Is .pro dying or will it only get more valuable in the future?

[brandnow]

Of course value depends on the individual name. But I have been thinking about this recently.

On one hand, I like .pro because it rings a bell of credibility. This extension shouts "professional." Yet obviously with the stupid policies from the registry and the dwindling number of registrars offering .pro as well as the .whatevs arriving more and more I wonder about the survival of .pro.

There seems to be two options.. either the .pro registry will realize they need to get rid of the outdated restrictions.. so .pro can grow in popularly as being a genuinely good gtld OR the .pro registry will keep the restrictions and nobody will hear about .pro and over the next year or two it will completely fall out of the public's perception more than it already has.

I'm curious about your thoughts on this?

 

[Nitindomains]

Dying?

i thought it were DEAD already.:P

 

[RU]

Of course value depends on the individual name. But I have been thinking about this recently.

On one hand, I like .pro because it rings a bell of credibility. This extension shouts "professional." Yet obviously with the stupid policies from the registry and the dwindling number of registrars offering .pro as well as the .whatevs arriving more and more I wonder about the survival of .pro.

There seems to be two options.. either the .pro registry will realize they need to get rid of the outdated restrictions.. so .pro can grow in popularly as being a genuinely good gtld OR the .pro registry will keep the restrictions and nobody will hear about .pro and over the next year or two it will completely fall out of the public's perception more than it already has.

I'm curious about your thoughts on this?

Welcome to the dark side of the .pro.

 

[Archangel]

"Is .pro dying?"

I never knew it had life, to begin with.

 

[Kate]

As expected, the new extensions are not hurting established extensions (.com/ccTLDs).
On the other hand, the extensions that never quite took off will be further marginalized.

I think .pro has two problems: the first is the policies, the second is the distribution channels. .pro is not available from mainstream registrars, unless you are French or Russian, which is the reason why .pro gets more registrations in those two countries. Exposure is limited.

The registration count is 109,366 today. If you have been following the trends closely, you will notice it has been stagnating. I think the TLD is on autopilot and the registry (Hostway) is not focused on it - at all. Their business is hosting in general and even their website doesn't say anything about .pro in particular.
Conclusion: .pro is unimportant to Hostway. It's not their core business, just a side activity or to put it bluntly: legacy.

 

[RU]

The .pro is much better than .guru, .expert or .ninja
Maybe NEUSTAR, Donuts or Rightside buy this TLD ?!

 

[Archangel]

The others you cite are new. They can't be factored in. .pro's been here long enough to have had an impact (which it hadn't made)

The .pro is much better than .guru, .expert or .ninja
Maybe NEUSTAR, Donuts or Rightside buy this TLD ?!

 

[TheWatcher]

Dying?

i thought it were DEAD already.:P

Ditto.

 

[JayJay]

The others you cite are new. They can't be factored in. .pro's been here long enough to have had an impact (which it hadn't made)

I think he means .pro sounds better in general than those 3, which I agree with...sadly its still a waste imo

 

[Kate]

Maybe NEUSTAR, Donuts or Rightside buy this TLD ?!

It's not just a question of marketing. If they want to relax the eligibility rules, then I believe the contract with icann has to be renegotiated (once again).

 

[brandnow]

What I meant was, yes, I think .pro sounds better than .guru or .expert. I would greatly prefer to build a site around .pro if I am a professional (which I am ). But knowing that only 6 registrars offers .pro gives me less options for where to keep the domain registered. I know that the rules around .pro while I hear are rarely enforced, but there's still a chance they might audit the domain and that's concerning.

I am thinking that .pro should become successful in the next few years because it's better than all the other "professional" nglds. It's short, memorable, recognizable worldwide, and the word "pro" itself has intrinsic meaning.

 

[Taylor_C]

What I meant was, yes, I think .pro sounds better than .guru or .expert. I would greatly prefer to build a site around .pro if I am a professional (which I am ). But knowing that only 6 registrars offers .pro gives me less options for where to keep the domain registered. I know that the rules around .pro while I hear are rarely enforced, but there's still a chance they might audit the domain and that's concerning.

I am thinking that .pro should become successful in the next few years because it's better than all the other "professional" nglds. It's short, memorable, recognizable worldwide, and the word "pro" itself has intrinsic meaning.

.pro is offered by many registrars. Its not sold by godaddy however which is a red flag.

Unless Afilias puts money into marketing .pro its not going anywhere. And why would Afilias put money into marketing a tld? That's not their business. That's not what they are good at. They are in the business of providing back end support for tlds, not marketing them.
And with the news that Afilias canceled their ipo I would wager they are not looking to throw money into fields that are not sure wins for them. Experimenting and trying to successfully market .pro sounds like a pretty big financial risk to me.

Tlds need to be marketed. Now more than ever. All other industries know this. The domain industry is just starting to understand this.

 

[Kate]

Perhaps there is some confusion here, but I don't think Afilias owns RegistryPro. They provide the backend/infrastructure services for .pro, like they do for many other TLDs. But indeed they don't own all of them. And you are correct to say that marketing is not their core business, not even the TLDs they own.

 

[Taylor_C]

Perhaps there is some confusion here, but I don't think Afilias owns RegistryPro. They provide the backend/infrastructure services for .pro, like they do for many other TLDs. But indeed they don't own all of them. And you are correct to say that marketing is not their core business, not even the TLDs they own.

It looks like Afilias bought RegistryPro in 2012. That's according to the icannwiki.

 

[Rick Ace]

It's not just a question of marketing. If they want to relax the eligibility rules, then I believe the contract with icann has to be renegotiated (once again).

This is why .pro probably won't make a come back for the time being. And I doubt it's in Afilias best interest to revive .pro now. They might as well wait for the new TLD craze to subside, and then bring out ".pro" is a more special and unique TLD.

 

[brandnow]

This is why .pro probably won't make a come back for the time being. And I doubt it's in Afilias best interest to revive .pro now. They might as well wait for the new TLD craze to subside, and then bring out ".pro" is a more special and unique TLD.

I'm thinking the same thing. Which is why now is a good time to invest.

 

[Rick Ace]

I'm thinking the same thing. Which is why now is a good time to invest.

Assuming you meet the eligibility requirements, and want to take a big risk with a low chance of return, it might be a good time to invest. :P

 

[brandnow]

Assuming you meet the eligibility requirements, and want to take a big risk with a low chance of return, it might be a good time to invest. :P

haha

Well, I think the timeframe for .pro to shine again is 1 - 2 years from now. I also see them dropping the eligibility requirements in the future.

 

[B&J]

.PRO may change hands, if Afilias lets it go. Then, when promoted properly, it may revive and have the second life. But the past momentum is lost.

Still a very good extension.

There were lots of ***pro.*** sales in the past: http://dnpric.es/?q=pro.&searchsrnm=yes&searchsoa=yes

 

[B&J]

Afilias decided to drop the restrictions instead: https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-pro-discussion.522420/page-197#post-5068990

They are also looking for new gTLDs to buy if you have some to sell.

 

[Edward Smeu]

Just a heads-up, when I first started these .pro domains were my favourite ones, got some nice keywords and flipped a couple to get back in green but it is very very hard to sell .pro domains.

When Afilias bought it back then it created a frenzy among the extension fans but they had no intention whatsoever to invest more as I understood from their replies, nor should they now.

With top premium keywords you can flip a domain on almost any extension, incl. dot pro but in the long run you can't stay in the game investing in this extension.

I'm sure most newcomers to domaining already seen here and there 'stick to .com' assuming they made a minimum research but here is my advice as someone who invested money and time in this extension: stick to dot com for fluidity.

 

[asset.domains]

already saw a real pro in France i know using .pro ; )

 

[Kate]

.pro is carried by at least two large registrars in France, in Russia too.
So you are bound to see .pro used by French people more often.

But as long as .pro is not offered by mainstream registrars elsewhere, it's going to suffer from the lack of exposure.

 

[asset.domains]

the effect of pro is when your email address ends with .pro after conference presentation in contacts !

 

[Archangel]

What 'effect'? When I see anything ending in .pro, I think of a loser who tries too hard to look legit yet he couldn't afford a good .com.

I know for a fact I'm not the only one. .pro looks better than, say, .guru. But it still doesn't look like something a real professional would use. I'd trust my business on business.com, but I wouldn't even consider trusting business.pro.

the effect of pro is when your email address ends with .pro after conference presentation in contacts !