The Next Big Internet Market?

[sashas]

I know that .cn and .in have taken off

.mobi is looking good too

.info seems to be growing stronger also

but what would you say is the next big TLD?

I'm gonna put Europe and North America out of the picture. They've already happened.
Africa will take 25 years to even become 10% of North America.

So that leaves us pretty much with Asia and South America

India, China and Japan are three obvious markets. But other than this, and seeing the population and Internet usage trends, Phillpines, Pakistan and Malaysia look good (All have approx. 14 million users. Not a lot, but still decent - and bound to go up only)

I'm actually surprised to see the lack of interest in South American domains. Brazil has as many internet users as India, and Argentina has 14 million+ users too. Even though the the penetration of english is pretty low in both the countries, Spanish and Portugese are pretty common.

I haven't seen much Australian names either, even though Australia has roughly the same number of internet users as Philipines (14mil) and an english speaking population coupled with 70% internet penetration.


So what would you pick as next big internet market? Not now, but perhaps 5 years from now (so that I have a small fortune by the time I graduate!).

 

[800ml]

I was thinking about IDN's today, and thought about the following scenario, let's say you develop a popular IDN domain website let's call it XYZ.com in a non-english language X in country X.
You travel to US on a business trip, and want to access it but the keyboards don't have the necessary foreign letters, how are you going to access it? One way is to cut and paste letters you found via google but that is so tedious. Doesn't this create a new type of mapping portals opportunity here, have i discovered america?

 

[Source]

That .com tld thing. The smart money is here. It may take some time, but it'll take off. Wait and see.

 

[End User King]

bingo.

I was thinking about IDN's today, and thought about the following scenario, let's say you develop a popular IDN domain website let's call it XYZ.com in a non-english language X in country X.
You travel to US on a business trip, and want to access it but the keyboards don't have the necessary foreign letters, how are you going to access it? One way is to cut and paste letters you found via google but that is so tedious. Doesn't this create a new type of mapping portals opportunity here, have i discovered america?

 

[GreenGambler]

You travel to US on a business trip, and want to access it but the keyboards don't have the necessary foreign letters, how are you going to access it? One way is to cut and paste letters you found via google but that is so tedious.

I've thought the same thing before. I must admit, I've never seen what any other type of keyboard looks like but I imagine the asian keyboards are very different. Is there not a program they can have that will make there usual character keys actually type letters? To be honest, I am clueless when it comes to ccIDN, foreign character DNs and the such.. And I also understand what Sashas is saying, I really don't know how these are used or work either.
How does xx--jax2fgs.com translate to "chinese characters".com? Is there a list somewhere of what letter/hyphen combos make which asian characters?

It would be unwise for me to invest in a market I know little about.. .com is my playground for now and I'm happy with that

 

[VirtualT]

I predict the next big internet market will be keyword biz domains

 

[sashas]

where did this thread get a bump all of a sudden?
Its always interesting when older threads get new posts...

Now, having been in this for 3 more months than my first post, I'll go with Spade..the next big internet market is still .com.

 

[DnEbook]

Yes .com.au has a great presence here in australia , you would be crazy to register a .com if you owned an aussie business ..... people look for the local names, i think the .tv revolution has begun ....... it covers the whole world, not just a country !!! and with the internet becomming video/tv based ..... it should be a winner

 

[GreenGambler]

Yes .com.au has a great presence here in australia , you would be crazy to register a .com if you owned an aussie business ..... people look for the local names

I guess I don't quite understand that concept. . Why would someone register AussieFlowers.com.au and not want AussieFlowers.com . Are Australians really that biased against .com domain names.. Just 'cause it is a .com doesn't mean it is not local. And doesn't every business aspire to become globalized eventually anyway.. ?

I don't go to .us websites hopeing to find USA only info.. lol But that's probably the big difference between the US and the rest of the world.

Also.. I have sold .com domain names to business in other countries where they held the .cc.com but not the .com. They were very happy to buy the .com.

 

[sashas]

I guess I don't quite understand that concept. . Why would someone register AussieFlowers.com.au and not want AussieFlowers.com . Are Australians really that biased against .com domain names.. Just 'cause it is a .com doesn't mean it is not local. And doesn't every business aspire to become globalized eventually anyway.. ?

I don't go to .us websites hopeing to find USA only info.. lol But that's probably the big difference between the US and the rest of the world.

Also.. I have sold .com domain names to business in other countries where they held the .cc.com but not the .com. They were very happy to buy the .com.

I agree with you completely.

.com is and will always be the world's local (along with .net, .org and .edu)

As a business, I would first have the .com of my name, and then branch out to the ccTLD to show that my business is also local. Thats what all major businesses do. Google owned the .com first, and later all the other extensions (at least the ones not taken up by squatters).

 

[xman]

Domain hack and .TV will be the next big thing IMO.

Now that domain hack is getting more recognition I could only assume that in 5 years and beyond this type of domain would be more valuable. Since domain hacks lose its country's identity it doesn't matter what country it is IMO. There is no substitute for domain hack unlike keyword.com that can be substituted with keyword.net, keyword.info, and other ccTLDs.

I have seen some descent sales with these type of domains in $x,xxx range. You won't see many sales in domain hack..why?..because not too many solid domain hacks really existed and that's what makes them more valuable. Domain hacks are rare and most hack holders won't sell their solid hacks for less than $x,xxx

I also think .TV will be the next big thing in 5 years and beyond.
When you visit many sites you will be more likely to see some videos and videos online are increasing in numbers dot TV will perfect for this demand. dot TV will also be perfect for interactive media.

I think these two will be the next big thing in the internet

 

[worldstar]

the next big thing is only keyword and no suffix

 

[sashas]

the next big thing is only keyword and no suffix

lol
agreed!

 

[EbookLover]

Personally I think .Tv is going to explode in the next couple years with the mobile devices coming out today.

I agree. As of late, I been seeing a big rise in many mainstream companies using the .TV extension for supplemental or promotional sites to their .COM's.

With the rise and peak of Internet video, this is no surprise. I saw it coming a long time ago.

Too bad the .TV extension is rather pricey.

I was thinking about IDN's today, and thought about the following scenario, let's say you develop a popular IDN domain website let's call it XYZ.com in a non-english language X in country X.
You travel to US on a business trip, and want to access it but the keyboards don't have the necessary foreign letters, how are you going to access it? One way is to cut and paste letters you found via google but that is so tedious. Doesn't this create a new type of mapping portals opportunity here, have i discovered america?

NO, what you have discovered is that we need new keyboards!!!! LOL

 

[Pred]

I guess I don't quite understand that concept. . Why would someone register AussieFlowers.com.au and not want AussieFlowers.com . Are Australians really that biased against .com domain names.. Just 'cause it is a .com doesn't mean it is not local. And doesn't every business aspire to become globalized eventually anyway.. ?

I don't go to .us websites hopeing to find USA only info.. lol But that's probably the big difference between the US and the rest of the world.

Also.. I have sold .com domain names to business in other countries where they held the .cc.com but not the .com. They were very happy to buy the .com.

I'm a big .com fan, but also a big cctld fan of my own country.
What you have to realise and many americans don't , is that many countries prefer their cctld over com.
Particularly countries where it has been established longer in peoples mindsets.
Perfect examples .co.uk, .de etc
Now, the public dont realise enmasse anyone can reg a com, .co.uk etc
(different for some countries obviously), but feel safe with their country code & it is the thing they see on tv, ads etc

Many companies are waking up to the fact that if you're a big company you're losing a fortune by not having the com and global branding.
Australia is a dood example where they have a respected extension and the businesses genuinely are not bothered about the .com on its own, they have it already of sorts. Ask any Australian.

Also for Americans, .com virtually is your cctld lol
.us virtually doesnt exist and is rarely used, i'm not saying it doesnt have a future as it does and is a great looking extension as cctlds go, it will take YEARS though for it to pick up imo

imo stick to .com as it will always be number 1. invest in a cctld that is your own or that you understand the market.

these are two golden rules, i also firmly believe in the ongoing success & future for .mobi

.info also has a bright future imo & crosses over languages and cultures

 

[sashas]

before I came into domaining, the only extensions I knew were: .com, .net, .org, .edu, .co.in, .co.uk and .de (because of rapidshare.de, lol).

But I'll still say that unless I have a very localized audience, getting the .com of my name is vital.

 

[EbookLover]

What you have to realise and many Americans don't , is that many countries prefer their cctld over com.

And the reason why some Americans do not understand is simply because, let's face it, the Internet was created by the American military (that's right, Bill Clinton and Al Gore did not create the internet!) and America's ccTLD is essentially .COM. .COM is more popular in the USA than our actual ccTLD, .US. .COM is more or less the grandaddy of all TLD's and those non-US companies that buy the .COM equivalent to their ccTLD domains understand this.

I'm not saying register the .COM and forget about the ccTLD. That would be foolish, too. I'm saying register both - if you can.

I think it is foolish for a non-US company to not buy .COM equivalent of their ccTLD and redirect it to their ccTLD, whether or not they do business globally.

But that's just my opinion.

 

[Source]

I find it interesting that often when someone suggests what the "next BIG thing" is going to be, the names they are selling in their signature often match their description.

 

[Pred]

before I came into domaining, the only extensions I knew were: .com, .net, .org, .edu, .co.in, .co.uk and .de (because of rapidshare.de, lol).

But I'll still say that unless I have a very localized audience, getting the .com of my name is vital.

i agree, i'll always take the com over my own cctld. but then i'm a domainer.
just saying the non-domainer market doesnt see it like this in general. rightly or wrongly

 

[MadAboutDomains]

Why are you leaving Europe out of it.

 

[sashas]

I find it interesting that often when someone suggests what the "next BIG thing" is going to be, the names they are selling in their signature often match their description.

I started this thread about 3 months back. I don't think I started this as any sort of propaganda about .in names.

But 3 months back I was a complete greenhorn at domaining. Now, after 3 more months, I've changed my stance; .com is the next big thing (as always).

Personally, I'm getting rid of most of my names in extensions other than .com. I hope to build a primarily .com portfolio, with some .net, .org, .info thrown in.

So if .com is the next big thing, I might be guilty of promoting it

:sold: