In 2010 & beyond; What will constitute a TLD then?

[newdomainer.mobi]

The internet has changed a great deal since those first faltering steps just a few years ago....

I think there have been some TLD's that have not been adopted as well as was hoped & some have established strong niche appeal, the internet is expanding exponentially and I have a few on the extensions that will be strong through 2010 & beyond;

.com = Computer

= The number 1 extension, it is non-geographic (worldwide).... Generally speaking is a trustmark that the site has global appeal / relevance - weighted to the US but is seen as a trustmark that the site is respectable, global & available for all.
Virtually all .com sites are set-up for the best user experience via a large screen desktop PC although being accessible by many other devices subject to software compatibility, specific device set-up / mode etc...
There is nothing to stop all .com sites rendering well on a small screen device; it just means following the same rules for site development that .mobi has... but with billions of pages of older style pages out there .com will always be synonymous with the 'desk-top' computer & long may it reign as desk-top King.


.mobi = Mobile

= The number 2 extension, it is non-geographic (worldwide).... generally speaking is a trustmark that the site has global appeal / relevance - it's the new kid on the block & isn't showing any particular geographic bias as yet but it is a trustmark that the site has been set up to offer a good user experience to viewers on any device whatsoever, specifically small screen portable (mobile) devices but astute site building will allow a 'full screen' experience on a desk top too.
The extension has nothing special about it, it is simply means that you will be viewing a site that will be rewarding whatever device you use.... the same way a cc takes you to a site in a geographic region, an info site takes you to an information site.. a.mobi will take you to a multi-device friendly site... in todays ever more mobile world, it's an extension to look out for.

.cc = Country Codes

= The number 2 extension (collectively), acts as a trustmark that the site is based in the country in which you are looking. Great for businesses looking at their home markets & NOT beyond.. These will always have great value... of course there's little point in buying a portfolio of French generics with a .co.uk suffix or German keywords with a .us suffix... but following those obvious limitations these extensions are very popular indeed; even hosting regional sites of multi-nationals outside of a 'head site' on a .com...

.net = Internet

A secondary extension to .com because it is little more than an alternative to a .com extension; it doesn't act as a trustmark for very much else; weighted towards more tech / programmer / software use but so diluted by other usage that this means little. Still a global extension, not as well known or liked as .com but at present comes in at 4th place.


.info / .org /.biz = self-explanatory niche extensions

Of little commercial value except for some high value generics / keywords that have value in just about any extension... much maligned but an absolute perfect fit when used correctly, in a way it is surprising that .biz hasn't performed as well as the registrars had hoped; it seems ideal for businesses on the internet & maybe it will come of age.... by own opinion is that the abbreviation 'biz' is simply seen as a bit tacky / 2nd rate & this won't have been lost on the marketing folk of the business community...

.EU / .Asia = again, self explantory.

I'm not sure about these? They are neither country codes nor global.... they don't reflect the populations of these areas by religion, race etc.. they cover multi-racial, multi-language, multi-faith regions & whilst I see that .EU has a value based on businesses operating within the European Union (being a natural extension of a European country code) I cannot see the value in .ASIA except as part of the activity of 'domain collecting' but I'm sure others will see it differently.

.pro / .job etc. etc. = Very Niche indeed

I don't know enough about these to comment; they seem to be somewhat elitist, leaning towards being restrictive in who has access (as with any site; a site can be constructed with restricted access whatever the extension but these seem 'fit for purpose' in that respect).

.TV = Niche

I quite like .TV, I have none in my portfolio but I can understand that its an effective way of seperating the wheat from the Chaff.... domains that suit this broad niche will be valuable, domains that are not suited are simply 'collectables' & little more.


I have only listed the main ones that I have a view on... there are now 100's (most of which are CC's) but I do believe that there are only 4 TLD's that are of any significance when it comes to e-commerce / marketing / culture.

In order of relevance I forecast that the top 4 TLD's of 2010 will be; -

No.1 = .Com
No.2 = .mobi
No.3 = .cc
No.4 = .Net


The others are specifically targetted at niches.... for reasons synonymous to their names; .info being one

What else is afoot? Have I missed something? Do you disagree or agree.....?

Regards

Gary.

 

[sashas]

If you think that domains are still a risky proposition, especially generics in .com, then you're quite mistaken.
Yes, a generic in .mobi might be a risk and speculative, but not in .com.

Look at the falling interest rates, housing rates, stock market. If there is one thing that will ride out this crunch, its domains in .com.

 

[Jeff]

Newbies Forum™

Seriously. Stop making such misleading posts unless you can back it up with some research.

YOU have researched ONLY .mobi

But here you're casting wide opinions about other TLDs you yourself mention you don't know much about.

You might know a lot about .mobi and I don't doubt that for one bit. But it would be nice if you limit your opinions to your area of expertise, instead of posting an article that is bound to lead newbies to believe otherwise. This is a free forum, but there is something called responsible discussion. Such an article with an authoritative tone of voice about TLD rankings without any research (other than in .mobi) is misleading, pure and simple.

^ Hammer. Head. Nail. :yell:

Gary knows full well that this thread and its true intent was never about open, responsible discussion of TLD's - other than his .MOBI, IMHO.

Clearly, to be taken seriously here in the general Domain Discussions ... research of TLD's (other than .MOBI) would be appreciated! Stating in the initial post that ".COM = Computer" and further admitting that he really doesn't know much about other TLD's (again, other than .MOBI) leads me to believe that this thread should have been posted in the #1 Namepros .MOBI Forum™ ... or even perhaps now reading Gary's wayward commments again, the Newbies Forum™, IMHO.

Again, my ranking for 2010 is: .COM, .ORG, .NET. :imho:

Thanks for understanding.
-Jeff

 

[mjnels]

The problem is you don't need a mobi to browse the net, iPhone is an excellent invention surfing the net.

what do we need .TV for?

 

[Steven]

what do we need .TV for?

We don't

I think it's a different situation.

.TV is for branding purposes (if the media company or individual wants to use it for that purpose), and mtld is suggesting that .mobi is recommended for mobile ready websites (thus, thewatcher mentioned that it is not needed to create a mobile website. .TV can be used to create a mobile website along with all the other extensions).

 

[mjnels]

We don't

I think it's a different situation.

.TV is for branding purposes (if the media company or individual wants to use it for that purpose), and mtld is suggesting that .mobi is recommended for mobile ready websites.

i see... so .TV can be used for branding... but .mobi cannot just because mTLD is trying for something more?

very interesting.

 

[TheWatcher]

what do we need .TV for?

You don't actually.

I guess you have a different business model that I can't follow. I wasted enough time here.

 

[Steven]

i see... so .TV can be used for branding... but .mobi cannot just because mTLD is trying for something more?

very interesting.

.mobi can be used for branding as well.

such as ringtones.mobi, call.mobi, message.mobi


for tv

watch.tv

just an example

 

[TheWatcher]

i see... so .TV can be used for branding... but .mobi cannot just because mTLD is trying for something more?

very interesting.

Not for branding.

A good example, tigerdirect.com use it for their main website, they are using tiger.tv to showcase and give video tutorial.

This is just an example.

 

[mjnels]

You don't actually.

I guess you have a different business model that I can't follow. I wasted enough time here.

oh i see, so you meant to say we dont need .mobi or .TV... they are both just alternative extentions to fill a certain niche.

neato.

 

[Steven]

oh i see, so you meant to say we dont need .mobi or .TV... they are both just alternative extentions to fill a certain niche.

neato.

You are right in the sense that we don't need .mobi or .tv.
I guess it goes for all the other TLDs, but it's certainly nice to have niche (co.uk to cater mainly to UK residents ... although it doesn't have to, etc)

 

[mjnels]

i just think its funny when other domainers that deal in alternative extentions point out that .mobi is not needed.

irony anyone? :hehe:

 

[Steven]

Hmm I think we are having a bit of a misunderstanding here mjnel.
There is a difference between saying that .mobi is not needed (or any other TLD for that matter) and usefulness in regards to the purpose/goal set out by mtld.
As I have previously stated, it is up to the general mobile net population to decide whether they will adopt .mobi or the latest mobile browser technology. The fate is yet unknown.

 

[mjnels]

Hmm I think we are having a bit of a misunderstanding here mjnel.
There is a difference between saying that .mobi is not needed (or any other TLD for that matter) and usefulness in regards to the purpose/goal set out by mtld.
As I have previously stated, it is up to the general mobile net population to decide whether they will adopt .mobi or the latest mobile browser technology. The fate is yet unknown.

exactly... so that makes the whole "needed" arguement completely irrelavant.

thats all i was saying.. no misunderstanding here.

 

[Len]

I think the problem for .mobi is the fact that it is totally associated with internet delivery over a mobile device..Period! Unfortunately before .mobi could snag the market along came the iphone which enable any tld to be displayed on a hand held device. Therefore nullifying the NEED for .mobi as I don't know of anyone who views .mobi sites on their pc. Here lies the difference between .mobi and all other tld's.
I am not saying .mobi will not survive but the window of opportunity to the niche market it was supposed to serve is rapidly closing IMHO.

 

[mjnels]

I think the problem for .mobi is the fact that it is totally associated with internet delivery over a mobile device..Period! Unfortunately before .mobi could snag the market along came the iphone which enable any tld to be displayed on a hand held device. Therefore nullifying the NEED for .mobi as I don't know of anyone who views .mobi sites on their pc. Here lies the difference between .mobi and all other tld's.
I am not saying .mobi will not survive but the window of opportunity to the niche market it was supposed to serve is rapidly closing IMHO.

So what you are saying is there is/will be zero demand for mobile optimized websites since you can simply go to the "full" version on devices like the iPhone.

Am I understanding you correctly?

 

[newdomainer.mobi]

^ Hammer. Head. Nail. :yell:

Gary knows full well that this thread and its true intent was never about open, responsible discussion of TLD's - other than his .MOBI, IMHO.

Clearly, to be taken seriously here in the general Domain Discussions ... research of TLD's (other than .MOBI) would be appreciated! Stating in the initial post that ".COM = Computer" and further admitting that he really doesn't know much about other TLD's (again, other than .MOBI) leads me to believe that this thread should have been posted in the #1 Namepros .MOBI Forum™ ... or even perhaps now reading Gary's wayward commments again, the Newbies Forum™, IMHO.

Again, my ranking for 2010 is: .COM, .ORG, .NET. :imho:

Thanks for understanding.
-Jeff

Ffej

I appreciate your gratitude for my understanding.... but that doesn't really assist me in understanding why you started your last post with the hilarious
hammer, head, nail routine (that you tend to over use if you don't mind me saying)
May I just point out that your humourous comment overlooked the fact that I had already answered Sashas post that you so eloquently cut & pasted in your post.
May I also point out that although .com is the top of the heap... all the arguments about .mobi actually apply to every extension that isn't a dot com... why do we need them?

I tire of talking to you about it because you are just a small minded old fool (I hope that's not considered OTT offensive by the Mods here)

You are so much like a de-ramper its unreal... you make your pompous comments but don't actually argue your case at all...... maybe you don't get out much but if you look around on some of the forums (I can't point you anywhere in particular because its not allowed here) but you will see that it is a common reference to use the .com = computer as a put-down aimed at easy "wind-up" targets such as your very good self

As far as research goes, I have done my due diligence.... investing in strong .com generics is currently a good bet but I have two problems with it being called low-risk;

A) No investment in anything based in modern technology can be seen as a low risk; there is no such thing as a constant in virtually any market these days, there are so many variables that could affect the value of domains overnight...
B) The starting price for .com generics is hardly 'risk capital' for most people... no matter how good they look for your $15,000 + they are still a moderate to high risk investment, regardless of whether they are a low risk relative to other extensions... the way I see it; you can buy a few strong names in other extensions for your $15,000 which gives a broader spread of risk, better liquidity (in so far as if you want to release a couple of grand you can sell one or two names... with one heavy hitter .com you can't do that).

But Ffej, the other point I'd make is that you ignored my request to go away... if you can't make a sound argument then please do us all a favour & stop the sarcastic, belligerent tone & the constant whining drone of
".com is best because it is & thats why .mobi is rubbish because it is & I say so"

I didn't say I know nothing of the other TLD's, you've taken that out of context as well.... I don't know who you are but you really are losing your credibility around here..... I can't begin to wonder what you do all day to have reached 25,000 posts.... I did look through a few of your old posts once & I got bored trying to find one where you'd actually said something thought provoking or even interesting...

There are plenty of folks who can converse openly & in a friendly manner, I'd appreciate it if you would kindly 'volunteer' not to reply to any of my posts in future... you graciously managed to 'volunteer' yourself away from the mobi section after all!

Thanks for understanding.

Gary

 

[Jeff]

... the window of opportunity to the niche market it was supposed to serve is rapidly closing IMHO.

Some would strongly argue ... that it has already closed! :imho:

Again, clearly, the intent of this thread - and ensuing discussion by both O.P. and others most fond of mTLD and .MOBI - was to again spark the .MOBI propoganda H.Y.P.E. machine ... accordingly, please move thread to the #1 Namepros .MOBI Forum™ at this time, IMHO. :gl:

Thank you.
-Jeff

 

[Len]

So what you are saying is there is/will be zero demand for mobile optimized websites since you can simply go to the "full" version on devices like the iPhone.

Am I understanding you correctly?

No, I am saying that .mobi is stuck with the label it was created for....Mobile devices. This would have been ideal had the market been ready for .mobi when it was released...unfortunately it wasn't. Websites in the mobi format had to be created and it appeared that many .mobi buyer's were more interested in making a quick buck from flipping rather than development. I remember this time last year when LLL.mobi were going for mid $xxx if not more! The few that did develop were caught on the hop by the release of the iphone. The marketing of this device encouraged the public to buy this product and the rest is history. IMO this was the turning point for .mobi and it is going to take a long time to recover.

 

[mjnels]

No, I am saying that .mobi is stuck with the label it was created for....Mobile devices. This would have been ideal had the market been ready for .mobi when it was released...unfortunately it wasn't. Websites in the mobi format had to be created and it appeared that many .mobi buyer's were more interested in making a quick buck from flipping rather than development. I remember this time last year when LLL.mobi were going for mid $xxx if not more! The few that did develop were caught on the hop by the release of the iphone. The marketing of this device encouraged the public to buy this product and the rest is history. IMO this was the turning point for .mobi and it is going to take a long time to recover.

now you are talking about the domainer world and something completely separate.

again, i ask you... since mobile devices can now and will be able to render full websites, such as namepros.com... there is no need for a streamlined version of these websites?

and im not talking about just mobi... i mean ANYTHING that is created specifically for mobile devices. there is no need for these now?

even Jeff knows this is not true... just check out his signature which reference things like m.yahoo.com, m.comcast.net and mobile.google.com.... all designed specifically for mobile devices... you know, the things with smaller screens and for the "mobile" context.

 

[newdomainer.mobi]

LEN - Do your own research!

I think the problem for .mobi is the fact that it is totally associated with internet delivery over a mobile device..Period! Unfortunately before .mobi could snag the market along came the iphone which enable any tld to be displayed on a hand held device. Therefore nullifying the NEED for .mobi as I don't know of anyone who views .mobi sites on their pc. Here lies the difference between .mobi and all other tld's.
I am not saying .mobi will not survive but the window of opportunity to the niche market it was supposed to serve is rapidly closing IMHO.

Len, I will offer you a piece of advice about the .mobi extension....

1) It is not totally associated with delivery over a mobile device; sites built to achieve a 5/5 score on the mTLD test can also render well on a large screen using the same auto-detect that does the reverse when using a dot.com on phone... except it works more often!
2) The iphone has actually accelerated the development of .mobi sites because the iphone has increased the trend towards using the internet on a small screen device... ordinary sites may well be viewable on an iphone but the experience is 3rd rate when compared to similar sites that have been built on the .mobi platform
3) The window of opportunity is huge! The mobile web will grow & grow & never look back... the entire future is .mobi's window of opportunity
4) You talk about the iphone or other technology removing the NEED for .mobi
Well, you heard it here first; there was never a NEED for .mobi.... it's just an extension.... in fact there is no need for any of the existing extensions at all... if they were all cancelled tomorrow & replaced with a completely new set it wouldn't make one iota of difference... .com could be xyz .net could be abc it matters not a jot... these are virtual addresses at the end of the day so they can be infinitely flexible...
.MOBI is about branding, its about saying look we're Bank Of America & we have built a mobile web interface for our customers... to avoid confusion we have addressed that service at BOFA.mobi because its for use on the go, on a small screen device, not for when you're sitting at home at your pc...
There are a lot of sites out there built for small screen users... there are many sites being released every day... the truth is that there will be 100's of thousands by the end of next year & potentially millions within a few years.

Put it this way, lets say you want to build a mobile interface.
You have a full size site that you don't want to compromise for your desk top users.
You're building a mobile interface & need an address for the site... what are you going to use?

Has anyone got a cohesive argument as to why not .mobi because I am in business & I will be building a web site soon - a virtual shop - I intend to make it auto-detect a large screen device but to score 5/5 on the mTLD test so that I can address ALL users on ALL devices & I have a lovely set of domains that I can use for it... I have a .com, a .co.uk & a .mobi all of which point to the same site.... you see, it doesn't matter what extension people use to get to your site.... it just matters that your site is compliant... but people won't know that by default so they may use the .mobi as a trustmark because they know it'll take them to a compliant site...

Unless a team of people numbering some 10's of 1,000's is planning on retrospectivelly redesigning all of the web content out there today to be small screen compliant then no amount of trickery will solve the problem better than a bespoke extension for the mobile user... the only other comment I'd have is to anyone who is currently bleating the same ol' same ol' about .mobi is for Gods sake spend a couple of hours doing some proper research & just set aside what some of the other forum members would have you believe about the extension...

By the way Ffej.... you say I make all these claims & comments in my own interests.... have you ever seen me try to sell any of my names on any of the forums? - I have posted less than half a dozen in the marketplace of any forum, I try to sell none via the discussions & I have put my money where my mouth is; I have nearly 3,000 domains, 500 aren't .mobi.... you do the math.

Thanks for understanding

Gary