The dark side of .io domain names

[Joseph Green]

Summary:

The .io domain is a hit, but few startups using it appreciate the associations it carries — a mass expulsion that took place within living memory, and a crucial staging-post for the “War on Terror”.

Source: Gigaom - How the U.K. is making web domain profits from a shady Cold War land deal

Tldr:

The U.K. reaps the rewards of the hot top-level domain, and the Chagossians get nothing.

Still want to build your startup on a .io domain? I'll pass.

 

[Joseph Green]

In the news today: BetaBeat encourages startups to think twice about .io domains

I don't know why startups continue to use this ccTLD. It stifles their growth potential in non-developer markets and it has a lot of negativity attached to it. Wise up, startup founders. The mass market wants nothing to do with dot IO and developers are starting to feel the same way.

 

[RU]

I don't know why startups continue to use this ccTLD.

They probably haven't heard about nTLDs.

 

[TravisS]

I don't know why startups continue to use this ccTLD. It stifles their growth potential in non-developer markets and it has a lot of negativity attached to it. Wise up, startup founders. The mass market wants nothing to do with dot IO and developers are starting to feel the same way.

What do you mean by it "stifles their growth in non-developer markets"?...how does the extension do that?....and who exactly is the mass market?

Maybe I speak for a small internet audience, but I'm not going to "not use a website", just because they've chosen a certain extension...especially a .IO. Maybe a little weary of some, but not this extension.

Every .io site I've come across is typically well-designed and serves it's purpose. More than can be said for a lot of the extensions out there. I can't see this press doing much damage to the extension. People have enough shit to wrap their heads around.

 

[Joseph Green]

The mass market is the general population. To them, .io doesn't mean anything. It's two arbitrary letters that require an extra syllable to pronounce, unlike the main ones they're familiar with: com, net, org. To an average person browsing the Web, [name].io looks like a mistake or something that their IT guy would warn them to avoid in fear of being scammed/hacked.

IO only means I/O (Input/Output) to a very small portion of the population. It stifles growth when most people find it strange/awkward or they feel uneasy about domains ending with it.

Most of the sites on .io are nicely designed, but I wouldn't expect anything less: it's mostly experienced developers building on them, not typical small business owners or large corporations.

As a programmer, I understand the attraction to it, but from a business perspective, I would never use it.

 

[TravisS]

Maybe I'm just biased because i have a few of them. All I know is...every time I search a word w/ a .io...at least more so lately, it's usually developed w/ something. I like the extension...i think it's cool . Of course, I like .xyz, so maybe that's not saying much.

 

[Josh R]

.IO is a great deal better than the large majority of extensions.

 

[Domainace]

This is enough to make me want to avoid the TLD. If .io becomes widely recognized, I would expect this issue to gain prominence as well. It could create headaches down the line for companies using .io. Why risk it?

And, then, of course, there are ethical reasons for not using it. However, similar arguments could be made against TLDS from Libya, Syria, Somalia and elsewhere, where the revenue may be supporting some form of oppression.

 

[urljunky]

IO only means I/O (Input/Output) to a very small portion of the population

I guess i am not in that small portion...I thought it meant Indian Ocean?

 

[Joseph Green]

I guess i am not in that small portion...I thought it meant Indian Ocean?

Right. Technically, it's for the British Indian Ocean Territory, which has a population of about 3,000.

It's only popular because of its definition in computing, where it is informally referred to as simply IO, especially when spoken.

 

[BrandChimp]

.io look similar to ios.
Everyone knows ios.

.io is short and make more sense than most .longwords.com.. Oops I mean .longwords

 

[Joseph Green]

.io look similar to ios.
Everyone knows ios.

Due to the way iOS is stylized, I don't think consumers will make that connection. I also don't think .io gains any benefit from the words lion, ion, etc.

 

[BrandChimp]

Well, It's 2 letters that are easy to remember. Better than .cm .tk .bz (.biz).
Google treat them as Gcctld. If you want a good domain name in a short extension recognized worldwide, .io is a good option.

To see the Google's list of Gcctld:
http://vioo.link/dotio

 

[Joseph Green]

To see the Google's list of Gcctld:
http://vioo.link/dotio

Nice find, thanks. Bookmarked: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1347922?hl=en

I prefer .me, .tv, .cc, etc. (in that order), but .io isn't bad from that point of view.

 

[Archana]

.IO very much looks like a computer hardware tld rather then indian ocean

 

[ResoluteDomains]

Summary:

Source: Gigaom - How the U.K. is making web domain profits from a shady Cold War land deal

Tldr:

Still want to build your startup on a .io domain? I'll pass.

Geez. Use that logic and how many country code TLDs are "ok" to build on? Please. There is egg on every nation's face on this planet. Lets move on.

 

[rafass]

.io is the best!