Will more TLD's make .coms more or less valuable?

[markfromslo]

There are getting to be so many new TLD's available now, that it got to wondering about the future of .com. Some say that these will make .com less valuable as there are so many other options available now for a domain name. But, I was just thinking that perhaps all this fragmentation and confusion could have the opposite effect--perhaps it could strenghen .com as the first choice first and best choice for a domain name.

In the past days of just .com, .net, and .org, if someone were to perform type-in of a keyword, they could perhaps try them all. But, nowadays, no way they'll do that. They might just try the .com and then stop there.

What are you opinions? Will .com decrease or increase in value?

 

[cwnt]

I don't think it will change much at all, because most people are so used to them. Look at all the TLDs that are already availalbe, they haven't changed the value of .com domains much so far, and there have been some great ideas for TLDs, like .ws (for .website). If anything, I thought that .ws domains would have maybe decreased the value of .com domains, but look how wrong I was :P .

 

[gamehouse]

yes, ws for website and cc for creditcard for people who are in domaining. I dont think general public would understand those extentions as we want them understand.

 

[fonzie_007]

yes, ws for website and cc for creditcard for people who are in domaining. I dont think general public would understand those extentions as we want them understand.

.cc doesn't stand for credit card. It is the extension for the Cocos Islands. Just like .tv isn't a television extension, it is the extension for Tuvalu.

 

[deet]

IMO No, I dont see the other TLD's bringing down the dot com value.

 

[SKG]

IMHO, Deet, I think .Coms will always hold there strength no matter how many tlds come out (true for most of the developed countries). At least it will always be the preferred tld of choice of those countries which have had been actively using the internet like the USA since the .com boom. For countries who are now just beginning to become internet savvy or will become internet savvy in years to come, their country tld may be stronger.

 

[mole]

What are you opinions? Will .com decrease or increase in value?

I don't think anyone has figured out what value really means in domain land.

Some use PPC earnings as a value gauge, some use Overture figures, some look at what the site is making now, some use branding potential, but all these are arbitrary since things can change quite rapidly on the Internet.

.COM has over 40,000,000 names registered, and very diluted with both good names and many very bad names that only a mother could love.

So it is difficult to judge value just by the fact that it is a .COM, but more so the quality of the words on the left of the dot.

I would estimate that 90% of all .COM names will depreciate in value as more TLD solutions come into play because they are not prime words.

Whereas with new TLDs, prime words are plentiful, very affordable, and makes extra sense to certain communities, to certain content types.

Overall, the value of .COM namespace will plummet as developers become increasing aware of, and explore new choices.

Developers don't depend on type-ins for their success, this together with the fact that only an estimated 10-15% of all Internet traffic is type-in driven, and that we are seeing more sell-outs and liquidation of .COM namespace today, suggests irrevocable that .COM value, as a whole, is on the downslide.

 

[tajimd]

.com is not going to change whatever other option come. anyway a simple user always hits 'Ctrl+Enter' in most cases which naturally brings up the .com after the name.

 

[cache]

if there were no other TLD's, then the .coms will keep going up and up. The buyers of the new TLD's could have contributed to the demand (in the demand/supply equation) of the .com had they not registered the new TLD's.

I think the new TLD's should have two effect:
1. will make a ceiling, at some point the .com will satuated, stop going up.
2. the .com will not go up quickly, it will go up slower because of new TLD's.

 

[mole]

True, every namespace will hit a PODR (Point-of-diminishing-return) sometime. .COM value was at its perceptual value peak in 1998-2000, crashed round about 2001-2003, started climbing up agressively again in 2004-2005, peak in 2006, then crash again in 2007 :imho:

I'm talking about the 90% of .COM names with average to bad generic words, typos, made-up words. 10% of the good generic .COM names will still hold on to incredible value in the coming years.

And because of their high prices, developers and SMBs will increasingly see alternative namespace as being more and more desirable as the Internet continues to get more crowded and mainstream.

.BIZ, for example, is a sleeping giant in the B2B arena. Reasonable to acquire, great (no compromise) keywords, and a great differentiating badge in the sea of .COMs. It just needs acceptance by the business community, and acceptance is not too difficult to achieve in the ever changing Internet culture where 'new' is embraced as good. Heritage is both good and bad.

 

[faisj]

I think over time .com's will become more valuable.

 

[peter phillips]

I think it could go either way. It may affect the value of .com, as most of the valuable .com names are already registered, this will definitely prompt people for registration of other TLD's. Incase of other TLD's there will be quite a few good names available as compared to .com.

On the other hand it may also increase the value as there will be only a few .coms available and the ones which are already registered may get sold for a good amount.

 

[fonzie_007]

I don't see the value of .com going down ever. With expanding economies there is increased demand on domain names no matter if they are .coms or tlds. I can't see the value of loan.com or cars.com going down. What I do see is that more people will become aware of other extensions other than just .com, .net., .org., .gov., .edu, and to a lesser extent, .info and .us.

As there is an increasing pinch in the .com market companies will be forced to do one of two things. First, they will either continue paying high dollar for .com names. Or second, they will start marketing non .com extensions. Right now, businesses seem to be leaning towards the first option; however with time, more businesses will continue looking toward option two. I would wager a bet the extensions .net and .us continue to raise in price, even at a higher rate than .coms.