To be honest and not hurt anyone here, .pro sucks!
I hear what you're saying, and I could
NOT disagree more. I believe .PRO is, perhaps, one of the best, most intuitive TLDs available. Decades before the Internet was even imagined, the word "PRO" was used in business names and advertising to both brand & describe.
In my opinion, it's a 100% failure of marketing. My observations on the importance of marketing domains to end users can be found
HERE.
I continue to believe that when an investor with deep pockets takes an interest in .PRO, everything could turn around within a very short time frame. If .PRO wasn't an approved extension already, I have
no doubt that it would be at the top of the list of the new "boutique" TLDs that would be applied for in the next several years.
It's not as if the term, "PRO" has somehow fallen out of favor in the lexicon of 21st century English. We're not talking about .DANDY! At the top of all pyramids - whether sports, business, music, film, etc., the word, "PRO" towers above the rest.
Pro Football
Pro Baseball
Pro Basketball
Golf Pro
When we refer a third party to a friend or associate, what do we say to make clear our personal endorsement of the third party's credentials?
.... a real Pro.
.... trusted Pro.
.... serious Pro.
.... a qualified Pro.
.... a no nonsense Pro.
Meet our resident Pro.
Absent the Internet, what three letter combination packs such a powerful punch - in and of itself?
Not "net"
Not "org"
Not "info"
Not "biz"
And with all due respect, certainly
not "
com"!
Please understand that I am
not saying the extension .PRO is more valuable than the extension .COM because, clearly,
it is not. But that is purely a function of who was first out of the gate, frequency of use, continued exposure and force of habit. Not because .COM was the better choice of TLD. Marketing companies often try to make a race horse out of horse manure, and sometimes they even succeed. Think about what smart, creative, compelling marketing could do when you not only start with a race horse, but it just happens to be the
Triple Crown champion.
That is the intrinsic potential of .PRO!
Why a well healed investor has not yet identified the opportunity is a question that I cannot answer. Inefficient markets create opportunities, and .PRO is one of those opportunities in a big way.