Dynadot

question What is holding back demand for NewG's?

NameSilo
Watch

Internet.Domains

Account Closed (Requested)
Impact
6,717
What is holding back demand for NewG's?

Is it lack of end user education? Premium renewals? The ability for renewal prices to skyrocket with no price controls? Something else?

NewG's have been out for a half decade now, yet they still have very little demand. The amount of sales by both monetary and volume metrics show there is little demand.

So what gives? What is holding back the demand for NewG's in mid 2019?

(Disclaimer: I am pro-NewG and own a few. I own enough, not to change a lifestyle, but to gain a better understanding.)
 
0
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
Off the top of my head -

1.) There was limited natural demand. It was basically a program that was started to make money, not based on any major need.
2.) The average person doesn't really care about or need a domain.
3.) Too many options. Too many similar extensions.
4.) Too confusing. Premium prices/renewals, tiered pricing/renewals.
5.) If people were interested it would be in cheap, quality options. There are not many of those.
The vast majority of all the best combos were withheld by registries or are now owned by domain investors.
6.) Over-promised/Under-delivered. There are so many cases of registry operators making outlandish claims and predictions.
7.) Shady registry operators. This includes things like forced opt-out registrations, clawing back domains, re-pricing domains, etc.

People are willing to embrace change when it is positive, but really there wasn't much wrong with the status quo that people were used to. The new extensions operate the same way as much more familiar ones like COM/NET/ORG and ccTLD.

Brad
 
Last edited:
35
•••
Forgive me if I’m not keeping up with the lingo. You’re talking about new top level domains correct?
 
1
•••
Please welcome Tagging newG affiliated staff members with a nP presence for registry level opinions.

.BEST Staff: @Cyril.Best | @Adrien.Best

.CLUB Staff: @Saas | @Colin Campbell

.GLOBAL Staff: @dotGLOBAL

.TOP Staff: @vicho | @Benjamin Yan | @TOP Registry

.XYZ Staff: @Mike Ambrose | @slatesimmonds | @XYZregistry

Donuts, Inc. Staff @Mason Cole | @Jon Nevett

Minds + Machines (MMX) Staff: @Victor Pitts

Uniregistey Staff: @Frank.Schilling | @Uniregistry | @Matthew Holden | @Jeffrey Gabriel

And feel free to welcome tag anyone at the registry level I may be forgetting, or is/was not listed in the nP staff directory.
 
Last edited:
5
•••
I don't see very little demand according to my own portfolio results...
It is average... and significantly higher than .info/.biz
 
3
•••
no one knows what they are. It is as simple as that.
 
4
•••
They suck. There’s that...
 
5
•••
I don't see very little demand according to my own portfolio results...
It is average... and significantly higher than .info/.biz
And ~40% of inbound buyers are coming from the USA...
My own stats.
 
4
•••
And ~40% of inbound buyers are coming from the USA...
My own stats.

Thanks for that.

Were those traffic domains or sold based solely on the domain name?
 
2
•••
Solely on the domain name...
Short or 1word domains.
 
3
•••
Something else?

The WWW is virtually required to “get it” the simple small “.” isnt visible enough to instantly know it is a website to visit, somebody else mentioned this on another thread. Billboards, buses, etc.
Meanwhile, if you notice advertising has changed to remove WWW and say——> DomainName.com needs no WWW any longer. .COM is the acceptable default like an 800 number is oldest, compared to 877 or others.

“First in the mind” also if you read the 22 immutable laws of Marketing book.

Here:

https://www.nateliason.com/notes/lessons-22-immutable-laws-marketing-al-ries
 
Last edited:
5
•••
While .com continues to be the dominant extension, there is usage of ntlds. I have seen some small businesses locally which use new extensions. As well, when looking for end users for a Portuguese .TV domain, I came across a YouTube channel which was using my domain's keyword with .News. But just like .net and .biz and .TV and hyphenated .Com domains, the fact that developers may use them for their websites does NOT mean they are willing to pay four or five figures for them.

Most domain investors believe in the branding power of a reasonably short and memorable domain name. Most end users pay reg fee for their domains and give about as much consideration to their domain decision as you might make deciding what to eat for lunch.
 
Last edited:
5
•••
Yes, from my experience - average price per domain is high $xxx.
 
4
•••
I have noticed that inquiry volume also depends on GoDaddy's mainpage... which TLDs are displayed there...
 
7
•••
So even .TOP is able to get the buyers... but GoDaddy doesn't support it, still no accreditation.
 
1
•••
The situation with new gtlds (as per press releases issued by registries and their PR teams) reminded me one old french comedy song. It can be the ngTLD anthem: "Tout va très bien, Madame la Marquise" (All Things Are Fine, My Fair Lady).

The marchioness asks questions, and always gets the same answers from her faraway servants: catastrophe upon catastrophe + "besides this little thing, everything's fine, my lady, everything's fine".

http://wikitranslate.org/wiki/All_Things_Are_Fine,_My_Fair_Lady

On a more serious note, in many countries it is hard to compete with local country codes even to .com (UK, Germany, Russia, Australia - just to name a few).

And, in cases where .com is powerful enough (U.S.), many endusers are lost - too many options. Also, if they have "term.string" in ngTLD, they still need "term+string" in .com as a pair, to avoid misunderstanding. But, as soon as you started to use .com - why do you need any alternative string...
 
3
•••
I had at least a few inquiries from .com owners...
So it is just question of time...
 
4
•••
Shady registry operators. This includes things like forced opt-out registrations, clawing back domains, re-pricing domains, etc
Yeah, this is a big problem. Wolfs in sheep's clothing... With my - extremely limited - ngtld handregs, such registries (and all the strings they offer) are now explicitly excluded.
 
1
•••
Repricing can occur only if the domain was dropped... and then moved by Registry into another tier...
With existent regs I never had such issues...

Regarding Donuts and upcoming increase in October...
It should be ~10% or so... and this is their 1st correction for 5 years...
 
4
•••
^.xyz just did this last night with digital.xyz

but yes, only when the domains have gone through the drop process. Still frustrating and reeks of ineptitude and greed, that seems to be a cnic trademark.
 
2
•••
3
•••
2
•••
What the G's have is a big personality.

What they need is a famous personality to present them. Something akin to putting them on blast across Twitter, some mentions on popular daytime talk shows or late nights, but most importantly visible usage by a popular end user.

Domain industry leaders have been stoic on their legacy investments, and new G's could really benefit from a more positive endorsement from them. All eyes are always on the giants, and the clubs they wield.

We need to ask ourselves, is it a question of Life.Style or Lifestyle.com? Can they live in tandem, or must they always be in opposition? I think evolution in domain names is inevitable, but will always remain intricately linked.
 
4
•••
1.) There was limited natural demand. It was basically a program that was started to make money, not based on any major need.

This is exactly it, ICANN and partners started spreading the "shrinking supply of domain names" fairy tale and how "we might run out", when in reality there were tons of unsold and unwanted .BIZ, .INFO, .MOBI, etc. names (at low registration prices) and the ccTLD market is quite adept at servicing national companies and citizens. Plus, you can still hand register some very good .COMs or pick up a drop cheap, even at reg cost.

There was no definitive or overriding market need for the new gTLDs and that, combined with the insane number of these that were and still are being pumped out, is why they continue to languish and will more than likely be an oddity forever.

To me, they barely exist. Their insane pricing structure would scare away all but the most naive buyer - .INC is a great example of this lunatic business model - $3K for a domain and then $3K a year per renewal? Yeah... okay. A business rep sees those numbers and he immediately load ups GD or Sedo and starts looking for a prime .COM at $30K or less.

The whole new gTLD industry just looks seedy, like a greasy guy in a worn suit standing on a lot trying to sell you a rusty car at a vastly inflated price, his beady eyes always searching for more suckers to bilk. That's the definition of short-term money, and it never ever flies over the long-term.
 
Last edited:
3
•••
Obviously that sale could change the tone of this thread.

Just remember that was initially part of a 6-figure purchase, so it's not like he made massive profits on it - he might have even lost money or broke even so far.
 
2
•••
Back