Will .Com ever die?

[D. Wells]

I am a strong believer that ".Com" will always be King, but when I talk to a lot of other domainers, they suggest that ".Com" will die within the next few years.

Just wanted to here some opinions on this.

 

[surprise]

Speculating if .COM will die is comparable to speculating if telephone numbers or street addresses will die anytime soon.

You are asking the wrong question. The question is not about the death of a multi-billion dollar extension - .COM will remain n°1 for as long as the internet remains active. Period.
The right question is how many new extensions will fail - the answer is probably 98% for at least a million obvious reasons.

ofcourse you would say that because u r a domainer , you cant compare .com to street addresses and names , we didn't say web addresses will disappear , but rather the extra useless meaningless word we type after a web address ( not anymore ofcourse ) . Apps somewhat killed the .com because you don't need to type but rather to touch , one touch and u r in , google and search engines killed it as well , but that still didn't kill it completely it still needs time , it will not happen overnight , you need a trend and i see trends not a trend , that's a fact of life guys everything changes , you just have to adapt period .

 

[DU]

And God has spoken!

I doubt God is a domainer - if he was he needs to clean up his half ass development effort and work on his SEO so them aliens can find us.

 

[alien51]

he needs to clean up his half ass development effort and work on his SEO so them aliens can find us.

And you're telling me that the sign of being an intelligent species, is by engaging in Domaining, selling .PRO and .MOBI, right?

You humans.

 

[Archangel]

Looks like an alien found us, after all. Way to go, God!

 

[mjnels]

i just bought a single word .pro from somebody for high xxx - not for domainer/speculation purposes either. although considering the $100/year renewals they paid in earlier days they probably didnt make much money.

 

[NameMatters]

---------- Post added at 03:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:33 PM ----------

[/COLOR]

Good point.
In practice, credibility means being where your competition is - not in the ghetto.
imho...

Makes total sense.

 

[DnEbook]

.com is a brand that has been applied for in different language scripts, to me this suggests growth

---------- Post added at 11:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 AM ----------

I doubt God is a domainer - if he was he needs to clean up his half ass development effort and work on his SEO so them aliens can find us.

maybe they dont have google ........spooky

 

[alien51]

Maybe we should REVERSE the question:

What should be done to make the new TLDs successful and widely accepted and trusted by society, and make .COM irrelevant ??

 

[trelgor]

Will the internet change?

And will the way we use it? Sure it will and fast at that. In what way? If you know, give me a holler and I'll give you a dollar.

Type ins are waning. Apps are taking shares of browsing. Usage evolves. Browsers have the search function in the adress field. People don't know where they are going online most of the time, they just know what they need. This will most likely damage established ventures more, like all things Internet once did. Elephants turn slowly.

Dotcom will still be a massive stamp of credibility, but as the need to type it in wanes, and the extensions in usage multiply, the extension itself (any extension) will be less and less visible and important.

Google and Godaddy will have a field day. Domainers not so much.

 

[Sam]

Maybe we should REVERSE the question:

What should be done to make the new TLDs successful and widely accepted and trusted by society, and make .COM irrelevant ??

Make the internet obsolete.

.COM is irreplaceable like the street address / phone number. It wont happen in our lifetime.

---------- Post added at 10:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:13 AM ----------

And will the way we use it? Sure it will and fast at that. In what way? If you know, give me a holler and I'll give you a dollar.

Type ins are waning. Apps are taking shares of browsing. Usage evolves. Browsers have the search function in the adress field. People don't know where they are going online most of the time, they just know what they need. This will most likely damage established ventures more, like all things Internet once did. Elephants turn slowly.

Dotcom will still be a massive stamp of credibility, but as the need to type it in wanes, and the extensions in usage multiply, the extension itself (any extension) will be less and less visible and important.

Google and Godaddy will have a field day. Domainers not so much.

Nah, maybe in the US market. But good luck trying to get a user in most of Asia / Africa to use the most "advance technology".

Hell some of the computers are still running IE4 / IE5.

---------- Post added at 10:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 AM ----------

ofcourse you would say that because u r a domainer , you cant compare .com to street addresses and names , we didn't say web addresses will disappear , but rather the extra useless meaningless word we type after a web address ( not anymore ofcourse ) . Apps somewhat killed the .com because you don't need to type but rather to touch , one touch and u r in , google and search engines killed it as well , but that still didn't kill it completely it still needs time , it will not happen overnight , you need a trend and i see trends not a trend , that's a fact of life guys everything changes , you just have to adapt period .

Apps killing domain names :yell::yell::yell: Come on now.

Most people in the world don't even have a smart phone. Sometimes we need to get out of the tech bubble we live in and have a more global perspective.

75% of the 2011 mobile shipments were dumb phones.

http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a#phone-shipments

So yes domains will be relevant for at least a couple of decades IMO.

 

[Archangel]

I've seen a lotta eBay knockoffs & even similar sites with television advertising. Yet eBay is still #1 & nothing looks as though it could ever dethrone eBay.

Now we're talking about dethroning .com, a #1 since the beginning. Hmmm...

 

[mwzd]

75% of the 2011 mobile shipments were dumb phones.

It takes only 10% to enable an eventual shift in consumer thinking, so we're well past that point.

Apps / search / integrated url/search bars are making domains less relevant, but none of them address the basic brand question.

If you have an app and can solve the location problem by listing it in an app store w/ an icon for download... what will it be called?

 

[alien51]

.COM is irreplaceable like the street address / phone number. It wont happen in our lifetime.

The question was not about being irreplaceable, but being "irrelevant".

 

[aditd]

I am a strong believer that ".Com" will always be King, but when I talk to a lot of other domainers, they suggest that ".Com" will die within the next few years.

Just wanted to here some opinions on this.

If the internet will close, then .com will die. Otherwise don't see it happening.

 

[wonderfulsites]

It will only be replaced if they drop the .com and allow you to reg a domain with the keyword alone and no extension

Or maybe voice activation will take over. In the future people will ask google search engine questions by voice so domain name extensions will be irrelevant all together.


Sent via Android

 

[tpruby]

Gee, a 'creative' brandable 1 non-word .COM for $8, or $x,xxx for a two word .COM or $15 for a keyword .PRO, for my own business.... Guess I'll go for the .PRO. Google won't treat it any differently than .COM. I think Fniggles.com is still available. Got eight bucks?

---------- Post added at 01:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:52 PM ----------

Old .COMs never die, they just get outbred.

This is exactly how the owner of a small business thinks.

A lot of domainers are under the illussion that small local business would be willing to pay $xxxx for a 'premium' name, when a hand regged name for $8 will appear quite prominently when locals search for their business on google.

How will a domainer convince a self employed plumber that his business will improve if he chooses a better web name?

They won't. He'll look at them like they have two heads and then register JasonsOrlandoPlumbing.com and call it a day.

This is why so many people fail in domaining...there are only a handful of buyers willing to shell out big bucks for a name and many domainers refuse to accept this.

 

[armagelph]

Interesting discussion. I think that with devices like the Iphone having .com on their keypads .com as the most well known, however things are always changing!

 

[Archangel]

This is a pretty old thread, but it's nice to revisit it. Now, there are a few hundred million new extensions. In the grand scope of things, I'm wondering what opinions here are. The answer to the initial question is still 'no,' but is there anything from the past 2+ years that make you think differently?

 

[Federer]

Confusion also helps people withdraw to their .COM comfort zone.

Every new extension that is marketed online/offline is honey that is drawing more digital bees to the .COM honeycomb.

Generic .COM keywords/brands have never been more in demand than now.

I have generated higher .COM sales in the past 2 months than I have in the past 2 years in alternate extensions.

 

[Archangel]

You've said it well

Confusion also helps people withdraw to their .COM comfort zone.

Every new extension that is marketed online/offline is honey that is drawing more digital bees to the .COM honeycomb.

Generic .COM keywords/brands have never been more in demand than now.

I have generated higher .COM sales in the past 2 months than I have in the past 2 years in alternate extensions.

 

[forge]

Time for bluntness. I don't give a rat's patootey about new TLDs. They have nothing on .com.

But my question is, how soon will the REAL game changer come along and make ALL domain extensions and/or all domain names obsolete? That's the only thing that worries me in the long run.

 

[DomainVP]

.COM will always be king if you want to do business in 1st world English speaking countries, and there will always be extensions to domains.

Allow me to share a theory we have after observing domains and sales over the last decade.

Domain extensions are only as popular as the country they serve.

I will say again...COM will always be king if you want to do business in 1st world English speaking countries.
.COM came out of the United States, the internet grew from here. U.S. citizens have been marketed .COM first before any other extension. It then trickled out towards industry that had dealings with the U.S. We have grown up with it, and we know that the best companies own .COM domains. It's just inherent in our learned experience of the internet. There is no need to change it, and in our minds, were okay with that. If there was a true need to change it, then .BIZ and .US would have exploded... but they didn't.

With that said... the rest of the world is now par to the United States with their internet usage. If you noticed, all shopping portals used to have "United States" at the top of its country selection... now we have to scroll all of the way down an Alphabetical list to find our country. The rest of the world has caught up and now demands equal treatment.

Now here is the most important part... if you live elsewhere in the world their version of .COM will be their country codes. Some of our domain friends have been able to acquire generic .COMs that some very large multinational companies based in other countries which should have had their eyes on the .COM, but did not care because they own the most familiar extension where they do business.

Country codes are now getting the respect that they deserve, and recognition that their TARGET MARKET is familiar with.

Now... with that said... new gTLD's.

It's a pyramid scheme, they know it, everyone else knows it, there is no arguing that. If you want to you can, but you are wasting your breath. The whole arrangement reminds me of a 2000's pyramid scheme where they convinced people that there was an actual 'product' they were selling, and by the way it costs millions just to own the rights to resell that product so join now before it's too late!

There are not enough people in the TARGET AUDIENCE for any .whatever extension to work successfully. Keep in mind, most GREAT new gTLD domains make sense verbally and have an exact match keyword phrase. That is the only time when a new gTLD is good, when it makes verbal sense. KimsStable.horse is garbage, thoroughbred.horse is a good new gTLD.

The second question is, are there enough .whatever gTLDs that make sense and are exact matches; NO!

So gTLDs have two problems, the target audiences aren't there and there are a very few that make sense.

.COM, country codes, .whatevers with an exact match, and single keyword .info (sales increase every day).

- The End -

 

[Traveler]

20 years from now kids will think of .com as a thing that reminds them of their parents and old people. It will be a joke in movies. They will never understand why we thought it was that important.

 

[NameOmnia]

I think I agree with bot Traveler and AppYum.
I see .com gaining value in the short medium period but then the new generations will be born with all this new TLDs ( the ones that will survive at least ) or with whatever new discover new trend new tech new something and the .com will be just one among the rest.

Let's enjoy some good sales and then let's be so flexible to change for whatever direction the wind will be taking

 

[DnEbook]

verisign is going to release .com in many different language strings so i doubt it would ever be redundant but it will share some space with other gtlds over time