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discuss .NET has been underperforming for me lately. I figured out why.

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twiki

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I've been thinking what makes .NET so less desirable today. And, most importantly, is this downward trend going to continue?

I've determined that the answer is yes, .NET will likely continue to decline. Here's why.

First off, let's look at what .NET tld historically was and is.

It was, in most cases, the next level replacement for .com.

In the old times when .com / .net / .org was the standard, the choice was clear. If you were a business, you wanted to get the .com. If you couldn't (expensive or unavailable) you probably had to settle for a .net in order to get a shorter name and more memorable. Or, if you were an organization / nonprofit etc, you opted for a .org.

.NET has always been the awkward little brother of .com. Side note in the past, the terms "internet" and "network" were really hot. So .net had some promotional factor out there. Today, "Cloud" and similar terms are the new hot thing. And for some reason, they don't opt for .net anymore.

Why? Because there are new folks in town.

Most companies don't want to limit themselves to "network". They want a generic name and memorable, firstly .com. This is also why .co is on the rise lately = it seems as the next choice, generic name, most similar to .com (despite its disadvantages such as email issues).

This is also why .xyz for example is on the rise lately; it appears to be, for the users, a very nice generic name. XYZ = the end of alphabet, the end of everything. Nice one (@DNGear would agree). But XYZ still has a lot to grow, at least on 2-words which are not yet mature (my experience). Time will tell.

There's also IO. IO has been eating a lot from .net.

Everyone in tech seems to go for .IO because any developer knows what IO is (note, acronym for input/output). IO is on the rise and expensive purchases are being made. So it basically kicked out .net from the table and gorging a ton of domains right now.

So what is .NET today?

Basically the same awkward little brother of .com, but now old and being kicked out by almost any new tld out there (.co, .io, .xyz, .tech, .cloud or whatever your fancy is). This is an established trend already, and I don't see it changing anytime soon.

The question is: Is it worth investing in .NET anymore? The answer is, I'm afraid - maybe. It depends.

Very short .net names are still in demand. Certain very well researched .nets will sell for a lot. Names taken in 150 TLDs etc will definitely sell. Great single words, will probably sell.

But the larger mass of average 2-words and more, not so much.

There is a ton of replacement available out there, sometimes for very cheap and all tlds above seem, in many cases, a great alternative for .net. (Edit: and of course there are a lot of others.)

This is why I've decided to unload most of my .nets and keep only the very short ones and some single words I have. Everything else is going out on the door. My .net sales have been really scarce, and I cannot even tell which is going to sell or not. Even the number of tlds and comparable .com sales didn't provide a match for me. It was always a c***p shoot if I might use this term here.

So should you also discard your .nets or keep them?

I can't tell. Maybe (either). It's your decision - but at least read the above.

Oh, and you're invited to let us know what you think in comments below. Thanks!
 
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
It’s a non-com, what do you expect?

I think it’s a formidable, and my personal #2 with .org as my 3 — Long live .net —

Many examples:
MangoGaming.net HD owns the com, ofc lol will always l .net, if .com is taken. always say… “Slideshare.com redirects to .net?! Nice.
Cant spell “internet” without .net!

Blame new exts keep diluting the product imo
“Dont fall for the trap”
 
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It’s a non-com, what do you expect?

I think it’s a formidable, and my personal #2 with .org as my 3 — Long live .net —

Many examples:
MangoGaming.net HD owns the com, ofc lol will always l .net, if .com is taken. always say… “Slideshare.com redirect .net?!

Sure thing, it still has its die-hard fans and will continue to.

But .IO is going great, .org well, .co is on the rise etc. The only one major player declining lately is, I'm afraid, .net.
 
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Sure thing, it still has its die-hard fans and will continue to.

But .IO is going great, .org well, .co is on the rise etc. The only one major player declining lately is, I'm afraid, .net.

.IO for start ups!
.org for wellness
.co on the rise? Do u mean “wannabe com? Probably has to do agreesive 0.99 promos, but i see .co with healthy sales, sure,
 
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Great article, twiki....

Maybe easier for me to agree with you since I only own a few dot-NETs

Will have to see how the year continues but from the reported sales thread, seems like CO or even XYZ have surpassed NET.

Thank you!
 
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it’s goin to be interesting to see their trajectory

What do you think, @jmcc ?
 
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it’s goin to be interesting to see their trajectory

We're living interesting times indeed...

Note for .NET holders with larger portfolio:

I won't suggest you to do what i do (clearance); my case is different cause don't have that many .nets, so it's rather painless for me. It might also not be wise to clear them flat.

What I would do instead with such .net portfolio is:

Make sure my portfolio is well selected and not keeping those with little margin, or with low sales % expectancy. These lower performers will eat a lot of your profit through renewals, so maybe ditch just those instead.

Rather optimize portfolio would probably be wise, if this trend continues. .NET still has sales and not few.

Edit: Oh, and also periodically check trends on Namebio etc - because if your names are several years old, those words might become stale or even irrelevant nowadays.
 
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I've recently acquired some new .nets though I've felt like .org should have commanded better numbers for a lot of names although historically it seems like .org was the lowerst valued of the main 3 (com net org).

.net may end up coming back as new technology arises or even hipsters find their way into domaining and begin registering them ironically.
 
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I've recently acquired some new .nets though I've felt like .org should have commanded better numbers for a lot of names although historically it seems like .org was the lowerst valued of the main 3 (com net org).

.net may end up coming back as new technology arises or even hipsters find their way into domaining and begin registering them ironically.

Entirely possible, but nowadays it would be quite a risky gamble to bet on something like that.
 
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I dont see investing in .net as something sustainable.
Truth is there is no way that tld is going back up going forward; its 2021 and times have changed.

(Meanwhile, very disturbing is the fact that .co with $30 renewals, is blowing up..)
 
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it’s goin to be interesting to see their trajectory

What do you think, @jmcc ?
Anyone holding .NET should be watching what happens with .WEB and if it finally launches.

Regards...jmcc
 
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I dont see investing in .net as something sustainable.
Truth is there is no way that tld is going back up going forward; its 2021 and times have changed.

(Meanwhile, very disturbing is the fact that .co with $30 renewals, is blowing up..)

I don't find this disturbing, but rather logical.

Most ngTLDs are priced higher. ( Edit: this is a ccTld indeed, but anyway - speaking from buyers perspective, they got used to that. )

Also, if .co is the next preferred TLD for the buyer, they have this choice: Either pay 4-5 fig for a .com, OR buy the .co for a couple hundred or whatever, and then pay just $30 per year.

It's the logical choice for budget buyers.

Also, between .co and .net, .co is generic, while .net is ... not really.
 
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i will continue to believe in .net no matter what but yeah i think there is not much demand for .net in the aftermarket
@Seventy your cup of tea broski
 
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Unlike .biz or .info, the problem with .net and .org is also that there are not enough strong SLDs that are dropping and I feel all the good .nets are either developed or with very OLD hands who don't necessarily report their sales.

if a good SLD drops in the .net you will see all kinds of eagles swooping on it.


@Seventy would be able to share more if he is willing.

Just my thought
 
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All the rules you know and have obeyed will be out the window tomorrow.
 
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All the rules you know and have obeyed will be out the window tomorrow.
Thats vague. Care to develop your thought?
 
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Thats vague. Care to develop your thought?
Sit back and watch some get some big numbers over things you over step due to having opinions. I have dropped one words in my life which i regret and wouldn't pull any decent number at time.
 
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Dot net will finish strong once saturated markets and best of extensions take hold.
 
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Dot net will finish strong once saturated markets and best of extensions take hold.
I disagree.
.net is old school, old generation, and times have changed.
New tlds like .xyz and others that havent appeared are the ones that could become popular, once the likes of .com .co .io are saturated, which is hard because I wouldnt say .com is saturated, even after 2 decades of widespread internet activity.
In order to be saturated, a business wouldnt be able to hand reg a .com domain or get a decent one in the aftermarket, which is far from being the case, even at $xxx.
Then replicate that scenario to .co .io, it's impossible.

.net is over because the new generation will not adopt it.
Imo.
 
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I haven't a strong interest in net i already bailed but i am not feeling same way now.
 
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Anyone holding .NET should be watching what happens with .WEB and if it finally launches.

Regards...jmcc

There hasn't really been any new updates on that unless I'm missing something?

Although if .WEB does release and has no premiums with standard pricing like all other legacy tlds....it will be an instant competitor to anything non-com imho.
 
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There hasn't really been any new updates on that unless I'm missing something?

Although if .WEB does release and has no premiums with standard pricing like all other legacy tlds....it will be an instant competitor to anything non-com imho.
From what I remember, it has been bounced back to ICANN for a decision. It is a bit of a legal mess.

This is, I think, the most recent coverage:
http://domainincite.com/26737-web-r...gn-a-problem-and-icann-its-own-ass-on-a-plate

The .WEB may have missed its main market. Had it launched in the 2012 round as intended, it would have been the flagship TLD of the new gTLDs. It could be a major competitor for .NET in that the phrase "the Web" has largely replaced "the Net". It also has a kind of instant recognition. In some respects it could be a money-grab. The registries have a lot of latitude on how they handle premium domain names in the new gTLDs and that old price stability that existed in the legacy gTLDs is, to a large extent, gone.

Many of the non-COM competitors are not really competitors. Some of the new gTLDs are only getting hundreds of new registrations per month and some have been sold. The real problem for .COM is that while it is the global gTLD it is being beaten at a country level in that the new registrations volume in the countries with strong ccTLDs has shifted away from .COM to the ccTLDs. The .COM is just over replacement level in some of these countries. The major thing in .COM's favour is that it is the de facto US ccTLD. The last thing that Verisign would want to do is to damage that in any way. With this in mind, a .WEB launch might see the regfee at a multiple of that of .COM's average regfee. This would keep the main volume with .COM but would also create a very lucrative set of brand protection registrations that would keep renewing year after year. The premiums might be used to create another gold rush but Verisign has a lot of smart people working for it and it has seen how taking all the premiums out of the market effectively kills new TLDs. It might reduce the set of premiums that it would reserve.

Regards...jmcc
 
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I have sold a few dot net for $xxx such as private-jet.net etc..
currently own a few nets such as Dantist.net Apartaments.net (Estibot $2,400) Soska.net and one with hyphen THE-CLUB.NET but tbh I wouldn't go with a net for my brand.
dotnet is just an old-newgtld.
 
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I only ever had one .net. Cooking courses dot net. Never had any offers, inquiries or anything. Even when I priced it real cheap just to get rid of it, there was no interest. And that was and will be my last .net. Gotta stick to .com, that's where I had 100% of my sales.
 
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I surprised myself last month by registering 7 new .net, haven't touched the extension in years. But, I've got a development project going, so if I try selling them, it will be after that. I think the best .net I ever sold was MilitaryHistory /net/
 
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