Years of .PRO

[cdboard]

wow, has it been three years already? I guess it has, since I just renewed some of my original .PRO domains.

where are the developed sites? end users? my fault, too. I haven't developed any .PRO websites. this year, I probably will. probably.

I wonder how many domains will drop this month.


remember this thread?

 

[dotprofan]

You can find some developed .pro sites in the blogroll of my site http://motion.pro. While they are mostly small homegrown sites, some nicely demonstrate the value of keyword names for SEO and development purposes.

wow, has it been three years already? I guess it has, since I just renewed some of my original .PRO domains.

where are the developed sites? end users? my fault, too. I haven't developed any .PRO websites. this year, I probably will. probably.

I wonder how many domains will drop this month.


remember this thread?

 

[akcampbell]

.Pro won't get developed until Registry.Pro lowers its registration fees in line with other gTLD's and removes restrictions. Affordable Reg Fees => Landrush => Aftermarket Develops => Domainer Acceptance => Value Appreciation => End User Recognition & Acceptance => Development.

Registry.Pro have made a complete hash of .Pro development by underestimating the importance of domainers in the development cycle. Trying to lock them out and fleece them is cart before the horse stupidity on a grand scale. 3 years and .Pro hasn't made it to Landrush. Landrush is millions of domains registered, .Pro has just 6,500.

As .Mobi and .Info have shown, a registry can get everything right in terms of appealing to domainers and getting millions of domains registered resulting in partial acceptance and some recognition but you still get little widespread development as a % of total domains registered.

Having jumped head first into the .Pro deep end and learned an expensive quality versus quantity lesson, what surprises me is the willingness of domainers to fund Registry.Pro's do nothing strategy for 3 years.

Domainers who regged in early 05 have invested $400 per .Pro and should be questioning what Registry.pro has done with that money and why total domains registered haven't changed significantly since Encirca launched their proxy registration service in March 2005.

 

[bocanames]

It's a gamble If there were no risk, there would be no good domains available at reasonable prices. Risk is why investors get rewarded (sometimes)

Hence the chance to get a premium .pro -> http://www.namepros.com/domains-for-sale-fixed-price/443203-20-great-pros-for-sale.html

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[Kate]

.pro is closer to a restricted industry TLD like .aero for example. It was not designed for mass registration purposes.

The extension has been clearly neglected for years by the registry operator. They have done nothing to promote the extension or even streamline the distribution scheme so that more qualified end users can register names under the existing rules.

The whole distribution scheme is such that only qualified end users from US, UK, Canada & Germany are eligible. What have they done in previous years to improve the situation ?

Actually it is Encirca that has done the most to actually promote .pro.
If the registry does not believe in its own extension, should we actually do promotion work for them ?
I agree that the registration fees must be brought in line with other mainstream TLDs and the restrictions should be lifted. It's the only chance for .pro before it sinks into total oblivion.

 

[bocanames]

Kate your posts never fail to cheer one up as tax time approaches - thanks!

Where one person sees suffering from neglect and shortsightedness of the registry, another sees opportunity. If you think there's a fair chance of reform in the future, then speculation may be appropriate.

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[akcampbell]

Registry.pro has brought .Pro to it's knees but there is a slither of hope. .There are a limited number of gTLD's, Internet usage and demand for domains is growing exponentially, and .Pro works with a wide range of keywords.

 

[RJ]

yeah, 3 years now. wow.

I was lured in by the $49 initial registration fee, and now three years later this $99 a year renewal sure doesn't seem worth it. So every name I've already invested $247 into already. All are expired now and need another $99 to keep them for another yet.

Hmm.. I might just cut my loses and get out altogether.

 

[bocanames]

.....Hmm.. I might just cut my loses and get out altogether.

If one of those expiring domains is "name.pro" I'll be glad to buy it from you :sold:

 

[mjs]

If one of those expiring domains is "name.pro" I'll be glad to buy it from you :sold:

You were probably just speaking tongue-in-cheek, but "name.pro" will never issue because of ICANN'S apparent dire need to protect previously released extensions from the danger of a domain in a newer extension posing as as the former, if you will. That's why I'm resigned to own "information.pro", rather than "info.pro". Now that ICANN is approving full length generic keyword extension's like .jobs and .travel, there's no telling how many future domains will never be minted. I know this is off-point, but I just find it annoying when a governing body needlessly restricts commerce, particularly as I'm not aware of a new extension having been brought to its knees by an earlier grandfathered domain. And finally, no, I too am not all that happy with the current state of .Pro, particularly to the extent that much of what is occuring, assuming, of course, that something is in fact occuring, is largely shrouded in secrecy. Transparency, that's what it's about baby.....