*.pw - What do you think of the rebranding?

[ison]

*.pw, previously the tld for the Republic of Palau, has been rebranded by the Directi Group as the Professional Web in March this year.
The company went on to add that *.pw is meant to serve as "a dedicated namespace for professionals and businesses."

What do you guys think? Is this a viable domain for professionals?

 

[bmugford]

Is this a viable domain for professionals?

Not if you want to be taken seriously.

Brad

 

[Kate]

Dot pee-wee.
Good luck in your branding efforts.

 

[Havela]

Does anyone know if the 'rebranding' also affects how the extension is treated by search engines?

ccTLDs rank well in local searches but not in other countries. That is my main objection to .co and .me (they rank well in Colombia and Montenegro but not so much in the USA). Does the rebranding of .pw include a genuine change from ccTLD to gTLD or will these domains continue to rank best locally in Palau (= not so attractive)?

 

[ison]

Not if you want to be taken seriously.

Brad

Do you think this is merely an issue of public perception or are there real SEO concerns, Brad?

Dot pee-wee.
Good luck in your branding efforts.

I hope you don't think I'm in any way associated with Directi. :notme:

Does anyone know if the 'rebranding' also affects how the extension is treated by search engines?

ccTLDs rank well in local searches but not in other countries. That is my main objection to .co and .me (they rank well in Colombia and Montenegro but not so much in the USA). Does the rebranding of .pw include a genuine change from ccTLD to gTLD or will these domains continue to rank best locally in Palau (= not so attractive)?

Good question, Havela. *.pw, which has burst out of the gates and move up to be the eleventh largest tld in the world (below *.travel but ahead of *.cat), could see serious cracks in their business model if SERPs ranking, in relation to tlds, are indeed region-centric.

Note: My question and this thread is triggered by a personal purchase of a *.pw domain.

 

[bmugford]

Do you think this is merely an issue of public perception or are there real SEO concerns, Brad?

I have no idea how search engines are going to treat .PW, but it has already run into issues being a new favorite of spammers and scammers. That is an issue to start with.

Why not just use .WS, .CC, etc? They all share about the same credibility and awareness. It is a weak attempt to rebrand a marginal ccTLD with an acronym that means nothing.

Brad

 

[ison]

I have no idea how search engines are going to treat .PW, but it has already run into issues being a new favorite of spammers and scammers. That is an issue to start with.

Why not just use .WS, .CC, etc? They all share about the same credibility and awareness. It is a weak attempt to rebrand a marginal ccTLD with an acronym that means nothing.

Brad

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

 

[FPForum]

Wondering how much DirectI made off this..

 

[ison]

Apparently, the rebranding is just limited to the sales pitch, with nary an effect on geographic assignment/SEO.
Google still views *.pw as a ccTLD.
From my Google Webmaster's Tool:

Notice the missing edit button.

In other words, unless one is a Palau-based professional or business owner, there is a huge initial hurdle to overcome first in an effort to establish a global presence.

 

[metropol]

Really worthless ???
QR.pw sold for $ 6500

 

[Kate]

Really worthless ???
QR.pw sold for $ 6500

1. Is the sale confirmed yet ?
2. Where are the other sales ? There are flukes in every extension, one sale means nothing.
3. There is no shortage of suckers too. For many, domaining relies a lot on the greater fool theory.

 

[mjnels]

Really worthless ???
QR.pw sold for $ 6500

less than what?

 

[DU]

In other words, unless one is a Palau-based professional or business owner, there is a huge initial hurdle to overcome first in an effort to establish a global presence.

Because we are all global conglomerates at heart.

 

[ison]

Because we are all global conglomerates at heart.

[ame="http://youtu.be/KlPQkd_AA6c"]Corporations are people too?[/ame]

 

[mjnels]

im into spamming now but the song is now in my head cause of the above poster..but its a .PW thread anyway so it doesnt matter right...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bqa07rA6XW0"]Bad Religion - Robin Hood In Reverse - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ison]

Huh. My 2-page *.pw site is now second on Bing for a reasonably competitive keyword.
No work done on the site since I last wrote - didn't even work on backlinks.