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)


***

 

[WilsonM]

Excellent thoughts!

I am too of the same school of thought.

Although there are a few new extensions that I personally believe have real life use cases, my feeling is that .com will keep getting more valuable simply because it is the default extension & behaviour.

.com is the classic, the benchmark, the precedent, the forerunner, the pioneer, the standard... stuff that is hard to change overnight or even gradually in which case in will require longer timescales.

Unless there is some new tech that will completely change the way we access pages and content online.

It will take a really smart upstart extension to topple the current throne holder.

All new extensions are pretenders to the throne. Just that. At least for the foreseeable future they have no credibility.

 

[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.

 

[maya-zir]

You are not right.
I just 1 year in it, so I am not a pro, but I tell you as enduser, I would preffer nice new extension before long and heavy .com one.
Ok, not each combination, but acept, in the right place .travel look excellent, .express and .cloud and a lot of new extension.
I dont tell each word and combination worth, but the right and nice combination do.
I also dont know about the traffic, but if the end user works hard he will recieve his traffic with any extension.
And about "generic" new extension, I think .xyz is excellent.
1. it is easy to remember
2. it matches with any business and word combination
I can forget .best, .top, .one etc, but .xyz being the 3 last lettes in any latin based alphabet tbey are very memorable.

 

[zycfour]

.net: desirability will continue to decline, as there are tons of new not-com options that are more meaningful

Sounds like somewhat contradictory with your opinions above.

 

[000]

@mayazir
I agree completely, except about .xyz. I just can't imagine the average business seeing .xyz as a good fit. Can it work for some? Sure, it could work fine for some creative companies like marketing and web development firms, etc.... but this gtld is not as generic as some believe. It's actually VERY limiting.

.net: desirability will continue to decline, as there are tons of new not-com options that are more meaningful

Sounds like somewhat contradictory with your opinions above.

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.

 

[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

 

[Wass]

I don't understand why so many people are still talking about the past (.mobi .tel...)
We are in a new reality(2000 new gtlds). This new reality has nothing to do with the past.
What will happen? no one knows, but we are in a new reality...

 

[zycfour]

I don't understand why so many people are still talking about the past (.mobi .tel...)
We are in a new reality(2000 new gtlds). This new reality has nothing to do with the past.
What will happen? no one knows, but we are in a new reality...

Yes, and I always agree with this: flowers are flowers, no matter they are lilies, jasmine, roses, peonies or other.

TLDs are like phone numbers, you can dial through regardless it starts with 917 or 918, and in most cases, the number is saved as a contact with a name, like a bookmark in browser.

When good, short combinations are hardly available in old TLDs, there came the new TLDs. Things change and move on, big deal! Some people should stop whining that "this TLD is good, that TLD is rubbish" day after day.

 

[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'!

 

[maya-zir]

@000,
Of couse .xyz looks ridicolous for a big business, but I was talking about blogs, monezited sites, small and maybe medium business.
The big ones need use .com, .org, .biz, ccTLD or new nice gTLD.
.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.
I have my portfolio at VirtualNames.xyz
All decent domains are in domainers hands and worth too high for me, so .xyz was the solution.

 

[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.

 

[000]

For your purposes, sure, .xyz (or pretty much any other tld/gtld) can work fine for development.

My point though is that for investment/resale purposes, nearly every .xyz domain registered (out of 6 million+ domains) is worthless junk.

I can see the need for generic, international extensions, but .xyz is not the answer. At three syllables, it's too clunky to verbalize.

 

[maya-zir]

You just say to your possible client "xyz as the 3 last letters" and he will remember it, too much languages use a latin based alphabet, and the rest learn english at school, and they may not to speak english, but everybody knows XYZ

 

[MrConor]

The .management TLDs should have got some mention i think

 

[Kate]

I don't understand why so many people are still talking about the past (.mobi .tel...)
We are in a new reality(2000 new gtlds). This new reality has nothing to do with the past.

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.

 

[Mlebo]

What is your opinion on the following extensions and examples:
Agency:
Ins.agency

.Center:
At.center
NY.Center
TX.Center
TP.Center

.Direct:
Gas.Direct
Electric.direct
Petroleum.direct
cigarette.direct
music.direct
poker.direct
power.direct.

Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[daica85]

That's a great post, however I don't think .web is suck, it's the trend of the future I think so

 

[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