The .PRO Discussion

[InvisionTech]

It seems .PRO is slowly coming out of the cage with cheaper reg prices than they were a year ago and major registrars like netsol taking notice of the extension and promoting it.

Here are some that I picked up in last couple of days:

Alexandria.pro

Anchorage.pro

Arlington.pro

Belfast.pro

Birmingham.pro

Budapest.pro

Durham.pro

Fairfax.pro

Italian.pro

Lisbon.pro

Fire away with your regs after the relaunch on September 8th, 2008.

 

[PolishGuy]

PolishGuy, there is already a helpful talk regarding this issue a few pages earlier,please read.

Yes, I've found some talk (page 131 - that's 20 minutes of my life that I'm not getting back). All I read is that the clearly stated rules (http://nic.pro/pro/eligibility.shtml) are not enforced currently. That really boosts my trust in that extension...

 

[Edward Smeu]

Try page 144, how come you missed that?!

 

[JoeBiz]

It certainly doesn't help when you read that you need to be licensed professional to buy .pro.

The requirements include two very important things that you haven't mentioned. First, it is open to "Generic" professionals. That pretty much covers everyone who gets out of bed in the morning. And, the registration process is Self Certified.

Provide a profession: Painter.
Provide, in this case your city license number.
Then provide the website of the entity that issued your license.
Done.

I'm an engineer but I did antique repair for ten years. The antique repair is just as legitimate as the engineer.



8^X

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

PolishGuy, nothing special here.
You can certify yourself. Just your unis diploma number or driving lic. number.
And reg as much as you can!

 

[PolishGuy]

Thanks for reply. There is still no legit website where I could input any kind of number and get my personal information, that most probably would be against Polish law, which is restrictive about personal data protection. I would probably have to open a business, but that would involve paying an extra tax.
If me, a domain freak, can't be bothered to bypass the system then think about the end users.

 

[MicroGuy]

I think the registry would prefer for you to just wonder and marvel at the extension and forget about asking intelligent questions. In my opinion, it is now time to do a mass purge and remove these TLDs from your accounts. I see a great drop trend on the horizon. IMHO

It certainly doesn't help when you read that you need to be licensed professional to buy .pro.

You don't really silly. This is the wonder of the extension.

 

[Edward Smeu]

I think the registry would prefer for you to just wonder and marvel at the extension and forget about asking intelligent questions. In my opinion, it is now time to do a mass purge and remove these TLDs from your accounts. I see a great drop trend on the horizon.

Great then, let them drop, others will pick them up if they are good enough.


This talk tends to direct to a major problem that .pro had in the last years, the restrictions about registering a name.

As they are gone and the reg price dropped over 50 times, what's holding this extension back besides the people's biases about this TLD? And I know there are many and they must be educated to look at .pro different as they did before.

Look at .me which is the best example of what it was and what it become. Domain hacks are another example with the recent xx,xxx sales and the 100k sale.

In closure, there's even a high .xxx sale on DNJ last week. And .xxx is for porn what .pro is for services/professionals. Every extension has it's own role besides .com

 

[Kate]

Look at .me which is the best example of what it was and what it become. Domain hacks are another example with the recent xx,xxx sales and the 100k sale.

.me has found a limited but working niche, with active promotion by the registry and the registrars, and no restrictions. And unlike .pro it's carried by all mainstream registrars.
Problem with .pro is lack of visible promotion, and not being carried by the large registrars.
But imo the biggest issue is lack of identity, .pro essentially competing against .com (just like .biz that has no raison d'être either).

 

[webdomain]

I think .pro will gain that needed visibility as Afilias gets going. My take on this is that .pro will ramp up later this year or early next as the transfer to afilias is not til the summer per their press release, but they have suggested another prominent 3 day auction as well.

The trend is very much up...imho.

 

[Edward Smeu]

Problem with .pro is lack of visible promotion, and not being carried by the large registrars.
But imo the biggest issue is lack of identity, .pro essentially competing against .com (just like .biz that has no raison d'être either).

True, lack of promo and identity and there are so many asking what is .pro

There's still much to be done but I think it's better than 1 year ago and will be better next year and so on.

There's a big difference between .biz and .pro because of their meaning and the trends (one sinking and one which just took a big breath of air and struggling to come out. We'll live and see.

.pro competing against .com can only be a good thing in the future if the extension will go up because there are very few .com names to grab for less than xx,xxx.

 

[webdomain]

There you have it STP .pro's can be still bought at a fraction of the cost of a .com

...translates to a whole lot of room for growth!

 

[Kate]

I think .pro will gain that needed visibility as Afilias gets going.

Afilias took over .mobi, and that did not breathe new life in the TLD.
Perhaps their plan is just to buy extensions in order to kill them.
Even .tel got more registrations than .pro, so you can appreciate how popular .pro really is.

 

[Edward Smeu]

Afilias took over .mobi, and that did not breathe new life in the TLD.
Perhaps their plan is just to buy extensions in order to kill them.
Even .tel got more registrations than .pro, so you can appreciate how popular .pro really is.

.tel and .mobi as many said were released like 10 years later than supposed to. Because the technology advances every day and is a very important variable to these extensions they are less used day by day, variable which does not apply to .pro

There are countless online websites that use PRO in their name but not in the extension though, because of PRO's meaning and that's the big advantage.

Again, .pro is in the top 3 used gTLDs (from the bottom) but the real question if this will change over the next years. There are many that say it won't and die just like .tel .mobi .asia etc but there are others + the recent facts that disagree. And by recent facts I mean :


- Afilias purchased the registry(the move will take place this summer as webdomain said) and they intend to bring this extension at it's true potential as the reported sales are begining to grow in value and number.

- At the auction organized recently by GoDaddy the highest sales were : Go.pro at 40,000$ ; Xxx.pro at 18,900$ ; Job.pro at 5,450$.

- Recent other sales(2012) : Tech.pro at 25,500$ ; Serrurier.pro at 7,620$ (locksmith in French) ; Business.pro 4,600$(re-seller bargain price) ; Telefon.pro at 2,225$ or Smile.pro at 2,200$ and other lower.

- There will be a bigger .PRO auction announced by Afilias later this year

-The restrictions for registering a .pro had been a big problem in the last years but now almost anyone can reg one.

-The reg fee dropped a lot.


Right now Table.pro is auctioned in sedo and Reboot.pro(website) on flippa with 5 figure offers.

 

[Londoneli]

Good news:
one of the biggest UK registrar 123-reg.co.uk started registering .Pro domains:
http://www.123-reg.co.uk/order?domain=cloudpixl&search=search&ajax_enabled=true

 

[MicroGuy]

-The reg fee dropped more than 50 times.

I would not consider this a positive indicator as it suggests a loss of demand. When demand drops so does price. A good example would be the cost of dial-up networking. As the demand reached zero, so did the price.

What you are seeing with .PRO is the final stages before the entire collapse of reseller market value. As I have previously stated, this is probably one of the worst investments on the face of the Earth.

The expedited development of a comprehensive exit strategy would be something that anyone reading this might consider. IMHO

 

[elmoney]

regged kama (dot) pro for $3.14

 

[Edward Smeu]

MicroGuy, nice location. And starting from that I assume you will run over every thread and write against any ccTLD/

The dial-up example is far away from being a good analogy. There are too many things to tell to back that up, will write you an essay at demand.

Price dropped more than 50 times from 100 if i recall to 2.99. Check out 123-reg up there which has it at 15pounds, its not 2.99 everywhere. Also, considering the .com price drop in the last 15 years should we say it's dying?

You are manipulating reasons for your own pleasure and arguments. Some people might be fooled though and you know what will be a really bad investment? maybe not the worst cause i don't believe in absolute, it would be for people to make investments based on ~75% of your posts. Only that because you have some (few) good ones.

BtW, .pro is not ccTLD, i think you're in the wrong thread.

All the best.

 

[MicroGuy]

You are manipulating reasons for your own pleasure and arguments. Some people might be fooled though and you know what will be a really bad investment? maybe not the worst cause i don't believe in absolute, it would be for people to make investments based on ~75% of your posts. Only that because you have some (few) good ones.

BtW, .pro is not ccTLD, i think you're in the wrong thread.

All the best.

It is difficult perhaps to see, but from my side of the fence, things are looking awfully bleak for .PRO.

There are extremely few good domain investments at this time. Most all domains are bad investments currently. Especially non-.COMs. The internet is both expanding and contracting simultaneously. Internet traffic is increasing as independent development is declining. There is a consolidation underway with things moving to NetFlix, YouTube, and Facebook like sites.

There is no reason for .PRO and now that the registry has "sold out" in terms of its commitment to the integrity and professionalism of the brand, it's clearly "Game Over" for this lowly TLD. IMHO.

 

[hopkism]

Internet traffic is increasing as independent development is declining. There is a consolidation underway with things moving to NetFlix, YouTube, and Facebook like sites.

Not to hijack this thread but this is an awesome topic of discussion in itself. I would love to see a couple arguments on this.

 

[mwzd]

I think the registry would prefer for you to just wonder and marvel at the extension and forget about asking intelligent questions.

Could you please articulate a few of these intelligent questions?

In my opinion, it is now time to do a mass purge and remove these TLDs from your accounts. I see a great drop trend on the horizon. IMHO

Right, just like people should do in all extensions except for .com?

I would not consider this a positive indicator as it suggests a loss of demand.

You do realise than .coms went from $50/yr to $6/yr? Registrations went up 100 fold. Why do you think it will be different for .pro?

When demand drops so does price. A good example would be the cost of dial-up networking. As the demand reached zero, so did the price.

I personally think of .pro like 4G, not everyone gets it, yet, but that's fine.

To make money in business you have to be ahead of the curve, not picking up crap in .com as most of the followers seem to be doing.

If you can get any of the keywords in .com that you can in .pro, you'd be looking at six figures, at the very least.

And therein lies the opportunity.

What you are seeing with .PRO is the final stages before the entire collapse of reseller market value. As I have previously stated, this is probably one of the worst investments on the face of the Earth.

I also own .gd domains, if .pro is the worst... wonder what you'll say about that?

The expedited development of a comprehensive exit strategy would be something that anyone reading this might consider. IMHO

They might consider building a cave home in a mountain to try and survive the upcoming end of the world on 21/12/2012 but most sane people don't.

It is difficult perhaps to see, but from my side of the fence, things are looking awfully bleak for .PRO.

What is your side of the fence? .Com leftover land? I really hope you get something from Verisign for all your trashing of most extensions, specially with a 1000 more coming out soon, would be a terrible waste of time otherwise.

There are extremely few good domain investments at this time. Most all domains are bad investments currently.

I agree with this completely.

Especially non-.COMs.

Actually it's the other way around, most of the crap is in .com, just because the numbers are that much higher - 100 million domains, you can be sure less than 1% are worth five figures or more and most of those were registered before 1996.

The internet is both expanding and contracting simultaneously. Internet traffic is increasing as independent development is declining. There is a consolidation underway with things moving to NetFlix, YouTube, and Facebook like sites.

The internet is not contracting at all. I think you should fire the person who supplies you with stats, they're probably high on your supply too.

Guess we should inform all the startups they shouldn't bother since the Internet is focussing only on the 3 sites you're mentioned.

Just fyi, I've never even visited netflix, just like a majority of the non-US based Internet user base, which might surprise you to learn is actually many multiples of those in the US.

There is no reason for .PRO and now that the registry has "sold out" in terms of its commitment to the integrity and professionalism of the brand, it's clearly "Game Over" for this lowly TLD. IMHO.

Lmao, right, keep telling yourself that and stick to pumping also ran .coms that you couldn't get reg fee for, we'll stick to the domains that make us money, irrespective of the extension.

I've made money in .tv, .co and even .ag, guess I shouldn't have bothered since they're not worth anything in the 'real' world where people only buy crappy .coms, right?

And though I haven't made major profits in .pro it's mostly because I've priced myself out of the current reseller market for the most part.

Even table.pro is worth, imho, at least 5x of what I'm selling it for and I'm sure the buyer will prove me right, pretty soon.

I think people like you are actually good for domain investors with vision, means less competition.