opinion New gTLD cheat sheet

[000]

What many domain investors don't understand is that the new gTLD's are very much about branding. A lot of people just simply don't, and never will, get it, but that doesn't mean you need to make a lot of silly investments due to your lack of a knack for marketing. Yes, you read that right: you can from here forward stop throwing a little less of your money down the loo! Below you will find a cheat sheet with a brief rundown of which new gTLD's will weather the storm and have any significant relevancy in the coming years.

But.. but... how do you know?!! you must be wondering.

"Surely he must either be in possession of a magical crystal ball, or perhaps has been visited by a time traveling domainer from the future!"

Those are, of course, very natural assumptions, but in fact, the answer is much simpler: I have always had a natural knack for marketing, which happens to be a valuable, yet commonly-overlooked trait when it comes to domain investing. What really makes one domain better than the other? Why isn't shorter always better? If you don't have a good grasp on the psychology of marketing, you're at a disadvantage already in this business. Many domainers are very technical-minded people who don't actually understand the basics of what makes a domain name valuable; there's a lot more to it than statistics. [Having expertise of the language you're dealing with is crucial as well!]

Want to save yourself some time and money and get around all the bs you see thrown around here on an hourly basis?

Read on.




You will know it is time to turn the page when you hear the chimes ring, like this.




***




Just kidding. This won't take long.

There are sooo many new gTLD's that I will initially go over just a handful. Curious about one I've not included? Comment below.



Let's begin now.


- - -


Read these aloud:


CNN com (doesn't sound so great, but it's ingrained in our minds)
CNN top
CNN xyz
CNN win
CNN link
CNN click
CNN bid
CNN management
CNN site
CNN news
CNN web
CNN website
CNN tech
CNN VIP
CNN club
CNN onl
CNN online
CNN TV

Apple com
Apple top
Apple xyz
Apple win
Apple link
Apple click
Apple bid
Apple management
Apple site
Apple news
Apple web
Apple website
Apple tech
Apple host
Apple VIP
Apple club
Apple onl
Apple online
Apple TV

Google com
Google top
Google xyz
Google win
Google link
Google click
Google bid
Google work
Google ninja
Google management
Google site
Google web
Google website
Google news
Google tech
Google host
Google VIP
Google club
Google onl
Google online
Google TV

Sony com
Sony top
Sony xyz
Sony win
Sony link
Sony click
Sony bid
Sony work
Sony ninja
Sony management
Sony site
Sony web
Sony website
Sony news
Sony tech
Sony host
Sony VIP
Sony club
Sony onl
Sony online
Sony TV

Boston com
Boston top
Boston xyz
Boston win
Boston link
Boston click
Boston bid
Boston work
Boston ninja
Boston management
Boston site
Boston web
Boston website
Boston news
Boston tech
Boston host
Boston VIP
Boston club
Boston onl
Boston online
Boston TV

New England com
New England top
New England xyz
New England win
New England link
New England click
New England bid
New England work
New England ninja
New England management
New England site
New England web
New England website
New England news
New England tech
New England host
New England VIP
New England club
New England onl
New England online
New England TV

Times com
Times top
Times xyz
Times win
Times link
Times click
Times bid
Times work
Times ninja
Times management
Times site
Times web
Times website
Times news
Times tech
Times host
Times VIP
Times club
Times onl
Times online
Times TV

Reddit com
Reddit top
Reddit xyz
Reddit win
Reddit link
Reddit click
Reddit bid
Reddit work
Reddit ninja
Reddit management
Reddit site
Reddit web
Reddit website
Reddit news
Reddit tech
Reddit host
Reddit VIP
Reddit club
Reddit onl
Reddit online
Reddit TV

Toy com
Toy top
Toy xyz
Toy win
Toy link
Toy click
Toy bid
Toy work
Toy ninja
Toy management
Toy site (not terrible actually, in this case)
Toy web
Toy website
Toy news
Toy tech
Toy host
Toy VIP
Toy club
Toy onl
Toy online (kind of meh actually in this case)
Toy TV

Toys com (doesn't sound so great, but it's ingrained in our minds)
Toys top
Toys xyz
Toys win
Toys link
Toys click
Toys bid
Toys work
Toys ninja
Toys management
Toys site
Toys web
Toys website
Toys news (the plural doesn't work well)
Toys tech
Toys host
Toys VIP
Toys club (the singular is far better!)
Toys onl
Toys online
Toys TV (the singular is far better!)



LawnMower com (doesn't sound so great, but it's ingrained in our minds)
LawnMower top
LawnMower xyz
LawnMower win
LawnMower link
LawnMower click
LawnMower bid
LawnMower work
LawnMower ninja
LawnMower management
LawnMower site
LawnMower web
LawnMower website
LawnMower news
LawnMower tech
LawnMower host
LawnMower VIP
LawnMower club (doesn't really fit the extension that well, but many product.club's do)
LawnMower onl
LawnMower online (the singular is meh)
LawnMower TV (doesn't fit the extension)

LawnMowers com (doesn't sound so great, but it's ingrained in our minds)
LawnMowers top
LawnMowers xyz
LawnMowers win (no they don't)
LawnMowers link
LawnMowers click (well, they shouldn't)
LawnMowers bid (no they don't)
LawnMowers work (well, hopefully they do)
LawnMowers ninja
LawnMowers management
LawnMowers site
LawnMowers web
LawnMowers website
LawnMowers news
LawnMowers tech
LawnMowers host
LawnMowers VIP
LawnMowers club (doesn't really fit the extension that well)
LawnMowers onl
LawnMowers online (buy lawn mowers online)
LawnMowers TV (doesn't fit the extension)

Namepros com
Namepros top
Namepros xyz
Namepros win
Namepros link
Namepros click
Namepros bid
Namepros work
Namepros ninja
Namepros management
Namepros site
Namepros web
Namepros website
Namepros news
Namepros tech
Namepros host
Namepros VIP
Namepros club
Namepros onl
Namepros online
Namepros TV


THE CHEAT SHEET:

.com is KING, and always will be.... although there is undoubtedly a growing list of viable alternatives.
.top sucks (top? what?)
.win sucks (see above)
.xyz sucks (so obvious it's not even worth getting into)
.site sucks (it's redundant, in a way much worse than .online)
.web sucks (world wide web.... what year is it?!)
.website sucks (it's just so clunky, without the branding appeal of .online)
.click sucks (isn't clicking on the way out anyways? Tap is the new click)
.link sucks (unless a company like Datalink can get Data.link)
.bid sucks
.work sucks
.ninja sucks (let's face it, the ninja thing is passé)
.management sucks (this is one gtld I can dismiss based solely on its length)
.news overall not a lot of great domains, compared to many gtld's, but can work well for brands, niches, short geos
.tech overall a pretty big meh investment-wise, but it will work for some companies (brand.tech)
.host overall a pretty big meh investment-wise, but it will work for some companies (brand.host)
.vip overall a pretty big meh investment-wise, but it will work for some companies (brand.vip)
.club is nice for a wide variety of purposes and will weather the storm
.onl sucks (dot O N L..... are you kidding me?)
.online makes sense. Don't believe me? Well, "online" is the most common domain suffix in the world...
.tv makes sense, and will continue to grow in usage (yes I know it's technically a cctld)


BONUS:

.net: desirability will continue to decline, as there are tons of new not-com options that are more meaningful
.org: desirability will slowly decline, but .org will still be the go-to for non-profits
.info: will slide further into irrelevancy
.biz: will slide further into irrelevancy
.mobi: will slide further into irrelevancy (yes, that is indeed possible)

ccTLD's (country codes like .de .nl etc) will overall hold steady, but generic alternatives will take a small bite out of their share


Obviously there are occasional exceptions. Sometimes the singular is beautiful in one gTLD, and ugly in another. But overall, there is something special about the green domains, and if you can't see it, well.... for the sake of your finances, hopefully you'll marinate on this post for a bit and see the light.

That's all, folks!


This post is little more than the arrogant opinion of one man, so obviously everyone should do their own research.

Disagree with my conclusions? Comment below and tell me how ya really feel!



***


(Some of the coloring is irrevocably mucked up, but you'll figure it out)


***

 

[Kate]

It seems to me that new gTLDs are at breaking point now..just few months ago, registries were selling very nice names for standard fees. Now, more and more registries are putting very high price tags (like 72 000 USD YEARLY renewals) for their good names. I guess that these companies were unsure whether their products will be successful, but now they see that they can afford to come up with this pricing.

I have a different theory: I think they are trying to squeeze as much money as they can now, because the window of opportunity is closing. They don't even know if they will still be in business in 3 years.

I would not underestimate their intelligence : registries are owned by people who are millions usd worth, and they are years in this business. If they rise prices like that, it means they already passed some financial point which they needed to achieve (from their shareholders perspective) and now they can relax and try to make some profit.

What you're saying sounds reasonable, but the reality is different. First of all, some of new players are new to the industry and they clearly don't understand it. They have all overestimated the demand. Their projections are not realistic. They refuse to learn the lessons from the past, and they continue to create pointless extensions, in spite of the fact that all have failed in the past.

They are not as smart as you think. These companies are just raising other people's money (OPM), the investors/backers are not all experts. They are just investors who have been sold a business idea, and they take a chance in a business venture. The CEO and the employees will get their pay at least for some time. They will make some money, even if the business eventually fails. Then they'll move on. At least they have burned investors' money. Somebody will benefit.
It's like people giving their banker money to invest in stocks, but they don't understand the stock market themselves. They just want to make money, but they take a risk too.

.mobi was more or less bankrupt and was bought by Affilias. It's dead nonetheless. .tel is dead too. But it's been a costly adventure: A look at .Tel’s 14 year, £25 million journey
These TLDs have failed in a context of limited competition. Now the situation is even more difficult. Plenty of extensions will not be viable. Registries will fail. I predict a big mess.
People will be stunned when the first TLDs will be retired from the root (in fact it has already happened). But this is perfectly predictable.

If I would own a registry, I would do the same. Still, there are great opportunities to buy excellent names for standard price at the moment, but these opportunities shrink rapidly everyday and it is much more difficult then just few months ago.

What people need to understand is that the new registries are not regulated like .com or mature ccTLDs. Registries have much latitude to jack up the price dramatically, and there is nothing you can do, because there are no contractual caps.

 

[TopShelf Domains]

.com is KING, and always will be....

Stopped reading after this. Was an interesting post up until this. I am not sure if you took into consideration .brands o r not

I also do not think you took into consideration combos that are brandable. It is not just brand.tech it is wind.tech or something like that. I think you just took into consideration brand.gtlds. Did I miss something?

But it doesn't matter because if we do not see any viral uses of the new extensions it won't matter.

 

[000]

Stopped reading after this. Was an interesting post up until this.

Do you see .com being dethroned by a single alternative extension? If so, which one?

Within 3-5 years it will be so common to see new gTLD's that .com will no longer be viewed as "necessary", but I really don't see there ever being any go-to, default extension besides .com. Mark my words, in 2050, assuming domain names are still at all relevant, .com will still be the most-used domain worldwide.

I am not sure if you took into consideration .brands o r not

I also do not think you took into consideration combos that are brandable. It is not just brand.tech it is wind.tech or something like that. I think you just took into consideration brand.gtlds. Did I miss something?

There will be exceptions in all gTLD's. A select number of people will always find a way to turn a profit, regardless of the extension. But I'm considering the overall value of these gTLD's for domain investment purposes: as in, will there be thousands of GREAT names in that gTLD, or just a handful?

 

[ttfan]

Excellent post 000! That makes a lot of sense, and your examples are excellent!

 

[deez007]

@000 - I think you have pretty much hit the nail on the head... I have been saying the same thing for some time now about the branding potential of new TLD's - I also have a solid marketing background so I appreciate the brandability.

 

[000]

On a related note, I think it's important to understand WHY .com came to become to desired in the first place. Yes, a lot of it has to do with it simply being the "first on the scene", but there's more to it. Several years ago, companies were overall more willing to pay a high price for a .com domain than they are today. Why? A lot of it had to do with the expected search engine benefits to owning a .com. That advantage has totally disappeared, and with it a lot of the end user buyers. Nowadays, it's not at all uncommon to hear ".com's don't give the benefit they used to" direct from end users. It was easier to sell .com's five years ago than it is today. Why might that be? Because the benefits truly are slipping away!

What about .codes, .solutions or .support?

.codes: very limited potential, overall a poor investment for domainers unless you have killer combos
.solutions: very limited potential, overall a poor investment for domainers unless you have killer combos
.support: very limited potential, overall a poor investment for domainers unless you have killer combos

Of those three, I think .solutions will be the most-used, but still mostly for brand names (like Google.solutions).

Second place would be .support, but it's really pretty limiting. It will mostly be used for forwarding to the relevant .com/support page.

.codes is just not good at all.

 

[alcy]

@000
kitty kitty

come on.. that's all you got little man? where your warrior spirit go dumbo?

 

[000]

on that note, I leave you beaneath me on the floor. I believe they call that a KO.

That's an interesting perspective, but congrats!

 

[alcy]

With the latest success of Pokemon Go, things seem to be leaning to AR (augmented reality).

Thanks,
Brandon

this is hardly the place for it.. but since you asked:

it's not that simple... it's a highly complex, 1000 page long VR thread with tons of twists and turns (and hundreds of sales too). one must read it all, participate, become part of it, it must enter your veins, your very cells even! and only then, can you begin to hope that any words you speak about VR, can carry meaning.. and value... and be worth something... and not be empty... you see, VR is like poetry. it's the voice of silence.

drop by if you'd like, we're a fun bunch there. we do bite so you gotta be brave like this kitty... who is now wide spreading on the floor (TKO).

cheers

 

[eko prasetio]

geo + vip
geo + store
is ok and good, i think.

 

[000]

geo + vip
geo + store
is ok and good, i think.

Miami.VIP
London.VIP
Denver.VIP
SanDiego.VIP

Yeah I like those. But one should focus on big geos; I would not expect anything from a smalltown.vip.

Miami.store
London.store
Denver.store
SanDiego.store

I don't like geo + store though. Too generic - there are sooo many kinds of stores! Unless their store sells everything, who would ever buy it?

Maybe you're thinking along the lines of

Miamigrocery.store
Londongrocery.store
Denvergrocery.store
Sandiegogrocery.store

.... but I wouldn't touch domains like that with a 10-foot virtual pole. They will likely not be in demand, ever.

 

[Kate]

I just wanted to dispel the myth that registries must know what they're doing, and that you don't invest huge sums of money without a sound business plan. And yet... There are more such examples.
By the way, Google was a .mobi backer too. We were told it couldn't fail thanks to the backing of heavyweights like Visa, Nokia, Google, etc.
But Google have killed dozens of their own projects in one decade. .mobi is just a blip on the radar.

In life plenty of new products, technological innovations are brought to the market and many fail.
Because consumers have to embrace them.
What is clear is that not all TLDs can be successful, there is simply too little demand to absorb the supply. The laws of economics and supply & demand will do the rest. At this point it still hard to tell which ones are viable so make sure you don't bet on the wrong .horse.

 

[000]

Interesting, but I am sure .top will top all.
.top will turn into the gem TLD.

Clearly domains are just a hobby for you, so I'm glad that you've found something you like at least. Goes to show that there truly is something for everyone with the new gtld's.

 

[MR Harrist]

very informative!
not all new Gtld are bad, some good but not all of them! we never sure which one, is it online, site, host or club, college or even ninja!

only market can tell! but most of the time there is a pattern or fundamental to make GTld become succesfull! we just have to read the sign, and that's it! even though it will never be a guarantee we will right all the times!
after all it is investment! so don't take it personally!

 

[dordomai]

But I see that some super players like Google and Amazon are deeply involved in this area too.

I disagree. They are not deeply involved. Google have $75 billion in cash reserves if they wanted to dominate that area they could have easily bought the entire namespace for $1 billion.

They lost or withdrew many of the applications that you listed. It's not that they couldn't afford it. Why would they lose strings like .blog if they really wanted them?

So far they have not made serious investments in that space.

What have Google and Amazon been doing with their extensions so far? I have only seen google.domains. It's been 2 years and very little has happened.

These companies know very well what they are doing, they drive internet for so many years. And they are very far from crash.

For them investing $xx millions is not a big deal, they might buy them because they can afford it and their competitors are buying them too.

Google funds many elevator to the moon projects knowing that most crazy ideas will fail but a few might succeed beyond expectations.

 

[zycfour]

I'm not quite sure which opinions you're referring to. More quotes, please.

For more of my thoughts on .net, see this post on page 1.

Your opnions - most newgTLDs are not worth investing VS .net: desirability will continue to decline, as there are tons of new not-com options that are more meaningful

 

[000]

Your opnions - most newgTLDs are not worth investing VS .net: desirability will continue to decline, as there are tons of new not-com options that are more meaningful

When I say that there are tons of new not-com options that are more meaningful, I'm talking about the options for end users looking for domains, since they are the ones ultimately paying the high prices for domains. In the past with .net, it has always been the go-to "second" option. Now, that thinking is becoming a thing of the past, as .net is no longer the obvious second choice and has dozens of new options to compete with.

The new gtld's are designed to give businesses more options. That will in turn drive down the demand for premium-priced domains in general. More than ever before, domains of ANY kind will need to really STAND OUT if you're trying to charge a premium for it, because otherwise that potential buyer can find a different domain amongst dozens of different new gtld options. This was hardly the case before. It's typically been: .com, cctld, or .net if you're desperate, and that's it.

.net is losing value, even today.
.com is losing value, even today (although at a much slower rate than .net)

I absolutely believe that overall, most new gtld's are not worth investing in (keywords, geos, LLL, NNN, etc), except for a very, very limited number of exceptions. And those are some exceptions that we should be focusing on.

There are very few .xyz's that will actually make sense for a business to use. - So, buy those!
There are very few .win's that will actually make sense for a business to use. - So, buy those!
There are very few .link's that will actually make sense for a business to use. - So, buy those!
There are very few .click's that will actually make sense for a business to use. - So, buy those!
There are no .onl's that make sense. - So, don't buy those!
etc.

I do need to add to my cheat sheet, though, because I've only touched the surface with about 20 ngtld's (mostly the top gtld's, by domain count). And no, I don't give a passing grade to many of those, overall, but again there are plenty of exceptions, and still a number of solid ngtld's that will see relatively wide adoption. Definitely no shortage on investment opportunities for the savvy investors.

I hope that helped clarify my stance.

 

[000]

In this new world of domains that we are entering, the only domainers to succeed will be the 1% focusing on top notch domains, stuff like:

LL.com / LLL.com / NN.com / NNN.com / Geo.com / Keyword.com / KeywordKeyword.com
Sydney.florist
Friendship.club
Earth.science
Ganja.club
Pro.media
Injury.help
TV.center
etc

(predictably, those have all recently sold for at least $x,xxx).

The 99% of domainers who buy undesirable sh!t will continue to lose their money. The number of profitable domainers will dwindle to numbers lower than ever before. Even many of those who have been successful for years, but now blindly refuse to adapt, and try to ride it out with their subpar .com's, will see their losses begin to mount. The times are a-changin'!

 

[000]

@000,
Of couse .xyz looks ridicolous for a big business, but I was talking about blogs, monezited sites, small and maybe medium business.

That's precisely the crowd that will NOT be interested in paying a premium for their domain. They'll find something affordable ($xx) they can register themselves, and call it a day. And, the vast majority of the time, their selection will NOT be .xyz, even at $1.

.xyz is really very very generic because doesnt mean nothing especially, you can use it for personal blog, small online shop, site with adsense etc.

By that logic, .kjz or .fyq are basically just as good. They don't mean anything either. With hundreds of gtld options that actually ARE meaningful, why on earth would an average business choose to develop on a gtld that has no meaning? That'd be an odd step backwards for mankind.

All decent domains are in domainers hands and worth too high for me, so .xyz was the solution.

I'm sorry to say, that is a dangerous solution that will unfortunately not lead you to profits. The only winners will be the registrars and registry. I would highly suggest you focus on maybe just a few truly GREAT domains, rather than a bunch of .xyz rubbish.

 

[maya-zir]

@000
1. I dont expect traffic to my portfolio site, I just needed a normal and memorable domain, thats it.
2. A few month ago I didnt know what did mean FYI, try to understand, there ir more countries and not just USA and english speaking countries.
Nobody know and doesnt want to know what does mean FYI and nobody NEVER will remember it.

 

[Wass]

I never stop talking about the past because it's essential to draw lessons from the past in order not to repeat them. Domainers have lost big sums on several extensions they thought were promising.

Back in the past there was hardly any demand for new extensions. Now you have more choice but new extensions have not become fashionable just because they are available.
End users still prefer to buy .com or their ccTLD. So the fundamentals have not changed. New extensions are struggling. Of course people will point at exceptions like abc.xyz (that mean little anyway). Still .xyz is not valuable or credible.

You only have to look around you to see what businesses are using. Just ask yourself how often you use websites in new extensions on a daily basis.

Another thing. I think the argument about choice is overrated.
For example I am in the computer consultancy business. There are now 900+ TLDs but in fact only a few are relevant to my field. For example strings like .computers .tech .soft .software .consultancy (if they even exist). I don't have 900 TLDs to choose from, just a few. In fact a string like .computers is too limiting or off-topic (I don't sell computers).
The problem is that many extensions are niche, they will only work for a narrow purpose, and that doesn't suit everybody.
Now assuming I find the perfect keyword/TLD pair, the odds are high the domain is actually reserved/for sale by registry/for sale by domainer. Or the annual fee is outrageous.
Back to square one.

Thinking you now have unlimited choice is a fallacy. You have more options, but not all are realistic and worth pursuing. New extensions are here because icann and the registries wanted to create new revenue streams, not because of popular demand.

And the best has yet to come: when extensions fail and get retired.

What is the problem with niche domains if the niche is something that has a big business? what is the problem with a domain as Buy.Jewelry or Buy.Gold? Bad domains???
I strongly believe in the future of niche domains but must be a top domain(e.g: CarInsurance.Jewelry is a bad domain of course).
We are in a new era my friend and now we're in the time of the change. I begin to see the new domains used but it takes time... Now there are about 1000 new gTLDs but there will be 2000 domains: we are in the time of the change now and in the time of the change there are always confusion and uncertainty and pros and cons...
I have nothing against the .com and I also have many .com in my portfolio but I believe that the new domains have a huge potential. Huge if you have a Unique domain...
Personally I also invested in many 360° new domains like: 360.BIKE - 360.CREDIT - 360.JEWELRY - 360.HORSE - 360.ENTERPRISES... and others... I think I'll sell them only after some years (maybe 2 or 5 or 10 years... No problem, I'm still young and I'm patient... 2,5,10 or never. lol) because my prices are high. My prices are only for big fish... I say 10 years but maybe tomorrow a big fish will come. Who knows.
As it regards domains as .xyz or .top: in the near future maybe they can compete with .org or .net (not bad...) but they are still far from .com. For now...
Time will tell.

Good luck to you too

 

[zycfour]

What is the problem with niche domains if the niche is something that has a big business? what is the problem with a domain as Buy.Jewelry or Buy.Gold? Bad domains???
I strongly believe in the future of niche domains but must be a top domain(e.g: CarInsurance.Jewelry is a bad domain of course).
We are in a new era my friend and now we're in the time of the change. I begin to see the new domains used but it takes time... Now there are about 1000 new gTLDs but there will be 2000 domains: we are in the time of the change now and in the time of the change there are always confusion and uncertainty and pros and cons...
I have nothing against the .com and I also have many .com in my portfolio but I believe that the new domains have a huge potential. Huge if you have a Unique domain...
Personally I also invested in many 360° new domains like: 360.BIKE - 360.CREDIT - 360.JEWELRY - 360.HORSE - 360.ENTERPRISES... and others... I think I'll sell them only after some years (maybe 2 or 5 or 10 years... No problem, I'm still young and I'm patient... 2,5,10 or never. lol) because my prices are high. My prices are only for big fish... I say 10 years but maybe tomorrow a big fish will come. Who knows.
As it regards domains as .xyz or .top: in the near future maybe they can compete with .org or .net (not bad...) but they are still far from .com. For now...
Time will tell.

Good luck to you too

A great conclusion goes for many arguments in this forum. Period.

 

[Wannabean]

In life there are many innovations that sound like good ideas on paper, but in practice they don't do well

Usually because they're before their time.

 

[ambrose.xu]

eng.land
tim.es
redd.it
co.ltd

 

[Wass]

In my portfoglio I have Housing.House but I don't have HousingHouse.com
What is better? Housing.House or HousingHouse.com?
For me Housing.House is better and by far...
Time will tell