In 2014 over a 1000 new domain extensions will be available.

[buyresaledomains]

What does that do to this biz? Does it make the .com even that much better? Or obsolete? As of now extensions have no bearing on search results. But what happens when a domain is "kendras.daycare". Will it impact Serps then?

 

[JB Lions]

Interesting read:
New Web Domain Names: Should You Pass?

"Nearly two-thirds of small businesses, though, have no idea the new extensions are coming, according to a recent survey by domain vendor Sedo. The poll included roughly 600 small business owners and managers, and 94% of them said they currently had no plans to purchase a new gTLD for their company. "

"Take Hobart Swan, head of the PR agency Vocalize PR. "I hadn't a clue" of the new domain names, Swan said in an email to InformationWeek. "This should be interesting as it is hard enough to get people to your site without worrying about whether they've entered a) the correct spelling of your domain name, b) the correct extension and c) the correct spelling of the correct extension."

"The way we see it, all these new domain names will simply be money sinks," said Ian Aronovich, president and co-founder of GovernmentAuctions.org, in an email to InformationWeek. "Not only will everything be much more confusing for domain owners, but also online visitors who will have to remember whether sites end in .com, .org, .net, .info, .accountant, .movies, .lawyer, .doctor, .diapers or something else."

"Our research shows a majority of consumers are unaware that these changes are coming," a recent report by registry and DNS provider Afilias noted. "And once users hear about them, they would likely avoid the new extensions due to their unfamiliarity."

"58% indicated they wouldn't visit a website with an extension they didn't recognize."

"Old habits die hard. [Our] research shows consumer are currently reluctant to experiment with new TLDs," the Afilias report reads. (Afilias should know: the company launched with the .info domain registry in 2001.) "Confidence in 'heritage' domains has been built over many years and dot brands have tough shoes to fill."

http://www.informationweek.com/clou...ew-web-domain-names-should-you-pass/240151540

 

[Theydon]

Will Google be Google as is in 5-10 years? Nothing stands still. In my opinion its not the navigation thats important but the brand. They'll be successful niches with the new extensions but the .com will remain the desired brand.

 

[buyresaledomains]

Google will have its hands full that for sure. Trying to figure out who is the real/first/most relevant auto.com or auto.auto or auto.net

 

[mjnels]

"Nearly two-thirds of small businesses, though, have no idea the new extensions are coming, according to a recent survey by domain vendor Sedo. The poll included roughly 600 small business owners and managers, and 94% of them said they currently had no plans to purchase a new gTLD for their company. "

right makes sense.. so two thirds dont even know about them - but lets go ahead and poll those people anyway and ask if they plan on purchasing one. :lol:

"Our research shows a majority of consumers are unaware that these changes are coming," a recent report by registry and DNS provider Afilias noted. "And once users hear about them, they would likely avoid the new extensions due to their unfamiliarity."

"58% indicated they wouldn't visit a website with an extension they didn't recognize."

i think everyone here agrees with this for the most part. but heres the rub: it will change at least somewhat overtime because its not rational to "trust" .com... it's superstitious.

 

[buyresaledomains]

Currently the TLD matters zero for search performance/relevance. But what happens when your domain is fighting.ninja? Surely ninja will be treated as a search term.

 

[JB Lions]

right makes sense.. so two thirds dont even know about them - but lets go ahead and poll those people anyway and ask if they plan on purchasing one. :lol:



i think everyone here agrees with this for the most part. but heres the rub: it will change at least somewhat overtime because its not rational to "trust" .com... it's superstitious.

It's reality. Probably would be good for most domainers to read up such things as consumer behavior, market penetration etc. then it's easier to understand stuff like this. Businesses in the above quotes do.

 

[mjnels]

It's reality. Probably would be good for most domainers to read up such things as consumer behavior, market penetration etc. then it's easier to understand stuff like this. Businesses in the above quotes do.

its reality, for now.

there is no rock solid reason you should trust .com over any other TLD - the reason people "trust" it is irrational because anyone can register a .com domain and run a scam. like anything else, people "trust" things because they became familiar with them.

nobody trusted using their credit card on the internet back in the day but some of the same people had no problem giving it over the phone... its the opposite now.

 

[JB Lions]

It doesn't matter if it's irrational or not, it is what it is. Of course people can run scam .com sites, but every legit site they've been on, is usually a .com = ingrained or .org. It's habit to put the .com at the end.

"people "trust" things because they became familiar with."

http://www.hosterstats.com/DomainNameCounts2013.php

Pushing 108 million .coms. Look at .net, all this time, just at 15 million. The newest ones, .me and .co, barely over 1 million, less than 700,000. It's hard to become familiar with something, when most people will never see it, certainly not enough to get familiar with it. Maybe a generic like a .web will break the 1 million mark, the others, probably not. Probably in .tel territory as far as numbers, at best. Majority, never developed. Whole lotta failure coming.

This - http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/application-results/strings-1200utc-13jun12-en

Insane.

 

[mjnels]

It doesn't matter if it's irrational or not, it is what it is. Of course people can run scam .com sites, but every legit site they've been on, is usually a .com = ingrained or .org. It's habit to put the .com at the end.

uh huh - and people used to be scared to meet people off the internet.. now dating sites exist. :lol:

what changed?

 

[JB Lions]

Those dating sites are on .com. Plus, that's a different topic. Those alternate extensions already exist, as long as those dating sites. Haven't really caught on now, like those dating sites, have they? Go read those quotes again above, even those companies running those other extensions understand this.

 

[mjnels]

Those dating sites are on .com. Plus, that's a different topic. Those alternate extensions already exist, as long as those dating sites. Haven't really caught on now, like those dating sites, have they? Go read those quotes again above, even those companies running those other extensions understand this.

what happens when people realize the TLD in the address isnt a rational reason to trust a website?

 

[JB Lions]

what happens when people realize the TLD in the address isnt a rational reason to trust a website?

Nothing will change. And that's just one factor in a whole slew of them. That article touched on a few, some that were touched on in threads already. In a nutshell, just not a big enough end user market/real site development out there to really get one of these new extensions going. The numbers aren't there.

 

[mjnels]

people will just continue being irrational? this happens sometimes but most things evolve.

and to answer the tag in the thread: im very lonely - come have a conversation with me.

 

[JB Lions]

people will just continue being irrational? this happens sometimes but most things evolve.

and to answer the tag in the thread: im very lonely - come have a conversation with me.

Has nothing to do with being irrational, you're focusing just on one point. Checked out Alexa top 500 sites in U.S.

.com/org - over 92%
.net - 16 = 3%
.gov - 6
.co.uk - 4
.eu - 2
.se 1
.co - 1 t.co - url shortener
.ph - 1
.ch - 1
.do - 1
.ly - 1
.to - 1
.me - 1
.tv - 1
.cn - 1
.us - 1

In the U.S., .net is the closest, been around for awhile now, 3%. New extensions, bunch of under 1 percenters is what they'll be.

edited to add, what I find interesting about the .net numbers is, that was the #2 option, right after .com. Can't get .com, get .net. And after all these years, just 3%. If you look at top 500 internet merchants, I don't remember seeing even 1 .net, all .com. Every year, you have a certain amount of new merchants coming online, why isn't .net higher? Where is .biz? Why only 1 .us? Where is the market? If a true market existed, those numbers would be higher. After all those years of .net being available, you figure some of those .net merchants would have grown up and been on some of those lists, they're not. Those 16 .net above, most of those companies also have the .com, at&t, comcast, verizon, earthlink, etc.

Ah well, it'll be fun to watch it all play out.

 

[mjnels]

right, i just think that data is from the "one factor" of trusting .com and people going with whats familiar all these years. it all makes sense i just dont think it'll stay like that.

 

[Kate]

Why are some TLDs trusted more than others ?

.com is popular and trusted because it's the extension that is used by most players in business.
It becomes a business norm, like the suit and tie.
It's not rational, it's not for technical reasons either. Just some sort of standard and expectation. But habits are deeply ingrained.

In other countries ccTLDs are trusted too (at varying degrees though) because they suggest proximity, local reach.
For example, .ca conveys the message I'm Canadian like you and not some faceless, distant multinational .com corporation.
In the US, .com is the de facto ccTLD in lieu of .us. Americans have come to think that .com is their TLD and they share it with the rest of the world...


One has to remember that there is no particular demand from consumers for new extensions. It is a scheme that is promoted by icann and those who stand to benefit from them.
The current system is not broken, and nobody is waiting for a fix.

You don't have to agree with what I'm saying, but look at past experiences. They are pretty bleak. Logically, and if they drew any lessons from the past, icann should not even approve new extensions, or only one by one, on a case by case basis, and after an in-depth analyst of their merits and prospects.

There are vested interests in motion and icann is a puppet.
Follow the money always.

I think some TLD can still achieve moderate success but in niche markets. Examples: .me .tv.

I don't see one attaining critical mass to compete with today's top TLDs. Maybe in 30 years but it will always be time to adjust accordingly.

 

[mjnels]

i dont see any particular "alt TLD" catching on.. at least at first. with a bajillian TLD's in existence sales will probably be random and harder to predict. it'll probably be about the phrase and not the TLD itself. like if the .here TLD existed - "shop.here"

so they're the new "domain hacks."

 

[nicenic]

I now stay here for ICANN's further notification since ICANN 46th Meeting on new gTLDs. Registries of these new gTLDs have much more pressure than us, actually.

 

[Theydon]

There's a difference between a business presence on the internet and a search presence. The former is what most small business owners achieve, yes ideally they would like to rank well but its more important to have a location so they can tell people about it and advertise their site regionally. These people often cannot afford the .com or the continual seo needed to take it to page 1.

The new extensions will be consumed by small businesses, some will be better at marketing and seo than others and their budget will reflect that.

This leaves the .com as the stand out domain to own for larger businesses or start up's with a bigger budget. The next extensions will only highlight this so I do not see them impacting .com prices, they will further emphasise their value.

Don't forget if you are reading this then you have a higher level of understanding re domain names (and maybe a bit of .com snobbery too ) but in reality a lot of businesses particularly small mom and pop businesses just don't have this whole .com thing on their radar. They choose names because they like the sound of them, they are not looking to take over the world.

Horses for courses.

 

[jmcc]

what happens when people realize the TLD in the address isnt a rational reason to trust a website?

A very important point and it is often overlooked. The recent .uk effort by Nominet seemed to be aimed at shifting some of the TLD back towards the managed registry model as the more difficult it is to get a domain name registered, the more trustworthy it can appear. Some, of course, considered it a money making exercise but ccTLD registries don't really think like gTLD registries. Trust is a big issue, especially when it comes to e-commerce.

Both .INFO and .BIZ gTLDs have effectively squandered any "trust capital" that they had when launched. The .INFO gTLD was marketed heavily and the special offers and discounts forced it into a continuous boom and bust cycle. It is now down from its 7M+ registrations. The .BIZ gTLD had plans to become a business only gTLD but they seemed to abandon that when ccTLDs started grown and taking most of the local businesses. When people stop trusting, or at least trust a TLD a little less, the long term effect is not good.

Regards...jmcc