Maximum number of .com possible

[Kassey Lee]

I apologize if this question has been asked before. I couldn't find it in my search.

I've read somewhere the number of .com is about 80m. Are we approaching the limit very soon? What's the max number of .com possible?

 

[bmugford]

For all practical purpose there is no limit to the number of possible .COM when you factor in numbers, letters, hyphens, etc.

Brad

 

[theSun]

The current number of registered .com is 114,637,687 if thats what you meant. I am quite good at psychology.

 

[Michael]

There's no way we'll ever hit the limit. There can be 253 characters in a domain name, take out 4 for the .com and you're left with 249. The first and last character has 36 possibilities (can't start or end with a hyphen), and any other character has 37 possibilities. So unless I'm mistaken, there are ((37^247) * (36^2)) possibilities. I don't think we have a name for a number that big, it is a 2 with 390 zeros after it. There literally isn't enough money on earth to register all possible .com domains, even if you got them all with a $0.99 GoDaddy coupon.

 

[BitcoinDK]

I think what you have read about has been the ip and not the domain name itself.

 

[Kassey Lee]

Actually, I'm interested in knowing the supply and demand of domains in general and .com in particular. Judging from your comments, it seems to me that the supply of .com is, for practical consideration, almost unlimited.

 

[bmugford]

Right, but the supply of good ones is limited.

Brad

Actually, I'm interested in knowing the supply and demand of domains in general and .com in particular. Judging from your comments, it seems to me that the supply of .com is, for practical consideration, almost unlimited.

 

[Sparhawke]

Any idiot can register UncleBobsArkansasCajunChickenBarbequeSauce.com, but that is quite useless as a domain goes unless the brand is world famous...

The fewer letters you get, generally the rarer the domains become and the more valuable, BarbequeSauce.com is different from the above because it actually has value.

So you could in theory have a domain name with the maximum possible number of characters but it would be completely worthless.

 

[Kassey Lee]

So you could in theory have a domain name with the maximum possible number of characters but it would be completely worthless.

Now I'm learning. Very true. So would you say 3-keyword domain names are probably the longest names most people would go after?

 

[Semtex]

Now I'm learning. Very true. So would you say 3-keyword domain names are probably the longest names most people would go after?

There are very few 3 word names that are worth money. The only one I can think of is, FreeCreditReport. Only because they have that stupid jingle that gets stuck in your head.......:]

 

[Kassey Lee]

There are very few 3 word names that are worth money. The only one I can think of is, FreeCreditReport. Only because they have that stupid jingle that gets stuck in your head.......:]

Are you referring to the jingle mail that Americans have discovered?

Seriously, if 3-keyword name is the practical limit (vs the theoretical abundance of names), then will the day come soon when you run out of keyword combinations on .com?

 

[snicksnack]

There's no way we'll ever hit the limit. There can be 253 characters in a domain name, take out 4 for the .com and you're left with 249. The first and last character has 36 possibilities (can't start or end with a hyphen), and any other character has 37 possibilities. So unless I'm mistaken, there are ((37^247) * (36^2)) possibilities. I don't think we have a name for a number that big, it is a 2 with 390 zeros after it. There literally isn't enough money on earth to register all possible .com domains, even if you got them all with a $0.99 GoDaddy coupon.

a dot .com domain can only have 63 characters excl. extension and not 249 as you used in your calcualtion.

 

[Kassey Lee]

a dot .com domain can only have 63 characters excl. extension and not 249 as you used in your calcualtion.

So that means possible combinations are much smaller. In another thread, I see even hyphenated domain names selling at good prices. I tend to think this is because of overcrowding in .com. As fewer and fewer combinations are available, people would start to go for even less desirable combinations such as hyphenated domains. If this continues, does it mean we can see overflow into other extensions?

 

[bmugford]

So that means possible combinations are much smaller. In another thread, I see even hyphenated domain names selling at good prices. I tend to think this is because of overcrowding in .com. As fewer and fewer combinations are available, people would start to go for even less desirable combinations such as hyphenated domains. If this continues, does it mean we can see overflow into other extensions?

The majority of all end users are small to medium sized business who generally do not have the budget for a ridiculous Generic.com

There are various other options in a lower price range - whether that is a lesser .COM, hyphenated domain, alternate extension, etc.

Brad

 

[Kassey Lee]

What about the demand side? My feeling is that a lot of businesses and organizations are yet to get their own sites. Is there any hard fact to indicate the supply situation?

 

[Sparhawke]

I know where I live there are only about 3-5% of businesses online, often with ridiculous names that bear absolutely no resemblance to what they actually do and I would guess this is the same all over the world.

I am sure a taxi company will want taxicabs.com but that is taken, so they will go for taxi-cabs.com and find that is taken too and so on and so forth.

There are a finite number of names to use and many many more thousands who want those names and more coming everyday from tiny 2 man band operations to massive ranks with 250+ cars in them.

Demand is starting to out-pace supply in some sectors so they will have to start looking at their country codes and stop being so "prejudiced" against an extension that doesn't have the letters "c o m" in there.

 

[Kassey Lee]

Good observation, Sparhawke. I agree. Many small firms just do not have the skills or knowledge to develop their own site.

 

[XDuncan]

I know where I live there are only about 3-5% of businesses online, often with ridiculous names that bear absolutely no resemblance to what they actually do and I would guess this is the same all over the world.

I am sure a taxi company will want taxicabs.com but that is taken, so they will go for taxi-cabs.com and find that is taken too and so on and so forth.

There are a finite number of names to use and many many more thousands who want those names and more coming everyday from tiny 2 man band operations to massive ranks with 250+ cars in them.

Demand is starting to out-pace supply in some sectors so they will have to start looking at their country codes and stop being so "prejudiced" against an extension that doesn't have the letters "c o m" in there.

But going with something else than .com will make them look cheap and unprofessional.

 

[Sparhawke]

Oh its on now! *gets on boxing gloves* lol

The only thing that makes domains look cheap and unprofessional is having multiple hyphens, typos and obscure words that don't fit in with what you are trying to project.

I would take a quality .uk domain any day of the week over a cheap and nasty .com because of the inherent value, I have said this before and I will say it again; English do not care one jot that .com is an international extension, that is all it is...international. A taxi rank out of Heathrow is not going to care what some stuck up American (no offense) thinks about his fantastic .co.uk domain when jumping in his black cab because it fits in with what he is trying to project.

Taxi.co.uk is of far greater value than AmmericanTaxi-Cabs.com even though it should be supposedly worse.

The only reason why someone should choose a .com is if they are international and they are going after every country, if they are not the a country domain will suffice, and even be better since people are actually going to know that what they are searching for is actually served.

 

[labrocca]

Would make ICANN the richest entity on the planet.