What are people's thoughts on .pro now?

[Domainate.com]

I'm unsure of what to think about .pro, primarily because I've only heard of 2 poker-related .pro name sales. Have there been many .pro sales or what? Does it compare to like a lower-end ccTLD, or above that?

 

[rome2ng]

i think it's still too early to comment.

it dun appear to take off soon, as not many people actually feel it's useful cos there's too many extension out there.

 

[jim]

live.pro ............ sedo.com 2K

jim

 

[seeker]

.pro has a distinct and very niche following.
it isnt for the masses.
I actualy like the extension very much, as it commands a certain 'pro' look to any domain and email address.
Of course, as an investment, it probably isnt the best of choices.
It stands out from the rest, and another plus is that it is a global extension and not a country code extension. In the negative side, they are rather expensiove to register and stockpile, and, the curent form of who actualy owns the domain (assuming you are not eligible to directly own one under the TOS) is rather sketchy.
Still, for me, it is one of the better alternative extensions.

 

[billinchina]

It's all what you make of it. Most TLDs aren't worth hardly anything without site development. However, a website with a name like Loans.pro can probably do better fetching traffic from a search engine listing page than a website with a name like GetALoanHere.com. I don't see hardly any resale value in .pro. Most people that are actually going to spend money on a domain, will make sure they buy .com. So, resale value will remain low IMO.

 

[Domainate.com]

Thanks for the feedback. Obviously it looks more appealing than relatively obscure internationally-available ccTLDs, but at this point about how would it compare to some of the ccTLDs in value?

 

[lpxxfaintxx]

Out of curiosity, where can I register .pros?

 

[Grrilla]

Out of curiosity, where can I register .pros?

I don't know if there are less expensive sources or not. But, domaindiscount24 is a good source for several of the more exotic gtld's and .cctlds: http://www.domaindiscount24.com/

I couldn't agree more w/ seeker's and billinchina's comments. .pro is an aestheically attractive ext. and delivers a clear, strong message but it is pricey. I have one eye on resale and one eye on development w/ most of the names that I register. I figure that the majority of my names are going to be in my portfolio fo a minimum of 3 years before they see any development. So, from my standpoint, 3+ years of renewal fees plus the low odds of resale have kept me away. .pro would be an excellent solution for someone w/ a front-burner project that demanded a strong keyword; where both the nature of the project and the keyword matched up and fit well w/ "pro".

 

[seeker]

IMHO the best place to reg .pros is encirca.
Now, If you are going to get a .pro, just in case, go ahead and reg the name you wanted, i.e.
example.pro and examplepro.com *just* in case, so you can cover traffic bleeding.
for most keywords, you will find the namepro.com is taken, but just in case, it is worth the extra few $...
as for comparing to cc TLDs, its a tough call.
If I was marketing for a specifing country, then I would get the CC.
Yet, so many of us go for ccTLDs because 'we' believe such and such 'means' something else.
It doesnt.
pro, means pro, not a country lost in between volcanoes and dictators...

 

[Grrilla]

IMHO the best place to reg .pros is encirca.
Now, If you are going to get a .pro, just in case, go ahead and reg the name you wanted, i.e.
example.pro and examplepro.com *just* in case, so you can cover traffic bleeding.
for most keywords, you will find the namepro.com is taken, but just in case, it is worth the extra few $...
as for comparing to cc TLDs, its a tough call.
If I was marketing for a specifing country, then I would get the CC.
Yet, so many of us go for ccTLDs because 'we' believe such and such 'means' something else.
It doesnt.
pro, means pro, not a country lost in between volcanoes and dictators...

With most of the cctld's, I would agree with you. However, (and I think you would agree w/ this), how a term is, curently, used and understood trumps it's root origin and past use. The internet is notorious for changing and modifying words by adapting them ro it's own use and purpose, which, effectively, alters their current associative meaning and, over time, could, even, change a word/term's definition. The same rules would apply to cctld origins and usage, regardless, of whether one is a purist or not.

.WS has been unsuccessful because, up to this point, it has failed in it's promotional efforts to equate "WS" w/ "website" in the mind of the GP and, currently, .WS is caught somewhere between being a S Pacific island nation's cctld and, (primarily in the domain name community), an acronym for "website". On the otherhand, (yep, you guessed it), .TV, which is a popular, high profile abbrev. and has the, built in, attribute of, already being associated w/ television and, thus, more intuitive than the.WS-website association (and several other cctld acronym wannabees and their respective name associations), doesn't originate from "television", however, I am willing to bet that a poll would show that the vast majority of the GP identifying .TV w/ television" and not w/ "Tuvalu"**.

Other cctld's that possess acronym potential could, also, succeed but because they are less intuitive, they will require more promotional and marketing work in the GP sector by their registry/promoters, who have, primarily, targeted the domain name marketer and who seem to be content w/ relying upon the domain name community to carry the weight of promoting their product for them.

**

Tuvalu, pronounced "too-VAH-loo", is an independent constitutional monarchy in the southwest Pacific Ocean between latitudes 5 degrees and 11 degrees south and longitudes 176 degrees and 180 degrees east. Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, they separated from the Gilbert Islands after a referendum in 1975, and achieved independence from Great Britain on October 1, 1978. The population of 11,636 (est 2005) live on Tuvalu's nine atolls, which have a total land area of 10 square miles, or 27 square kilometres. This ranks Tuvalu as the fourth smallest country in the world, in terms of land area.

 

[TLDnetworks]

I couldn't agree more w/ seeker's and billinchina's comments. .pro is an aestheically attractive ext. and delivers a clear, strong message but it is pricey. I have one eye on resale and one eye on development w/ most of the names that I register. I figure that the majority of my names are going to be in my portfolio fo a minimum of 3 years before they see any development. So, from my standpoint, 3+ years of renewal fees plus the low odds of resale have kept me away. .pro would be an excellent solution for someone w/ a front-burner project that demanded a strong keyword; where both the nature of the project and the keyword matched up and fit well w/ "pro".

Bingo - same for me. I did dabble in the first stage of it's release and picked up four names. I've sold all four in the low to mid $xxx range. I would get back into it should a good development project that warrants the "PRO" designation come up.

 

[Carlton]

.pro makes good sense for certain professions. I was late to .pro and barely dove in finally regging one name, adoption.pro, which I believe has good application for the meaning contained in the extension. However, I haven't yet developed content for the name. .pro should garner some recognition (based on use) in the next 2-3 years.

 

[faisj]

My opinion:

I wil not invest in .pro.
As there are so many cctld and tld on the market today I stick with the nr. 1
.com!

( i think the investments in the many cctld's and tld's are getting to risky
everytime there comes a new one)

 

[Luc]

Are there any special rules when registering .PRO domains? Ex: can I host any type of a web site or does it have to be related to some profession?

 

[BigCharlie]

Dot what? As a general rule I try to avoid anything that nobody knows about. Maybe 3 out of every 100,000 humans have heard of dot pro, and I don't plan on being around for the thousand or so years it would take to reach critical mass....which it won't.

 

[Grrilla]

As a general rule, I tend not to take opinionated conjecture very seriously..