debate I lost interest in .com/.net/.org/.info/.tv

[RU]

Hi guys,

I lost interest in .com/.net/.org/.info/.tv/ domains and I don't try to catch expired names, I don't reg anymore .com/.net/.org/.info/.tv two-word domains.

Here's my prediction...

I think that the domain industry is dead, new TLD market is dead too.
End users don't need domains... http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/07/17/facebook-tests-online-stores-again/

Best,
RU

 

[N-A]

Nice prediction; .com domain names cutting to half by 2019 because of Facebook... how many .com domains have 10 year registrations again? 5? The GoDaddy default of 2?

This is highly unrealistic when you factor those in alone.

 

[S-B]

Hahaha! 5079 marks the end of the world.

Your predictions seem to be rather accurate. :D

 

[iAchilles]

For Mom and Pop shops with limited tech know how, that's a dandy solution. For any company that wants complete control over hugely important things such as analytics and their entire online marketplace, Facebook simply won't cut it.

Mom and Pop shops would not be the type of end users I would generally target as they are often on a very limited budget and they are usually the type of end users that offer reg fee for domains. You'll note the article states that some shops are forwarding to their own domain...

 

[RU]

Nice prediction; .com domain names cutting to half by 2019

because many of the .COMs are renewed until 2022

 

[MarkedMarket]

It's quite obvious why people get disillusioned with the domain industry - and the reason is that 99% of all domains that have ever been registered are completely worthless. The people registering them might think that they are brandable or valuable, but in 99% of the cases, they are not.

And 99% of the domains that are valuable, are often already registered (or at least, it feels like it ).

So statistically every domainer has a far larger percentage of domains that he will never be able to sell (with a significant profit) than those that he is able to sell.

Your article about Facebook clearly states that they are trying this again after this initiative failed multiple times before, so I doubt whether they are going to succeed now (and hope they don't). Of course such a business model could work, e.g. there are thousands of people selling their stuff via Ebay or Amazon, while they don't have a (proper) website themselves. But every organization that takes itself seriously, should not want to be restricted by and dependent on companies like Ebay, Facebook or Amazon. They can change the rules and conditions anytime they like. Any proper organization should always be in the driving seat themselves.

 

[RU]

Hahaha! 5079 marks the end of the world.

Your predictions seem to be rather accurate. :D

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Vanga

*edit
source: 9GAG :D

 

[Kate]

It's quite obvious why people get disillusioned with the domain industry - and the reason is that 99% of all domains that have ever been registered are completely worthless.

It's so true...

Anyway, this is just another domain names are dead thread... pointless. Facebook Myspace Blogger etc are not substitutes for real websites.

 

[Nebulous]

Show attachment 14505
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Vanga

*edit
source: 9GAG :D

Damn... I was just about to ask if you were a direct descendant from Baba Vanga haha.

 

[RU]

Facebook Myspace Blogger etc are not substitutes for real websites.

What about Google? Please, wake up!
I just typed the word 'flights'... look at this

https://www.google.com/flights/#search;f=SFO;t=LAX;d=2015-08-09;r=2015-08-13

Website design is dead too!
Web design is (finally!) dying of irrelevance. Web pages themselves are no longer the center of the Internet experience, which is why designers need to move on to the next challenges — products and ecosystems — if they want to stay relevant.

Web design has no future — a risky statement I know, but this article explains why it has no future and what we, as designers, can do about it. As a discipline, web design has already exhausted its possibilities, an emerging combination of tech and cultural trends highlight the need for a broader approach.

Let's start with the symptoms of this imminent death.

Symptom 1: Commoditization by templates
Most of the content that you see on the web today is run by some framework or service — WordPress, Blogger, Drupal, you name it. Frameworks provide you a foundation and shortcuts so you spend less time struggling with the creation of a web site, and more time creating content.

As a consequence of the ubiquity of these frameworks, a whole world of free and paid templates lets you get started with a professional-looking design in minutes. Why hire a web designer if you can achieve a fairly acceptable design for a fraction of the cost using a template? Actually, many web designers (especially the ones on the cheaper side) just pick a pre-made template and make some minor branding customizations.

Either way, if your web page is a standard, informational one, there's probably a template out there that can do the job for you.

Symptom 2: Web design patterns are mature
What is the latest web design innovation you can point a finger on? Responsive design? That's digital ages old. Parallax? Useless eye-candy. The web has had all the user interface components and patterns you might need for a while now (and no, parallax is not something we really ever needed). And that's why you don't see much innovation in web patterns as of late.

This maturity is good for users: they will find consistency in their daily use of the web. Checkout forms, shopping carts, and login pages should all behave in a similar way. Trying to get creative at this point will probably be pointless or even harmful.

Symptom 3: Automation and artificial intelligence are already doing the job
There's a new trend of automated web design services, arguably started by The Grid. It's a service to build basic websites which makes design decisions — semantic ones — based on artificial intelligence. It analyzes your content to detect the best layouts, colors, fonts, and extra imagery for your site. Using cleverly chosen design basics (made by humans) as the foundation, it's hard to go wrong with it, and the result will probably be better than what an average web designer can do.

When something can be successfully automated, it means that its practices and standards are established enough as not to need much human input. And this is obviously the beginning. There will be a fierce competition about which service can deliver better designs, faster, and with less human intervention.

Symptom 4: Facebook pages as the new small-business homepage
In the late 1990's, future-minded businesses would buy their .com's, purchase expensive hosting plans, and hire a "web master" in order to have The Web Page, the one that would make them visible to the rest of the Internet. By 2005, creating a site in Blogger or WordPress.com was more than enough for your new wedding photo business (it was also quick and free).

Today, this function has been completely overridden by Facebook pages. They are free, made to be viral out of the box, offer powerful tools only available to big businesses a decade ago (like subscription for updates or media posting), and are as easy to set up as your own profile page. They are so efficient in making a business visible that they are rendering basic web pages useless.

Symptom 5: Mobile is killing the web
How often do you visit a web site from your mobile device by directly typing the address? Only when you don't have the app, right? People don't seem to think much in terms of web pages these days: they think of digital brands, which mostly translate to apps or subscriptions (likes, follows, etc). That's why most big websites, blogs, and portals are pushing their mobile apps to you — out of home screen, out of mind.

Mobile web has always been slow and cumbersome. Typing addresses is weird. Navigating between tabs is weird. Our underpowered mobile devices and saturated data networks don't help create a smooth web experience like the one we have in our desktop machines.

As vital as responsive web design is (not adopting it is commiting digital suicide), it only guarantees that your user can view your page in a mobile device, if she ever finds it in first place. And the limited space in her mind is already mostly occupied by apps.

The rise of web services and the content that finds you
The truth is, we need fewer web pages, not more of them. There are already too many competing for our attention and assuming selfishly that we have all the time in the world to close pop-up ads, explore navigational hierarchies, and be dazzled by transitions, intros, and effects.

But what really matters is not how you arrange things on a page: it's the content, in terms of a specific user need. That's why Google is starting to display actual content in some search results, without you having to visit another page. Just an example: if you Google a nearby restaurant from your mobile device, the search results include a button to directly call the place. You don't even need to visit the page. The page designer's ego and the visits-counter may suffer a bit, but ultimately the user experience is improved.

Things are moving in the direction of digital assistants like Siri, and especially Google Now with the new changes announced for Android M: they aim to provide you the exact bit of information you need, when you need it. This implies a shift from web pages to web services: self-sufficient bits of information that can be combined to other services to deliver value. So if you are looking for a restaurant, you get the reviews from Foursquare or Yelp, the directions from Google Maps and the traffic conditions from Waze.

we are transitioning to a push-based model of content consumption, where the right information arrives without you even requesting it. Google Now, for instance, warns you of how early you should depart in order to arrive on time to your meeting. All of this is already happening thanks to APIs — interfaces that let other services interact with your data. In this world, web pages are not required at all.
..... full txt http://mashable.com/2015/07/06/why-web-design-dead/

https://soundcloud.com/ux-magazine/in-conversation-with-sergio-nouvel

 

[RU]

It's quite obvious why people get disillusioned with the domain industry - and the reason is that 99% of all domains that have ever been registered are completely worthless. The people registering them might think that they are brandable or valuable, but in 99% of the cases, they are not.

And 99% of the domains that are valuable, are often already registered (or at least, it feels like it ).

So statistically every domainer has a far larger percentage of domains that he will never be able to sell (with a significant profit) than those that he is able to sell.

Your article about Facebook clearly states that they are trying this again after this initiative failed multiple times before, so I doubt whether they are going to succeed now (and hope they don't). Of course such a business model could work, e.g. there are thousands of people selling their stuff via Ebay or Amazon, while they don't have a (proper) website themselves. But every organization that takes itself seriously, should not want to be restricted by and dependent on companies like Ebay, Facebook or Amazon. They can change the rules and conditions anytime they like. Any proper organization should always be in the driving seat themselves.

Domain Guru, please show me your domains.

 

[namezest]

my opinion and I am sticking to it invest in dot one even the new companies behind the new extensions have not acquired the dot coms. XYZ is the end of the line and made cheap and hyped to appeal to the generation xyz which I and my kids are and I am not impressed or falling for the ploy.

 

[namezest]

LMAO though on your original post !! Kudos!

 

[MarkedMarket]

Domain Guru, please show me your domains.

I hope I didn't give you (or anyone else) the impression that I'm a guru (a term I don't believe in anyway because yesterday's knowledge is often not sufficient to predict tomorrow's trends).

I follow this domain industry for many years (mainly to see trends about future industry directions, start-up initiatives, digital innovations, etc.), but after some time you simply see some patterns emerging.