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.

 

[sky]

I know there was some discussion earlier about the value of .pro domains like magenta.pro

I'm thinking that .pro would have plenty of application if there was say a business called magenta...whether that business was a hair salon, art studio or anything related to something professional or business.

I think magenta.com would be much stronger than magenta.pro in the case of a hair salon or art studio, because we expect .com's to typically be nouns. But .com is flexible and it can be a verb. Whereas professional is a professional at something; in other words, .pro sounds better when used as an adverb for a domain word that is verb, then when it is used than as an adjective and the domain name is a noun (in most cases).

I'm not saying it would be outrageously bad, or that it couldn't be made profitable, but because it is orthogonal to the traditional connotation of professional, it's going to sound strange, even slightly clueless to people. Folks could overcome the liabilities of a name like magenta.pro, and eventually get used to it, even learn to like it; but at first people just won't know what it means or see the point of it; not a quality one wants with a domain name.

Let me use another example: Joe.pro - That domain name has the disadvantage of putting pro with a noun (and I don't mean a pronoun). Of course that particular 'bad' domain name has 'accidental' perks (i.e. it's short, rhymes, confident, playful, sounds brandable and clever). Downside is, no one knows what a professional Joe is and isn't searching for professional Joe's per se. What us a professional Joe? Someone who is really really good at being Joe? A professional regular kind of guy? Aternatively, take a domain name like pilot.pro - we know immediately exactly what it is, and it sounds genuinely impressive, useful, and valuable.

---------- Post added at 06:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:05 PM ----------

When companies see a proposition, and its worth it, they go after it quickly. I don't see that happening with .pro and godaddy. I don't think godaddy wants to go through the verification process for each domain... so that restriction, at least, would have to go.

Yeah, .pro is kind of a rip off. And I'm one of the suckers. It's a sort of a petty fraud preying on the dreams and faith of people they wind up running over.

That snooty 'standards' Registry.pro adamantly and self-defeatingly adheres to, requiring one to prove themselves professional is ludicrous ... at least it is for the 2nd level domain registration process. Their requirements for the 3rd level domains make sense, but don't translate well to 2nd level domains, where the rules become rubbish; total nonsense, and plain unfair. A notary public can register any number of .PROs, like doctor.pro, plumber.pro, quantumphysicist.pro, nerd.pro. But a professional software developer can't even legitimately register fart.pro, because software engineering isn't formally recognized as a profession; even though software engineers can acquire a field-related t PH.d, hold professional positions that entail doing difficult and highly skilled work, and given professional titles and salaries.. But only *recognized* professionals can register names like uberquack.pro or jklmnop.pro. Somone at the registry must have a pretty small yardstick to be that insecure and uptight about that policy. It's almost condescending. How does that serve the public interest in any way? Who in the hell is the registry trying to kid? Themselves?

If the registry.pro had any kind of objectivity or insight, they'd realize they're being anal retentive, OCD even, to try to enforce draconian policies and chasing an ideal without a problem and creating headaches for everyone along the way, not the least of whom, their investors, by stipulating policies beset with so many exceptions, loopholes, inequities, and self-contradiction. It's absurd

 

[Jawed]

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think the registry can do anything as far as removing the restrictions is concerned. The licence was granted by ICANN on the basis of those qualifications. If the restrictions are removed, then what's the point in having an extension for professionals?

.pro holds value (if any) only for as long as it has restrictions in place, in my opinion.

 

[webdomain]

The difference between magenta.com and magenta.pro is subjective. Even joe.pro sounds better imho

But again, it's real estate and the mass market is going to go after the .com There has to be a huge change in the way the market thinks about the internet to see this difference. Could be coming with the 1000's of gtld's. I'm thinking it is going to be increasingly difficult for .com as they will have to fight to maintain market share.

I know this sounds crazy...but .pro's a better address

 

[sky]

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't think the registry can do anything as far as removing the restrictions is concerned. The licence was granted by ICANN on the basis of those qualifications. If the restrictions are removed, then what's the point in having an extension for professionals?

.pro holds value (if any) only for as long as it has restrictions in place, in my opinion.

Pro isn't holding any value, that's the problem. What is the point of pointless restrictions? Just to make them feel like they're doing something, even if it does harm and fails to meet the objective?

You said what's the point of having .PRO if there are no restrictions? Well - it's another extension with a new sound, meaning and connotation, like .INFO, .ORG and .NET. Adds much needed cool-sounding namespace. What's the point of having .COM for companies, without restrictions, and yet it's doing fine, even though people use .COM for everything, and, more often than not, those domain owners are *not* companies.

Why over regulate? People will figure out which sites are crap and which are for real anyway.

What is the point of allowing names like bafdkwief.pro? Why does anyone need a to qualify to own a worthless nonsense name like that? And yet it's perfectly fine to have it as long as some arbitrary bar for professional status is passed, and then the sky is the limit on nonsense and irrelevant domains.

I understand the the spirit behind their law, but the letter of their law is manure and scarcely enforceable without screwing people, the registrars and the whole extension over.

The registry should enforce strict requirements on the 3rd level .pro categories so that only real lawers can get .law.pro and so forth, but drop the bs w/2nd level .pros.

 

[webdomain]

I would think it would be more beneficial to be on goDaddy than uphold the restrictions if that really is the issue. Kind of agree that second level would be better suited for general business all purpose uses and obviously licensed professional would have exclusive access to the third level.

It makes a lot more sense.

 

[JoeBiz]

Pro isn't holding any value, that's the problem. What is the point of pointless restrictions? Just to make them feel like they're doing something, even if it does harm and fails to meet the objective?

You said what's the point of having .PRO if there are no restrictions? Well - it's another extension with a new sound, meaning and connotation, like .INFO, .ORG and .NET. Adds much needed cool-sounding namespace. What's the point of having .COM for companies, without restrictions, and yet it's doing fine, even though people use .COM for everything, and, more often than not, those domain owners are *not* companies.

Well put.

I think the restrictions have come close to killing the extension. I thought they were on the verge of lifting them last year but I've been audited three times since I purchased my first Pro. I used to think the restrictions were just fluff but they were very serious during the third audit. They checked websites, certification numbers, etc and although the information was there it wasn't accessible. I ended up having to send them a scan of my diploma and my board certification showing dates and certification number. I hope that keeps them happy.

---------- Post added at 07:51 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:26 AM ----------

I have never seen a .pro domain in all of my time surfing the Internet. it seems like a good TLD for professionals, but I doubt that it would have other uses.

But they're out there. I think I even have one. And I know WebDomain and Mr. Wiz have multiple sites. And I've seen a few in the dentistry and electricial fields to name a few.

You said that "it seems like a good TLD for professionals, but I doubt that it would have other uses."

Sky pointed out that it's another extension with a new sound, meaning and connotation. And I think the fact that 564 words and short phrases end with Pro and 1200 words begin with Pro support the assertion that sound, meaning and connotation could also play a large part in the use of the extension.

And on a more bitter note, I think that the restrictions are turning a great extension into three worthless letters and I wish that we could sit and have a conversation with the jackasses that insist on keeping them in place.


8^X

 

[webdomain]

I really like the idea of second level being open and the third level where it is professional specific to require credentials. It solves a lot of issues as there are many professionals out there and also professional people working in offices that feel they can't utilize the extension.

But, of course you want to make sure that if your are advertising a doctor or lawyer that you are gaining access to qualified people. This way godaddy could just do second level and you could go to the registry if you want specific professional third level extensions.

This makes a lot of sense and builds much better credibility. Like .org and .net even .info are very respected extensions without these requirements.

I think Afilias is missing the boat on this one as they are probably on extensions like .mobi.... I actually believe even .mobi with the right advertising can be largely adopted for mobility. .pro is a better extension and we could easily see 1/2 million registrants if marketed correctly.

It's crazy just to let the extension sit idle...Unless someone else has a better argument.

You know our job as domain buyers should be to develop business...not to market the extension!! Why are we paying high registration renewal fees anyway. Yes, Afilias is doing something like the news recently for reseller club...but there is clearly more that could be done. All you really have to do is follow the footsteps of extensions like .co and .me

Idle management is just going to lead to the big investors to get tired, walk away from this extension and put their recurring registration fees somewhere else.

 

[JoeBiz]

Just can't afford to keep renewing 250 Pros when sales are down across the board. Have to be more selective.

You should take a look at Sedo's Great Domains auction that just began. Out of 233 names there are maybe 15 that match their own criteria. An amazing list of junk. And no Pros.

 

[JoeBiz]

And another beautiful Pro site goes up ... LuxuryHome.pro

 

[webdomain]

Nice site! .pro leans heavy to real estate.

 

[MicroGuy]

I have never seen a .pro domain in all of my time surfing the Internet.

That's one reason why this is probably a good extension to avoid. I used to think this extension could have some small value as a defensive registration, but those days are now past. IMHO

I say clean out your .PRO, grab some ammo, and head for the hills. It looks like December might get really interesting. Put the money you save in renewals into some Hornady Zombie rounds.

 

[webdomain]

Decemberzombieapocalypse.pro is available.

 

[sky]

Gratuitous 500th post.

Carry on.

 

[JoeBiz]

That's one reason why this is probably a good extension to avoid. I used to think this extension could have some small value as a defensive registration, but those days are now past. IMHO

I say clean out your .PRO, grab some ammo, and head for the hills. It looks like December might get really interesting. Put the money you save in renewals into some Hornady Zombie rounds.

Just buy gold. It's not too late.

 

[akcampbell]

Total .pros registered to June 2012, excluding zip .pros, increased by 2.8% to 114,275. The year on year increase reached 70.3% which is the highest 12m rolling average since relaunch in 2009. Average daily WHOIS searches increased by 15.3% month on month to 98,200.

 

[sky]

Total .pros registered to June 2012, excluding zip .pros, increased by 2.8% to 114,275. The year on year increase reached 70.3% which is the highest 12m rolling average since relaunch in 2009. Average daily WHOIS searches increased by 15.3% month on month to 98,200.

I'm surprised it's not higher, considering the EnCirca $3.49 sale the other month. I wonder if that implies the .PRO extension is pretty much all snatched up by squatters, and there weren't enough keywords with enough implicit strength to offset the liabilities of the extension, keeping regs down. I bought about 15 domains or during the say, with only 3 or 4 that we're reasonably strong keywords (not awesome, but appraised on Estibot for $xxxx, as opposed to the typical $xx -$xxx for .pro's on Estibot [again I don't think the price is literal value, only a yardstick along with other stats & common sense, to compare to other .pros]. It was really hard to scour for the slightly higher value keywords for hand reg, and I couldn't find any super strong keywords. A lot of unregistered keywords, but most of them didn't have anything going for them.

I probably won't renew most of them next year. Too much work to try to sell or develop. But, hey - the $3.49 deal was cheap enough to chalk it up to entertainment expenses.

 

[akcampbell]

The 12m rolling average % has risen 7 months in a row. That would suggest the rate of growth in total .pros registered is rising. There are 100k+ .pros registered versus 8m .infos at June 2012, 4m of of those .infos are registered through Godaddy. .info doesn't even work for most websites and .pro is technically still restricted. I see lots more growth to come in .pro. Total .pros registered have gone up 30 months in a row.

 

[wonderfulsites]

Has anyone ever visited a developed .PRO site...?

Do they even exist?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Edward Smeu]

Yes and yes. Check the thread in the last pages and you can see examples. they are rare though because of the extension's rare use.

 

[Londoneli]

Has anyone ever visited a developed .PRO site...?

Do they even exist?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

ex my domain:
www.diva.pro
great site for video on demand