new gtlds The New Domain Industry Landscape (.Com Vs. New gTLD) – The Franchise Effect

[Eric Lyon]

In an industry that's constantly changing, I think it's important to review several different opinions/perspectives/theories. We've seen people trying to explain the domain industry using references of Real Estate or the Stock markets, however, this sometimes still doesn't resonate with people that are newly entering into the world of online business ventures.

With that in mind, I took a little time to outline my own perspective/theory about the state/structure of the current domain industry that many of you may find interesting.

Some of the companies referenced in this article are: Uniregistry, GoDaddy, Yum!, (DNA) Domain Name Association

(Disclaimer/Reminder: Everything written in the Scorpion Agency™ journal is based on my personal perspective/research/experience/knowledge/opinion and does not reflect any stance/position of NamePros™. Thanks for understanding and enjoy the reading material below)

Looking from the outside in and comparing the online business landscape with the brick-n-mortar landscape, it becomes clear that the domain industry is a franchise. Each extension is playing a franchise roll for a registry and every domain registrar/reseller/investor is an extension/arm of each of those franchises. Resellers/investors get the extension’s (Franchise’s) brand in front of both, personal and business consumers to help expand the franchise.

Every time a business consumes a new domain (Extension) and develops on them, it increases the reach and value of the franchise (Extension) they supported.

I would like to think that we can all (Registries/Registrars/Resellers/Investors) find a way to cohesively work together better so that small businesses and start-ups have a better understanding of the industry without all the smoke and mirrors. A transparent business model that everyone can digest, comprehend, and follow (Hinse the point of this article, easier digestion).

For the record, I agree 100% that .com value will continue to be higher than any other extension for a long time, however, keep in mind that new gTLD’s (not all, only a few niche combinations) still have value in their franchise. They may not be close to .com’s, but there is still value for the new age/landscape developing and gaining momentum with media exposure in our respected industry.

I don’t think we can squeeze everyone in the world into the same bottle, after all, we are all unique, just like our businesses. There are plenty of businesses that are seeing success with their (Unique/Creative) new gTLD campaigns/developments.

It’s my hopes that I was able to translate the industry in a more creative way through my perspective/theory that’s easier to understand, looking at all sides (Inside and out)...

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[JB Lions]

"Businesses/startups like yourself want targeted/creative/cost effective solutions and that’s exactly what the new gTLD franchises provide right now. You’re no longer forced to pay 6 or 7 figures for the .com version and that’s If your competitor doesn’t already own it and refuses to sell it to you, since you are, in fact, their competition."

That's just not true. You're giving the spin the people selling new gtlds try to do. That .com prices are out of reach. This site goes thru them all the time. Mostly 4 figure sales. That's not including just making a name up, reg fee.

http://domainnamewire.com/2017/07/12/end-user-domain-name-sales-kuwait-south-korea/

 

[Eric Lyon]

"Businesses/startups like yourself want targeted/creative/cost effective solutions and that’s exactly what the new gTLD franchises provide right now. You’re no longer forced to pay 6 or 7 figures for the .com version and that’s If your competitor doesn’t already own it and refuses to sell it to you, since you are, in fact, their competition."

That's just not true. You're giving the spin the people selling new gtlds try to do. That .com prices are out of reach. This site goes thru them all the time. Mostly 4 figure sales. That's not including just making a name up, reg fee.

http://domainnamewire.com/2017/07/12/end-user-domain-name-sales-kuwait-south-korea/

Keep in mind that not all new businesses have a budget for 4 figure sales either. It's debatable if they should be in business with such a small branding/marketing/promotional/domain aquisition budget, however, in todays economy and world there are tens of thousands (If not millions) of home based freelance and affiliate operations that just don't have that kind of capital to get started.

Beside that aspect of pricing, the article does outline other uses of ngTLD's for businesses big and small. here was one of those references:

Note: Keep in mind that even large corporations with budgets for the legacy .com’s can still benefit from the new gTLD franchises with more targeted (Creative) campaigns. They may also find that simply using a new gTLD as a redirect to a promotions page proves to help with tracking campaign traffic easier in the analytics, so they know which campaigns are working better than others and focus more on what works.

It's also important to review some of the businesses already using ngTLDs successfully in the wild.

Don’t forget to check out the list of businesses that use new gTLD’s in the wild over at DNA (Domain Name Association). These new franchise domain extensions have already been developed by businesses across the globe here: http://inthewild.domains/. The new gTLD franchise phenomenon is not isolated to a specific country, it’s a global movement.

Not all .com franchise prices are out of reach, however, the ideal one or two word .com probably is. Which means that a business consumer must now choose an alternative. E.g. a 3+ word .com or a 1 or 2 word ngTLD. Remember, a domain/brand needs to be short and memberable, the shorter (creative) option with a ngTLD may be the better alternative for a business.

Don't get me wrong, longtail .com's still have great use as lead generators that feed a primary brand, however, the longer the domain, the harder it is for consumers to remember, which leads to less (If any) direct typins of the brand.

One of the most important variables of branding is the ability for the consumer to remember it.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

Aftermarket is trending down incl. .com
Slowly but surely...

To keep alive - during last years Sedo even launched their "direct auctions" and raised minimum from $50 to $60... because enduser-aftermarket is shrinking in terms of sales volume... every next year is worse than previous...

 

[mad409]

Agreed, that's the purpose of the new G program, to provide a level playing field for startups / small business to compete with short creative keyword domains. For the most part such names are out of reach for them within the .com environment.

 

[JB Lions]

You guys know that's nonsense as well. You run into the same problems as .com, the obvious ones are already taken by domainers. It's probably even worse with new gtlds, since the registries take them first, even @mad409 has agreed with that in the past. And they're not selling for cheap, most would probably start off at 4 figures as well. Maybe one of the reasons with the startups we take a look at here at Namepros, it's only around 2% of startups choosing new gtlds. You just can't go and hand reg an obvious one.

 

[New.Life]

You guys know that's nonsense as well. You run into the same problems as .com, the obvious ones are already taken by domainers.

If you don't register, someone else will register it before the real user. It's simple!

 

[JB Lions]

If you don't register, someone else will register it before the real user. It's simple!

Making my point. Part of the new gtld marketing is acting like good names are just there for end users to register, when domainers, and in the case of new gtlds, registries own them.

 

[New.Life]

Making my point. Part of the new gtld marketing is acting like good names are just there for end users to register, when domainers, and in the case of new gtlds, registries own them.

The possibilities are endless:

If you can't register: www.jewelleryworld.com then you can register: www.jewellery.world

If you can't register: www.jewellery.world then you can register: https://joyjewellery.world

Even if joyjewelleryworld.com is available!

Welcome to New Life!

 

[JB Lions]

The possibilities are endless:

If you can't register: www.jewelleryworld.com then you can register: www.jewellery.world

You're just proving my point again:

Sorry, jewellery.world is taken.

Not available. So no, I can't just go and register jewellery.world.

Like I said, the part of new gtld marketing where you can just go and hand reg obvious/good domains is pretty much bs. The good ones get snapped up by domainers/registries.

 

[New.Life]

You're just proving my point again:

Sorry, jewellery.world is taken.

I don't want to contradict your statement, and I didn't try to do so, because it is so, and you are right!
So what?

All domains except joyjewelleryworld.com are taken and used.

The end user didn't want to register and don't want to use - www.joyjewelleryworld.com

Instead, he registered another domain in New gTLD https://joyjewellery.world

Why?

http://jewelryworld.com is also are taken and used.

And I registered - www.jewelry.world

So what? What should I do?

 

[mr-x]

You're just proving my point again:

Sorry, jewellery.world is taken.

Not available. So no, I can't just go and register jewellery.world.

Like I said, the part of new gtld marketing where you can just go and hand reg obvious/good domains is pretty much bs. They good ones get snapped up by domainers/registries.

Not to mention 4 figure renewal fees.

 

[New.Life]

lingerieworld.com - are taken 16 years ago and not used. WTF!

I registered - www.lingerie.world Nobody wanted to register it for a long time .

End users create and use good websites on domains like:

http://lingerieworld.xyz/

So... Endless possibilities in New gTLDs!

 

[platey]

Socialmedia profile pages are becoming a domain investors landing page

 

[Brands.International]

In an industry that's constantly changing, I think it's important to review several different opinions/perspectives/theories. We've seen people trying to explain the domain industry using references of Real Estate or the Stock markets, however, this sometimes still doesn't resonate with people that are newly entering into the world of online business ventures.

With that in mind, I took a little time to outline my own perspective/theory about the state/structure of the current domain industry that many of you may find interesting.

Some of the companies referenced in this article are: Uniregistry, GoDaddy, Yum!, (DNA) Domain Name Association

(Disclaimer/Reminder: Everything written in the Scorpion Agency™ journal is based on my personal perspective/research/experience/knowledge/opinion and does not reflect any stance/position of NamePros™. Thanks for understanding and enjoy the reading material below)

Looking from the outside in and comparing the online business landscape with the brick-n-mortar landscape, it becomes clear that the domain industry is a franchise. Each extension is playing a franchise roll for a registry and every domain registrar/reseller/investor is an extension/arm of each of those franchises. Resellers/investors get the extension’s (Franchise’s) brand in front of both, personal and business consumers to help expand the franchise.

Every time a business consumes a new domain (Extension) and develops on them, it increases the reach and value of the franchise (Extension) they supported.

I would like to think that we can all (Registries/Registrars/Resellers/Investors) find a way to cohesively work together better so that small businesses and start-ups have a better understanding of the industry without all the smoke and mirrors. A transparent business model that everyone can digest, comprehend, and follow (Hinse the point of this article, easier digestion).

For the record, I agree 100% that .com value will continue to be higher than any other extension for a long time, however, keep in mind that new gTLD’s (not all, only a few niche combinations) still have value in their franchise. They may not be close to .com’s, but there is still value for the new age/landscape developing and gaining momentum with media exposure in our respected industry.

I don’t think we can squeeze everyone in the world into the same bottle, after all, we are all unique, just like our businesses. There are plenty of businesses that are seeing success with their (Unique/Creative) new gTLD campaigns/developments.

It’s my hopes that I was able to translate the industry in a more creative way through my perspective/theory that’s easier to understand, looking at all sides (Inside and out)...

Read More

Informative and very precise view of new gTLDs and relationship between us (investors), and registries - I guess some of "not so domainer friendly" registries should read this, and learn a little

Investing in new gTLDs is very tricky business - I do not know 1 person who has not made tons of mistakes with them - but they are here, they do not go away, and there are some nice opportunities within them.

 

[Fancy.domains]

I have never understood this .com vs new gTLD fuss.

I invest in both and occasionally sell both categories. For me, domaining is a business model with a simple aim to make some profit. Not some "endorsement game".