“During the initial introduction period, consumers who shop O.CO will receive free shipping on their entire order.”
Now I just typed in O.co into the browser and although the domain redirected to Overstock.com the site now reads:
“Welcome to O.co, also known as Overstock.com”
That’s big
“Over the eleven years we’ve been in business we’ve evolved into a savings engine for shoppers.”
We have become O.CO,” said Overstock.com Chairman and CEO Patrick Byrne.” said in the press release.
“As a lifestyle destination, consumers can find absolutely anything on O.CO whether they are shopping for furniture, bedding, clothing, and jewelry, buying a car or home, and, soon, looking for their next vacation spot.”
“Overstock’s purchase of O.CO prior to the domain’s public launch was an investment in its future and it speaks to the confidence that Overstock’s executives had in the credibility and marketability of the .CO domain,” said Juan Diego Calle, CEO of .CO Internet. “Overstock’s early confidence in the .CO domain helped to inspire a lot of interest and excitement for the launch, and has contributed to the more than 600,000 .CO domain names that have been registered by people in 200 countries.”
Certainly good news for .Co domain holders that a major multinational brand has embraced the .Co extension.
Here is my big problem. When I registered my .co’s, I kept putting in .com by accident. I am so wired that way. It even happened just now. I went to o.com even knowing I was going to o.co and of course nothing was there. So that may be a bit of a problem.
Yep, that means mainstream.
to Rick,
Shouldn’t be a problem for long. After visiting many .co sites and using .co…. I actually make the mistake of typing .co when I mean to type .com The brain begins to dislike typing the m subconsciously. Try using .co for a bit and you will see what I mean.
Rick,
Trust me… I’ve gotten used it.
Rick
There is no doubt a learning curve.
I do this when I write posts a lot, put in com instead of .co or even on stories about other extensions.
I mean you and I have been typing in .com hundreds of times a day, everyday for 14 years.
So its going to take a while to break the habit
“Here is my big problem. When I registered my .co’s, I kept putting in .com by accident. I am so wired that way”
You’ve been domaining so long you probably walk into McDonalds and ask for a bigmac.com
oops
Server not found
Firefox can’t find the server at http://www.bigmac.com
….another corporate blunder
Starbucks seems to have dropped the ball in not registering trenta.co as they just announced their newest size cup, the “trenta”. All of the other major TLDs were already taken but not trenta.co (which seems to have been taken). Looks like trenta.me is available. To me, this is a marketing goof. They could have capitalized on trenta.co or .me as marketing tools and given .co another boost like Overstock just did.
last.fm is used by millions of people and is a famous site with an iphone app and everything and it didnt make .fm domains skyrocket in value
@mike people dont type in cup sizes in their browser to go buy a cup of coffee. if i want a large coffee from starbucks i dont go visit venti.com or grande.com and certainly not venti.co or grande.me
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.co
@Rick
You’re right, I experienced that myself, but I can guarantee you all it takes is just a little getting used to.
It’s interesting to read their faqs about O.co – http://x.co/Lrgs
@nr: Sure they do. Maybe you dont. Maybe I dont. Maybe those reading, here, dont. But in general (far more population that ‘we’ here), the average person does type whatever trend they see + “.com” into their browsers and that didnt just start happening recently. It has very little to do with them looking for actual coffee. They know where the stores are. They’re looking to see what the hype is all about. Maybe there’s a promotion at the site. Whatever.
Now, do they type .co? Maybe not now. But Overstock is making a push for .co with its new o.co and so is Godaddy – it seems, with its X.co name shortener.. Eventually maybe.
Is it a ‘bubble’ name? Probably. Eventually the news and hype dies down and the traffic fades… But maybe Starbucks is smart enough to use their trenta.co name to run advertising promotions for the new size, knowing people will probably buy any size and that suits them fine, etc.
But, yes, people do, and have been typing whatever they hear or see on TV + “.com” because that is what people do.
This News is not the sign we have been looking for …
exceptions are not the rule …
Thjs is a .Co Registry Hype!
Unload this crap while you still can or go Mobi, NOT
awesome news!
I have am so used to typing fast that everytime i try typing in google – i type google.co hit enter and nothing…
This is good news for co in general – marketing works
O.CO is so much more memorable.
It just sounds right.
I love it.
Easiest thing to remember.
In a mobile world that we are becoming, it will be a lot easier to type O.CO than overstock.com
Thank you. Thank you. for making it easier to get to you.
I.CO who wants it now. They should extend the pre-application just another week.
It is got to be worth $Billion dollars
because any company can pay and buy this and
boom they become a multi-national major Internet player.
Worth at least a $Billion just like O.CO now.
What is cool is that they even changed their image.
O.co (also known as overstock.com)
Just thought that was interesting.
Cheers
Just watch…..eventually they’ll switch back to a .com, maybe not Overstock.com though.
I’ve said this before, .com is still a wasteland. What makes anyone think they can change this by using .co ?
If you go to 100 .co domains and only eight give you a good experience then the .com extension is dead in the water. It’ll never gain momentum. Folks are upset at all the spam in .com why or how could .co EVER possibly be as good or better after a combined billions or maybe even in the trillions has now been spent .com.
Not saying .co can’t carve out a place in the world of domain names, but it will never be .com or even close to it — not by 1,000 miles.
Ooops…..I meant .co in the part “then the .com extension is dead in the water”. LOL.
All small, medium, and large (Apple anyone – I.CO) companies should follow O.CO ‘s lead.
They have very smart people.
Branding the right way.
BTW….doesn’t anyone think that o.co is personalityless ? I think it will hurt their brand.
Short is great, but not at the expense of your brand.
@Robert Cline
Whoa there buddy. You are getting a little ahead of your self.
This is not the is all end all for the .CO extension.
It will need a lot more then just O.co to get the recognition to become a main stay in the average everyday persons life.
Godaddy and the Superbowl ad will help a lot.
So will all the coverage it will get AFTER the Superbowl because of the ad. You know how everyone (including the news) covers the games ads and goes over what was the best ad. So even if you dont watch the Superbowl, you will still probably see the ad.
Also, Sedo will help rake in some extra notoriety especially in the domaining world. Auctions do a lot to attract attention.
That is just the way I see it
Cheers
As I have always said, .CO is even better than .COM
Folks, wake up to the obvious reality.
SHORTER IS BETTER
IN A MOBILE WORLD!
.CO is the new King.
@Robert
It has a long way to go before it will be better then .COM
I am not saying that it cant be or wont be. I am just saying that there are many obstacles that it has to overcome before it could ever be considered the new .COM
Dont get me wrong, I want .CO to do well. I would love it if it did become the new .COM because I have a little skin in this game, but I am a realist and I realize that it will be years before that claim could ever be made.
You will have to sway the mind set of a generation to make that claim and I dont think .CO is there quite yet.
Just the way I see it
Cheers
Robert Cline’s enthusiasm aside, I see very few individuals using .co, mostly just speculators.
Hello Mike,
@Rick , BINGO We are all creatures of habit and to tell you the truth the only time I have ever used a non .com channel was when I was checking out Oversee.net!
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Robert Cline@
I have over 1500 .COs,as much as i want to approve with you ,i just can.Com will allways be .Com but never the less i do belive that .co one day will be second best.
Good luck to all of as who bought .COs
Hey…but i like your passiont for the extension.
Wouldn’t surprise me if FB.CO is the most visited site on the web 12-months from now…
– TBC
O.co
O.com
Interesting point….if the .com ever becomes available, O.co will want it…but not “need “it as much…as O.co will have already become ingrained
in a flip of events, O.com would be the typo of O.co
O.co would want to buy O.com more for its typo traffic than branding by then.
Could you imagine how much they would ask for O.COM?
VERY few companies would be able to afford such a name, hence the appeal of .CO.
What did a just read, a 2 letter .com was up for sale at the buy it now price of 2 million. I could only imagine what the asking price would be for a single letter .com.
It would dwarf the amount paid for a single .CO by at least a factor of 10 maybe more.
Just the way I see it
Cheers.
@Rich
Holy crap… 1500 .CO’s?
Wow… That is a huge speculation jump, I hope it pans out for you and you can retire off that.
All the best
Cheers
@Slate,
I agree with you on what the hypothetical price of O.com would be TODAY. Ten years from now, O.co could very well be worth MORE than O.com solely because of the length of the domain.
– TBC
They’ve been referring to themselves as “the big O” for years in their advertising campaigns so it makes sense from that standpoint. I’m sure they would rather have the .COM but they settled for .CO. It will be interesting to see whether they stick with this rebranding given that they will likely lose some traffic to people who will now be searching for O.com. Risky move but bold, so kudos to them.
And when the 3d internet comes next year what will O.co change to 03D.co
or 3DO.co .
.co is a scam
Slate@
I lost 2 mil. in realestate business ,what’s another 50k?
The real question is what is Overstock gonna do if/when O.com decides they want the O.co name?
Surely a panel/panelist is going to hand it on over to O.com – no questions asked, right?
“The Rise of the ccTLD’s!”
The domaining-paradigm is shifting…are you prepared?
– TBC
It seems like any news about .CO ends up being grossly overhyped at this point.
There were far larger companies who were using .MOBI at some point, and virtually all of them have abandoned it. Why? I am guessing because there is no awareness by the general public.
Brad
“Interesting point….if the .com ever becomes available, O.co will want it…but not “need “it as much…as O.co will have already become ingrained”
“O.co would want to buy O.com more for its typo traffic than branding by then.”
@cm
Overstock already have trade marks for o.com in place, by purchasing/branding/using o.co they are strengthening their chances of getting the .com if/when it is released.
….or 6 seperate live trade marks for o.com could just be a wild .coincidence
@Rich
Cheers to that…LOL
I wish I was in the position to be able to brush off $50K let alone $2million.
Still wish you the best.
Cheers
Slate@
I was my last money.You know what they say: No Guts, No Glory
It makes me laugh everytime I see comments like “only one example of a company using .CO isn’t enough”. Where have you been recently?
GoDaddy has been busy promoting the extension since day 1 (x.co, SuperBowl commercial). Twitter acquired T.co more than 6 months ago and made it its default url-shortener. A couple more huge companies? Fender.co, Laney.co, Armani.co.
More importantly, there are so many medium sized companies and even more small sized ones from all around the world using .CO: BMR.co, Intro.co, TopStore.co, JacksCountryStore.co, Klapp.co, Skaaning.co, JamesClarke.co, Bretto.co, Strongwood.co, etc. Just use Google and you will find lots more.
Isn’t there a way for people to use Google to see all the sites that are up with the .CO extension?
I remember reading that somewhere, I just never used it and dont recall what the search was.
Maybe you guys can help me out.
Cheers
@ Joe
yeah, i know what you mean. Some people seem to chime in with these funny statements like only one small company has adopted .co. I guess the counter of overhype is underhype, and many people also have that habit.
If you are advertising the name in a radio ad, how should the “.co” be vocalized? “widgetandstuff dot see oh” or “wifgetsandstuff dot koe”…should a tagline be mentioned like “remember, it’s .CO not dot com”?….I have a possible scenario with this issue on a venture of mine. Great thread BTW
@Slate
Yep. Type in site:.co and there you will find your treasure.
@Slate
You can try this. Go to Google and enter in the search bar:
site:co LLC
@Em,
168-million .co sites in google
533-million .tv sites in google
“Things that make you go hmmm….”
– TBC
In the previous post, I should have said “indexed pages”, not “sites”; but still…big difference, considering all the hype surrounding .co…I’m thinking more and more every day that .tv is a veritable gold-mine.
– TBC
In order to find companies from a certain country, go to that specific version of Google and enter in the search bar:
site:co XYZ
where XYZ may be any legal status for a company in that language. For example GMBH for Germany.
@TBC
Are you making a comparison or just stating a fact?
There are actually some decent sites out there.
I dont know if who buys into the Alexa ranking but some of them have made it well into the top 100k. I think the best one I saw was into the top 20k.
That is pretty good if you put any stock into that kind of thing.
Cheers
@TBC
.tv has been around for 4 years or more, I believe. Can’t really compare it to .co. Although i think .tv is on it’s way as well.
@Slate
I agree, there are some decent sites and so many of them are small/startup companies who don’t own the .com Funny thing is I found such .CO websites in pretty much all countries
A good move from Overstock.
O.co can litterally mean “The O Company”.
Of course, investing that way in a new TLD is always risky, but I think Juan Calle and the .co registry proved to the world they were extremely reliable and determined.
This is indeed great news for the .co extension, and many naysayers are probably very angry.
167,000,000 .co after ~6-7 months vs 532,000,000 .tv after ~5 years is a very positive sign.
It shows that people are developing the sites.
People are very positive about .tv in and of itself, too.
Let me know when they change their name to eBay or Amazon.
Let me know when they change their name to eBay or Amazon.
—
LOL. Agree.
Haven’t ever spent a dime with Overstock.com, myself.
New O.CO commercial Link
http://domainnamewire.com/2011/01/20/overstock-com-releases-new-o-co-tv-commercials/
OMG!
This kicks ass!
Did anyone see the Valentine commercial?
http://youtu.be/J3pjKXE8yao
Just curious.
Thought it was cool
Cheers
Is it a coincidence that the highest profile .co domain so far is a single character domain? I don’t think so.
Very few of the comments focus on the fact that O.co is one of only 25 .co domains where there isn’t (and can’t be) a corresponding .com domain.
These are the single character .co domains (x.com is taken), of which O.co is one.
My take on O.co isn’t that it validates the .co extension. I think it means that .co has 25 domains where it has a competitive edge over .com. This is because .co is willing to offer single letter domains while so far .com isn’t. And Overstock was smart (?) enough to acquire one of these domains. (I’m ignoring number domains in this discussion.)
If you own a .co domain that isn’t a single letter .co domain, then you own a domain that is a poor second cousin to the .com.
.co can’t establish a separate identity because it is so close to .com. In my view, .co is worse than any of the other novelty extensions (.ly, .me, .vc, .cc etc) because it is so easily confused with .com.
This ease of confusion is what is on the mind of the UDRP panelist in the recent pokerstrategy.co decision ordering the transfer of the domain. Many people were attracted to .co domains simply because the .co domain acts as a typo for the corresponding .com domain.
I don’t see .co breaking free and establishing itself as a stand-alone extension. The marketing blitz for .co has been impressive, but .co is at heart a variation on .com. O.co is one of 25 exceptions.
@passing by
You think .CO might be seen as a “poor second cousin to the .com” because the masses aren’t aware of its existence. But the importance of the O.co is just this: everyday it will let hundreds of thousands of people visiting their site and millions watching their TV commercials know that .CO exists. Once the general public gets used to the extension, they will no longer make any confusion.
Passing
Its a poor second cousin.
There is no doubt that a one letter .com would be a huge price and certainly as we sit a one letter .co is a runner up, but what’s wrong with that.
Once again the domain world isn’t a zero sum game where someone gain has to come as another’s loss.
An extension like .Co can have value and buying some domains can be a good investment separate and and apart from the value of .com’s
Moreover I would expect if allowed, a .com one letter domains is going to sell in the mid five seven figures or higher still making a one letter .co well worth $350K
What’s the lesson to draw from Overstock’s branding on O.co?
Some comments are drawing the conclusion that this validates the .co extension.
I think that’s a mistake.
One example does not validate an entire .co extension. Especially when the one example is one of only 25 domains in the .co extension that doesn’t suffer the possibly fatal flaw of having a matching .com domain available.
Show me a big company choosing to brand on a .co domain where the .com domain is available, and I’ll put more weight on .co being a valid extension. That the highest profile use of a .co, O.co, is a rare example where the .com version of the domain does not exist, I see as further evidence that the .co extension can’t stand on its own.
I’m concerned for all those people using O.co to justify investment in other .co domains. O.co is a special case. It doesn’t mean that because Overstock found value in O.co, that other companies will perceive the same value in your more run-of-the-mill .co domains.
It is no accident that most of the buzz around .co, and the focus of their promotional push, is on the single letter domains: e.co, o.co and i.co.
To overstate the point, one could say that .co is an extension with 25 valuable domains.
As MHB says, this isn’t a zero-sum game. There is always room for novelty uses of non-.com extensions.
But bit.ly doesn’t validate the .ly extension, about.me doesn’t validate the .me extension, last.fm doesn’t validate the .fm extension, bu.mp doesn’t validate the .mp extension, and O.co doesn’t validate the .co extension.
@passing by
– – –
Show me a big company choosing to brand on a .co domain where the .com domain is available
– – –
You would basically want .CO to be already, after just 6 months since the public launch, that big to overtake .com?