.tickets would be delighted to receive all the new type-in traffic...

 

[Charles Sweeney]

You would just be making .coms even more valuable.

Do you think .com will always be King?

Personally I think it will be for some time, particularly for most of us at present who are used to it, but I'm not sure it will be in the future. The very fact Google used a .xyz when they could easily have got a good .com takes a big swipe at it.

 

[JB Lions]

Do you think .com will always be King?

Personally I think it will be for some time, particularly for most of us at present who are used to it, but I'm not sure it will be in the future. The very fact Google used a .xyz when they could easily have got a good .com takes a big swipe at it.

Of course it will, it's basic math. .xyz is 117 million regs behind. I just posted that .com yesterday is picking up more than .xyz on the same day. These should be some of the greatest days because of all the hype, and still getting beat by that old .com. .coms closest competitor, .net, is 103,000,000 regs behind .com. Really think about that one. That was the next option if you can't get a .com, and 103 million behind. And do you think one of these generics are better than .net? .click, .link, .xyz?

That .com is king and will remain king is a ridiculous discussion to me, especially on a domain forum. I've asked this before, which one is supposed to dethrone .com, keeping the .net numbers in mind? Not one person has stepped up and given me the extension that can do it.

The problem has been the marketing. It's unrealistic. .com isn't your competition, the other alternate extensions are. That .xyz says stuff like the next .com or .com is over is a kind of crazy I can't grasp. Well, actually I can. It's just marketing for a certain type of people.

 

[JB Lions]

Already I'm conditioned to think the best place to buy basketball tickets is basketball.tickets and not basketballtickets.

So you're conditioned to think the best place to buy is some site that doesn't exist? What in the world are you talking about. I should have my warning removed, hint, hint, because I was right. Based on the response below and the previous ones, case closed.

 

[doubleU]

Of course it will, it's basic math. .xyz is 117 million regs behind. I just posted that .com yesterday is picking up more than .xyz on the same day. .coms closest competitor, .net, is 103,000,000 regs behind .com. Really think about that one.

The numbers become irrelevant when you consider there isn't enough time to visit 1% of dotcoms in ones lifetime.

Its a bit like saying I prefer Jazz to Showband music because theres more Jazz tracks released.

 

[JB Lions]

The numbers become irrelevant when you consider there isn't enough time to visit 1% of dotcoms in ones lifetime.

Its a bit like saying I prefer Jazz to Showband music because theres more Jazz tracks released.

Right, reality is irrelevant. The unborn and being conditioned to shop at sites that don't exist, is. Brilliant.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

Of course it will

I like your confidence!

it's basic math. .xyz is 117 million regs behind. I just posted that .com yesterday is picking up more than .xyz on the same day. .coms closest competitor, .net, is 103,000,000 regs behind .com. Really think about that one.

If you are saying that .com is the most popular domain today, I don't think anyone would give you an argument but that's not the point of this discussion. The point is that Google registered a .xyz when they could easily have got a good .com which for a lot of people will rightly show that there is some value in the new domains.

And do you think one of these generics are better than .net? .click, .link, .xyz?

Way, way better. Just last week I was walking past a car in London that had a .london domain on it. Looked great. It was for a London property site. Would have looked terrible with a .net

Are you saying there's no value in the new domains?

 

[JB Lions]

My response to you was about .com being King and you saying "but I'm not sure it will be in the future."

Your response failed to tell me the one that will be. Then I mentioned generics and you came back with .london, which isn't a generic. That Google is using a .xyz has already been gone over to death and it's been pointed out it's just a one page company site, not a "consumer facing" site, the sites people actually visit.

"Are you saying there's no value in the new domains?"

For some, mainly registrars and registries. Some domainers, but most can't figure out it helps to be spot on, in the right order etc. It seems like a common sense type of thing or you can just look at the sales that do happen.

 

[doubleU]

Then there will be a .youtube too? LOL

Why not?

 

[Charles Sweeney]

My response to you was about .com being King and you saying "but I'm not sure it will be in the future."

Your response failed to tell me the one that will be.

I think you're being silly now (giving you the benefit of the doubt that you haven't been silly all along). I can't tell you which domain, if any single domain, will be king in the future because like yourself I don't have a crystal ball. Again, the point of this discussion is that new domains could become popular which would lessen the dominance of .com

Then I mentioned generics and you came back with .london, which isn't a generic.

Yes it is.

That Google is using a .xyz has already been gone over to death and it's been pointed out it's just a one page company site, not a "consumer facing" site, the sites people actually visit.

Fine. Google using a .xyz is irrelevant.

 

[Felisk]

The point is that Google registered a .xyz when they could easily have got a good .com which for a lot of people will rightly show that there is some value in the new domains.

Have to disagree here. Google registered the .xyz only because abc.xyz makes sense for a company called Alphabet. And the only good .com they could have got is Alphabet.com, but I think they know it's not worth bothering making offers for the name looking at who owns it.

 

[JB Lions]

Yes it is.

No, it's not. Those are city extensions. Google city domains and the first result is a CNN article talking about .london and .nyc.

Generics are extensions where any keyword will work with. .com, .net the most widely known. Out of the new ones, .xyz would be a generic, .web will be a generic, few others.

Also, ones where anybody can buy. I can't get a .nyc because I'm not in New York.

Most of the new gtlds aren't generic, they're niche. That's why most will never do big numbers in regs or development, they can't. You're not going to have millions of .kitchens out there.

 

[doubleU]

Have to disagree here. Google registered the .xyz only because abc.xyz makes sense for a company called Alphabet. And the only good .com they could have got is Alphabet.com, but I think they know it's not worth bothering making offers for the name looking at who owns it.

Alphabet is not the only .com they could have used they could have called this holding company almost anything and make sure the .com was purchased before briefing the public.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

@Felisk

A wise owl indeed. Still, the point of the discussion ("the internet melts") remains. The very fact that Google is using a .xyz domain can only invigorate the market.

I learned about it on a Twitter feed from Tech Crunch or someone like that, and what caught my eye was their description of abc.xyz as a "killer URL". They didn't say that without reason.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

No, it's not. Those are city extensions. Google city domains and the first result is a CNN article talking about .london and .nyc.

Generics are extensions where any keyword will work with. .com, .net the most widely known. Out of the new ones, .xyz would be a generic, .web will be a generic, few others.

Also, ones where anybody can buy. I can't get a .nyc because I'm not in New York.

Most of the new gtlds aren't generic, they're niche.

You couldn't be more wrong. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db

 

[JB Lions]

You couldn't be more wrong. http://www.iana.org/domains/root/db

It terms of domaining and the English language:

generic means - "not specific". .pizza is kind of specific.

I can put any keyword with .com

I can't put slimfitjeans on a .pizza

Continuing with the English language, let's look at niche:

"a distinct segment of a market."

That would be most of these new extensions.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

Most of the new gtlds aren't generic

What do you suppose the "g" in "gtlds" stands for?

 

[doubleU]

It terms of domaining and the English language:

generic means - not specific. .pizza is kind of specific.

I can put any keyword with .com

I can't put slimfitjeans on a .pizza

But you can put pizza on .slimfitjeans

 

[Charles Sweeney]

It terms of domaining and the English language:

generic means - not specific. .pizza is kind of specific.

I can put any keyword with .com

I can't put slimfitjeans on a .pizza

Continuing with the English language, let's look at niche:

"a distinct segment of a market."

That would be most of these new extensions.

Yep, Google is wrong, I am wrong and now the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is wrong, but you are right.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

But you can put pizza on .slimfitjeans

But on the other hand, if you ate too much pizza you wouldn't fit in your slim fit jeans but you could fit in London.

 

[JB Lions]

Yep, Google is wrong, I am wrong and now the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is wrong, but you are right.

Exactly. You just quoted the explanation. Plenty of free dictionaries online. I even put the definitions of niche and generic in quotes, to make it easier.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

Exactly. You just quoted the explanation. Plenty of free dictionaries online. I even put the definitions of niche and generic in quotes, to make it easier.

Tell IANA, they must have missed it.

 

[Ms Domainer]

New coined words, courtesy of yours truly:

Alphahol =

The ABC/Alphabet/Alpha elixir that causes domainers to go into a hand regging frenzy, slurping up all the available satellite ABC/Alphabet/Alpha words (Since I coined the word, I secured Alphahol.com -- it redirects to my blog).​

AlphaLOL =

The reaction of the rest of the world when they find out that Google has registered ABC.xyz and that domain investors are chasing similar domains, especially in .xyz. (Since I coined the word, I secured AlphaLOL.com -- it redirects to my blog).​

The ABC Song =

Okay, so I didn't coin this one, but I did find TheABCSong.com as I searched for an ABC video to embed on my blog. Beyond the ABC craze, this domain actually has some feet.​

For what it's worth, AlphaWTF.com is still available for someone who wants to play with the term and have some fun with it. I'm at my outside limit, after regging the above three reactionary domains.

UPDATE: While I don't care too much for ABCWTF.com (I'm trying to clean up my language, both in my portfolio and through my own lips) I did add ABCWHAT.com (ABC, WHAT???)

ABC, What???:

A term of incredulity after non-domainers heard about Google’s BIG ABC.xyz announcement. My husband's reaction -- the truth. (Perhaps a more focused “Say, what?” Variant: ABC, WTF???).​

 

[JB Lions]

Tell IANA, they must have missed it.

Besides what I already posted, it's what they're being called, one example:

"you have come to the best place on the Web to learn about dot City TLDs."

http://www.afilias.info/dotcity

You can point to IANA all day long, but niche will still be niche. It's the terminology that's being used.