.me .ME Registration Debacle and why the ccTLD will Fail

[DU]

I thought we were over the inconsistent registration crap.

Registered a dotME at GoDaddy was successful.. Order went through... then it didn't
Registered a dotME at Dynadot was successful... Order went through... then it didn't

Go to Domain.me and it's "reserved"

We've had what... 2 YEARS to sort this crap out.

Does anyone think this will ever end? I mean this whole reserve/auction crap just makes the whole dotME world seem dirty. How can it compete with .com? People think individual cybersquatters are bad enough... but if the ccTLD owner squats before even released then whats the point?

How about letting some good ones go so people actually CARE about your damn extension.

 

[mjbenterprises]

Just because you had a bad personal experience doesn't mean the whole extension is doomed...In fact, .me has far exceeded my expectations for a ccTLD in such a short time...

 

[DU]

It's not about my personal experience. This happened in the early days where registrations worked and then were revoked and I thought it was fixed.

Seems that people are itching for dotME to be visible and used and yet they are sitting on the most valuable names/hence visible names as "govt reserved"... Fxxx.me has to be worth a fortune I keep reading... well not yet because it's not available?!

Of course I didn't really ask a question so the thread is kind of pointless I realize now... but what I wanted to know and should have asked was whether people felt the same way as I do about the whole dotME feeling just anticlimactic given that the BEST domains are no where to be seen because they're being sat on as reserved for auction.

no_url_shorteners and WP.me?!? Who cares.... Where's the getting people to know that dotME exists? And is worthwhile?

 

[exsedo]

Personally, I think the strategy of .me registry from their business point of view is awesome.
Of course we would all like to get our hands on the best premium domains.
I don't know the details of wp.me or no_url_shorteners, but as far as awareness of the extension goes this has to be a masterstroke.
Godaddy are massive in America, don't take offence, but I think most Americans think that Godaddy are the be all and end all in the domaining world, but outside America, virtually no-one knows of them. Its a big big world, and not everyone plays to the same tune. I am sure the same problems exist in other extensions regarding thinking you have aquired a domain, only later to discover your registration was unsuccessful. It's more of a glitch at the registrars end than problems with the extensions registry.

 

[siga]

I agree with exsedo,

If domainers could purchase absolutely every thing then facebook or wordpress would not have been able to get hold of FB or WP as easily... They are just holding them untill people can either pay for them or go to them with a suitable and viable business plan which has capital to back it.

Now who would you rather see hold onto Fxxx.me (where x stands for the obvious letters) if you have a few .me domains in you portfolio? A domainer who is asking 100,000 while it sits on a parking page for the next 5 years or someone who could actually, put a website on it that attracts both visitors, publicity and money. The way I see it is while the .me registry holds onto this domain it stands more of a chance of reaching the correct person, from an overall .me marketing perspective.

On a second note I would advise using a registrar who actually provides accurate realtime whois checking such as domainmonster or godaddy (neither of these companys show the premium domains as available) or checking at domain.me before you pay up.

Good Luck

 

[DU]

exsedo and siga.

You provide well reasoned and compelling arguments I do find most dot com annoying with the parked pages... every keyword it seems! Perhaps someone needs to setup a new extension called the "verified as a real entity with real useful stuff extension" :^)

Thanks

Premiums are AVAILABLE at GoDaddy... xref : VIOLATE(dot)ME ... it's a registrar effup.

I don't know how many more there are this is just a random one.

 

[Kate]

When you look at it, .me is run like .tv.

The potential is there, but the limitations are there too.

 

[mjbenterprises]

The thing that makes .me different from .tv is the premium .tv domains, and the ridiculous annual renewals for those "premium" domains.... I think that, more than anything killed the .tv ext...

 

[tata668]

The potential is there, but the limitations are there too.

What limitations?

It's all about marketing...

 

[Kate]

By limitations, I mean that it's mainly a vanity TLD.
IMO .me is more or less on par with the better ones like .tv, but .cc .vg .ws etc are vanity extensions too.
They all share on common trait: they never gain critical mass. Never forget that :talk:

 

[DU]

Just a random search shows that there are MANY domains available at GoDaddy that are reserved at domain.me .... and not in the supposed "list of reserved names". I'm sold on the notion of holding domains for legitimacy but lost in the lack of consistency and transparency... where's the reserved list?

Oh well. I guess I should go back to my day job.

 

[mjbenterprises]

I think, at the present time, .me is incredible for development, sites seem to climb rapidly compared to some other random TLD... But for selling just the domain name, I think it is mainly a buyers market, sales haven't been that strong yet, but I think in the future, that will change in a major way....

However, personally in the last 3 months, I have had more .me sales over $100 than .coms....And to me, selling a reg fee domain over $100 is a very decent ROI...

 

[nicedomains]

I've been surprised with .me results. I've yet to own one, but watching some .me sales and .me sites around here, I can't say it's a pathetic extension.

 

[siga]

MJBenterprises pm sent.

Defaultuser, apologies I did not realise GD was showing some names I've had a quick check and DM is also showing reserved domains as available. From what I can tell the domains that are showing as available are the ones which are landrush and sunrise failed registrations which have also not succesfully been auctioned off in the april/may auctions last year. List here
Domain.ME

and the main reserved ones are here
Domain.ME are the reserved ones.

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

In the end, .me (and other ccTLDs) are country codes, and Google and other search engines treat them as such.

Unless you can convince the powers at Google that .me and .tv should go beyond the country of origin, then you'll continue to develop great traffic stats--

In Montenegro and Tuvalu.



*

 

[tata668]

*

In the end, .me (and other ccTLDs) are country codes, and Google and other search engines treat them as such.

Unless you can convince the powers at Google that .me and .tv should go beyond the country of origin, then you'll continue to develop great traffic stats--

In Montenegro and Tuvalu.



*

Not true!

.ME can be configured as a neutral top level domain name (in google webmaster tools). Exactly like .com, no difference.

 

[mjbenterprises]

Absolutely true, that is why .me domains seem to rise very high in the rankings faster than random extensions

Not true!

.ME can be configured as a neutral top level domain name (in google webmaster tools). Exactly like .com, no difference.

 

[DU]

MJBenterprises pm sent.

Defaultuser, apologies I did not realise GD was showing some names I've had a quick check and DM is also showing reserved domains as available. From what I can tell the domains that are showing as available are the ones which are landrush and sunrise failed registrations which have also not succesfully been auctioned off in the april/may auctions last year. List here
Domain.ME

and the main reserved ones are here
Domain.ME are the reserved ones.

I contacted [email protected]

Was told that the names "failed at auction" - they are actually linked on the domain.me site (the ones you pointed out smart guy ). They also told me.... and I quote

"It should not be possible to register neither "xxxxxx.me" nor other domains with this status. You need to contact GoDaddy, explain the situation and resolve this issue with them."

So I guess it's my job to communicate between the registry and their "approved" registrar...

I contacted GoDaddy who told me quote

"there should be no problem releasing the names at this time... contact the registry?"

Brilliant ! I guess all the smarts that came up with M and E for montenegro left before organizing the process for registration

On other notes...I'm surprised that the .me not being treated as a ccTLD hasn't received more domaining press other than the hoopla over in the impress me with your me forum

 

[DU]

Yay.... I registered violate and woeis today..

I wanted woeis since I found out about me. Aint' worth much... but it's cute.

Left some good ones on the table... seems that GoDaddy still don't know they're available.

degrees and savor are two that I was looking at still there...

bluff was taken waaaay too quick for me...