New TLDs - Which ones would you invest in?

[mwzd]

Think with 3 days to go for the launch of the submission period for new TLDs we could discuss which ones the community likes.

At least from those already announced, guess a lot of TLDs which will be applied for will only be known at the end of the submission period.

Here's the complete list: http://www.mwzd.com/domains/newtld-guide/

Here are the ones I like, not sure if I'd invest in them just yet, guess it depends on how transparent the allotment process is:
.app
.car
.eco
.hotel
.law
.shop
.web

Which ones would you invest in? Or even which new tlds would be 'successful', at least for the registry.

 

[DU]

If these all become vehicles for a profit driven registries and not for a real singular purpose I think they are destined to fail.

The new TLDs that are most likely to succeed are the ones that have the greatest control maintained and that will be contrary to making them investment grade. Something like .app has the widest potential appeal but I wonder how it would try and relate "apps" - the platform is missing and that's what large businesses are looking for.

Something like .law could be very successful- but again, to be so, it would need to be limited to use by legal professionals or it serves no purpose.

Like any club, a TLD, has value when it's exclusive.... and I think that's the model that TLD investors should be following.

This would work for domainers as well as .COM and .NET and .CO and .TV or whatever serve an entire market and the .law will represent a category or niche in that market. I don't think it will happen yet though. The push and drive is from the wrong direction - it's providing a solution to a problem that doesn't exist yet. The next great innovations will drive what should happen. ICANN and others are just looking for money while it's still potentially there.

The future is likely to head in a totally different direction than simple naming of extensions.

 

[alien51]

I'm not sure if i understand it correctly, but you cannot invest in .HOTEL tld unless you own a hotel yourself and in the hotel business? Same with the other new tlds?

These tlds cannot be open to just about anybody. Otherwise, it will go down the drain in terms of "credibility" like the .PRO tld.

 

[mwzd]

.PRO has grown from 14k registrations to 140k+ now is something to be noted. And now GoDaddy is marketing it, can't be bad at all. Not sure why you think its credibility has 'gone down the drain' just because registration is open to professionals from all countries.

I guess there might be a sunrise period for those companies that own tms etc, but during the landrush there will be opportunity in most of the extensions mentioned unless there are sweetheart deals with top companies, which is also very likely.

While Marriott.hotel might make sense for the hotel chain, LosAngeles.Hotel would be fair game for an investor, at least imho. And since 'community' tlds are unlikely to get passed from what I've read, these will all be commercial tlds that might not be required to have any specific 'association' for registration.

 

[av1atic]

I've pre-registered a few myself, we'll see how this all unfolds soon enough, i guess.

 

[DnEbook]

I think geos work for most extensions ......including gtlds because it tells the user that the product/service is 'local' or at least nearby

Please note i think .bog is a shitty name for an extension

 

[DU]

I think geos work for most extensions ......

What, like Boston.Boston?

This type of cross-functional use is what will create the dilution of value.

 

[alien51]

.PRO has grown from 14k registrations to 140k+ now is something to be noted. And now GoDaddy is marketing it, can't be bad at all. Not sure why you think its credibility has 'gone down the drain' just because registration is open to professionals from all countries.

Well, "quantity" is not necessarily a proof of "quality". Especially with domains, when quantity only represents the people who buy the domains. There's no way of measuring the level of trust by clients of these .PRO individuals.

So to examine the "quality" in such case, your primary basis would be the criteria used in acquiring such domain, and how rigid the auditing is done to ensure compliance.

If the criteria is very lax, and auditing is not strict, that's your indicator of quality.

While Marriott.hotel might make sense for the hotel chain, LosAngeles.Hotel would be fair game for an investor, at least imho.

That's exactly the point. You are granting the TLD to an "investor", who is merely a domain speculator. His owning of a .HOTEL tld does not contribute to anything beneficial to internet users wanting to find "legit" and "authoritative" website domains they can trust.

Your main objective is to flip the domain. You are not really a trustworthy "expert" on hotels with valid credentials "verified" by a third-party.

In order to market to the general population that they can trust .HOTEL domains as authority websites on hotels, you should never grant this TLD to "investors" who are merely domainers.

 

[mis_chiff]

I've pre-registered a few myself, we'll see how this all unfolds soon enough, i guess.

Where are the pre-regs being done and can you share what prices please?

 

[DU]

In order to market to the general population that they can trust .HOTEL domains as authority websites on hotels, you should never grant this TLD to "investors" who are merely domainers.

This is my point. If your TLD serves NO purpose then it has no value to an end user community. (End user being the users of the internet not web developers).

If it has no value then it's no better or different than .so. Why would I buy losangeles.hotel? I may as well wait for hotel.losangeles.. or hotel.california... or hotel.poopoo for all it matters because the extensions don't matter.

The BIG risk for any investor in any TLD is that they all carry a similar burden (that can't be managed based on history)..the idea that I see for lots of these TLDs is a form of identification or indexing - unforunately, it doesn't matter how strict you are if all the others don't care.

If .hotels is "invested" and not an indicator of quality hotel sites - why would .cars be expected to be any different?

The future problem is a taxonomy problem; fortunately, taxonomy is easier to solve with machines than it is with "naming conventions". The whole IT industry already understands this - I'm not sure why the Internet i.e. ICANN doesn't (or maybe they do and it's a money grab.. surely that can't be it?).

Bigger issue will be that the industry is a monopoly - plain and simple. Expect a boat load of legal claims and money spent to try and get something (a TLD) that's essentially already worthless.

Groups are fighting over "Folders" as some kind of structure that keeps a computer organized. Not so much - that was 10 years ago.

Those who control the internet are about 10 years behind where the internet is, imho!:lol:

 

[mwzd]

@alien51, what guarantee that a .com is owned by a 'trustworthy expert'? Are you saying that if I visit a generic .com now I'm assured of an 'expert' instead of a parked page? I sure hope not, because we both know the chances are remote.

Why different standards for other TLDs? If they have some method / control, like .pro does, fine, if not, it's open season, why expect new tlds to go against the market makers?

Kind of counter productive right?

@av1atic - don't hold you breath, those pre-registrations aren't worth what you paid for them, which I assume is $0.

@defaultuser - I'll wait for you to launch .poopoo, it's only 1/2 a million, pocket change for you. I'll try and make a few k off geo.hotel while I wait.

 

[mis_chiff]

Seems there are restrictions, and not launching till 2013 seeing as how .hotel would be the only one I'm interested in...

Who may register .hotel domain names?
Hotel industry community members like individual hotels, hotel chains and marketing organizations, hotel associations and organizations as well as organizations and stakeholders principally involved in the hotel industry will be eligible to register a .hotel domain name.

Which evidence is needed to register a .hotel domain name?
With a .hotel domain name registration the registrant will commit itself to be in compliance with the hotel industry community eligibility criteria. After registration we will validate this self-commitment on each single domain name registered. For verification we may use companies register, hotel association membership lists, registered trademarks or other positive evidence

 

[DU]

alien51, what guarantee that a .com is owned by a 'trustworthy expert'? Are you saying that if I visit a generic .com now I'm assured of an 'expert' instead of a parked page? I sure hope not, because we both know the chances are remote.

Why different standards for other TLDs? If they have some method / control, like .pro does, fine, if not, it's open season, why expect new tlds to go against the market makers?

Kind of counter productive right?

Then what's the point? ICANN sells the whole thing as "brand trust and assurance".

If it's just another TLD to let people invest in.. why would anyone spend money on a domain?

May as well wait for the next TLD to come along because the whole system you've just rendered the right of the dot as somewhat meaningless.

Everything you're arguing for what make .COM, .CO.UK, .DE And known ccTLDs continue to rise in value, imho.



//Until the world finally understands how Taxonomy works

 

[mwzd]

I'm willing to bet that all these 'industry specific definitions' go out the window at launch.

Watch what happened with .jobs, didn't icann threaten to cancel it?

What came of that?

Or .travel for that matter, a travel UID is as easy to get as signing up for a travel affiliate.

If push comes to shove I'm sure I can round up a few hotel guys who won't care if I get a few domains.

Not that I'm desperate for .hotel, with 1k new extensions, I'm sure I can glean a couple of 100 names that would have good resale potential.

If one tld is restricted, some other might not be.

edit: I honestly don't give a rat's a$$ about how ICANN does or does not justify the new tlds, all I'm concerned with is how I can get a piece of the action and make some money while I do it.

 

[av1atic]

Where are the pre-regs being done and can you share what prices please?

I was able to register them through my main registrar (United Domains). There are quite a few new gTLD's; I personally pre-registered the majority of mine from: .web, .shop, .site.

There are currently no prices, as pre-regs are non-binding agreements. Once prices are revealed along with dates in which the new gTLD's will be released, the registrar will attempt to attain your pre-registered domains and give you the first opportunity to register it or not.

From United Domains: "The pre-reservation service allows individual entities to express early interest in certain domain names they may wish to register or protect in a new top-level domain. At this point in time pre-registrations are free of charge and are non-binding for both parties. Each pre-registration with United Domains is unique. This means every name may only (pre-)registered once. We are currently offering pre-registrations for new top level domains (nTLDs). There is no charge for pre-registrations. You will only be charged when the domain is actually registered for you. Pricing for new TLDs has not yet been determined."

 

[DnEbook]

I think the next 25 years will see the 'acceptance' by the critical mass of basically .anything

Now it's time to really find out if content is king !~

 

[mis_chiff]

I was able to register them through my main registrar (United Domains). There are quite a few new gTLD's; I personally pre-registered the majority of mine from: .web, .shop, .site.

There are currently no prices, as pre-regs are non-binding agreements. Once prices are revealed along with dates in which the new gTLD's will be released, the registrar will attempt to attain your pre-registered domains and give you the first opportunity to register it or not.

From United Domains: "The pre-reservation service allows individual entities to express early interest in certain domain names they may wish to register or protect in a new top-level domain. At this point in time pre-registrations are free of charge and are non-binding for both parties. Each pre-registration with United Domains is unique. This means every name may only (pre-)registered once. We are currently offering pre-registrations for new top level domains (nTLDs). There is no charge for pre-registrations. You will only be charged when the domain is actually registered for you. Pricing for new TLDs has not yet been determined."

Thanks for that.

I don't understand the pre-reg in advance stuff that well,
so forgive the questions

If I pre-reg a name in .hotel at UD and someone else has it pre-regged elsewhere - who gets it when the prices are
posted and it opens for regs?
Will it come down to the paperwork?

[I haven't and won't pre-reg - just curious about the answers] Thanks

 

[carob]

I'm willing to bet that all these 'industry specific definitions' go out the window at launch.

Watch what happened with .jobs, didn't icann threaten to cancel it?

What came of that?

Or .travel for that matter, a travel UID is as easy to get as signing up for a travel affiliate.

Does anyone remember the .mobi fiasco? It was meant to require users to supply some mobile friendly content and it had really big name companies launching it - Google, Microsoft, Nokia, Visa - the list goes on.

All the requirements were quietly abandoned, the backers dumped the money-losing company, the domains have almost no aftermarket value. And they had even tried getting investors, meaning do-as-little-as-possible domainers, to develop real sites on .mobi.

So I don't expect any TLD that is launched to stick to what it says - the pressure will be on to get and retain registrations.

Well if you register that is pre-register you are helping them with their market research - they test demand and know which domains to hold back for auction, not sell at reg fee.

---------- Post added at 08:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:04 AM ----------

I think the next 25 years will see the 'acceptance' by the critical mass of basically .anything

Yes I agree and this will put a ceiling on domain prices if people decide they can just set up their own extension for $50k.

I wonder how many will develop domains on the new extensions. I wouldn't - too much risk if the registry gets into trouble.

---------- Post added at 08:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:08 AM ----------

Which ones would you invest in?

None.

Or even which new tlds would be 'successful', at least for the registry.

Larger geo areas. Sex and Shopping.


Oh I forgot one... .santorum

 

[alien51]

Seems there are restrictions, and not launching till 2013 seeing as how .hotel would be the only one I'm interested in...

Who may register .hotel domain names?
Hotel industry community members like individual hotels, hotel chains and marketing organizations, hotel associations and organizations as well as organizations and stakeholders principally involved in the hotel industry will be eligible to register a .hotel domain name.

Which evidence is needed to register a .hotel domain name?
With a .hotel domain name registration the registrant will commit itself to be in compliance with the hotel industry community eligibility criteria. After registration we will validate this self-commitment on each single domain name registered. For verification we may use companies register, hotel association membership lists, registered trademarks or other positive evidence

This is exactly the kind of criteria that makes a new TLD more sensible, and helps build trust on the TLD.

If you cannot trust .COM domains because it is open to everybody to register, why would you want the same thing to happen to .HOTEL ??

Somehow, the motive i can sense is this: I just want to make money. I don't give a damn about hotels. All i want is to seek new ground where i can hold domains hostage, so i can sell them for ransom to end-users who are interested in hotels.

Don't get me wrong, i'm also a domainer. But i don't harbor the illusion that we throw away the strict criteria on .PRO, so that many people can join in and i can resell to them my domains so i can make money.

"Can you use a brush to paint a piece of wood? That's good enough. You can be a housepainter! Why not buy my domain housepainter.pro and use it for your calling card ??? "

One example is VATICAN.XXX. Supposedly, you cannot register such domain if you are not going to use it for porn. The registry owner seems to be allowing this, because he just wants to make money. He doesn't really care about porn. He just wants to become rich by ripping off money from speculators and those seeking pointless brand protection.

 

[gpmgroup]

I've pre-registered a few myself, we'll see how this all unfolds soon enough, i guess.

Pre-registering names gives little or no guarantees. What it does give is the company collecting names a good dataset to show which names are most likely to be salable. An unscrupulous registry company could even use such a dataset to reserve and auction extra names for example.

I honestly don't give a rat's a$$ about how ICANN does or does not justify the new gTLDs, all I'm concerned with is how I can get a piece of the action and make some money while I do it.

Two ways would be

1) Try and get on a founders program. To do this I would guess you would need to have a proven sales ability so that you would be able to sell prime generics early and set the (cough) perceived "value" of the gTLD for other (cough) "investors".

2) If this is not possible buy the best names as early as possible and sell for a quick flip while the registry still has its initial buzz.


If lots of gTLDs launch within a short time of each other everyone will have moved on to the next gTLD and selling domains will be very difficult. There will be no end user traffic to most of these domains for the foreseeable future so there will be no advertising revenue. This means renewals will be a big cost to factor in. The biggest no-no is to use debt to buy them because then you will have interest on the initial cost and renewals.

There is a third way - Develop them - but developing lots of names is very time consuming and a whole different ballgame from buying and selling domains.