Various sources are quoting John Dunn, editor of Techworld, who thinks domains are no longer important.
Domains do not make ‘a lot of difference now’ because most internet use is driven by searches for brand names.
“There was a time where it was driven by generic terms, but now people use search,” he explained.
“Buying a generic domain name is no longer a useful marketing tool for businesses”
When considering what domain name to buy, the only advice was to make sure it is not too long and does not have too many points between it.
‘If people want to find a car, they will go online and put some brand names in,’ he said.
‘So car.com wouldn’t get you any more hits necessarily.’
Really.
I wonder how many generic domains Mr. Dunn owns?
Unfortunately this story is hitting the wires and with TechWorld behind it, well, it will get some credibility, however all of in this industry know better.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that an easily memorable, generic domain is a marketing goldmine.
I find it ironic that the magazine’s name is Techworld because Mr Dunn’s comment is reminiscent of what my techie friends continuously told me when I started selling advertising for our Geodomains in 1997: “You’re wasting your time because the name doesn’t matter.”
I cried all the way to the bank.
For the record – this guy is not related to me š
Alan
I figured that
Come on David, you know VisitMyPalmSprings.com is a great name!
Tim
I think you mean visit-my-palmsprings.com
“Generic domains not important anymore”
– this would be true if Direct Navigation was the only important property of a domain, however it is not. Even if 100% of internet use were generated by search engines, that would only increase the importance of a short generic domain name, because of
* insta-credibility that a generic domain brings
* google preference for short keyword relevant domains.
* users preference for short keyword relevant domains
* generic domains ARE the future brands
* a short generic domain is more likely to be trusted as relevant and not spammy destination, just for the fact that it costs much more.
* a short generic is more visually appealing, more sexy. Skin deep beauty matters, even on the search engine result pages, and even more on tv ad spots, billboards,… etc were you only have a few seconds to make a good first impression.
sure a generic name is not an absolute necessity to success and not appropriate in all situations but it does give a significant competitive advantage from more than one perspective
Just another reporter who failed to do any research on domain names before publishing this story.
If generic names are not needed as he is saying or very important then what is important? Is he saying brand names are the only thing that is important. When you search for health insurance do you goto to each company to get a rate or do you find a service that offers multiple rates on one site. Great example would be carinsurance.com They offer multiple rates at once. The trend is not calling each company like farmers, geico, allstate. You go to one site to get all your rates. This is just as an example of why generic names are so important, and why that company has saved thousands alone on advertising by having that name.
What a load of gerbal shit.
We are doing more business with domain names than anyone in history.
http://www.DomainNameDollarStore.com
He’s only saying that because he obviously wants to get a rise out of people and maybe try to get all the generic search domains himself. Anyone who doesnt understand the value you of the type in, needs to get with it!
John Dunn is no Fun and does not like the Generic Sun
Well not yet. It will take some time for that but good domains are still the main thing.
There once was a man named John Dunn
Whose collection of generic domains were none
When he found johndunn.com was taken
He realsied no longer will bring home the bacon
And that is the latest from the Generic Sun
http://www.genericsun.com
spelling error
“realized”
More importantly, let’s scramble and get a couple of well written “letters to the editor” or ask the editor if we can write arebuttal article for Techworld.
If the request comes from someone well respected on our side of the fence I believe it will be well recieved. It certainly can’t hurt. Owen Frager wrote a great piece the other day about branding and generic terms and it is on FragerFactor.com.
Let’s get the message out where it needs to be.
Hi,
This article is so backwords….I feel like I entered what ‘Jerry Seinfeld’ refers to…..when he talks about ‘Super Man’ and the “bizarro world”.
The world and specifically MADE for and needs generic domain names. What it does not need… IMHO is “Brand Names…..especially BIG brand names.
WE let them take over…the “real world…and now WE are letting them take over the Internet….Google, MSN,Yahoo.
Screw them…
catering to big brand companies…at the expense of the rest of us in the world.
One of the first things I would do (among many other changes to “Internet search”) to take back the the Internet from this “”bizarro world” is cut out (not forever…but just re-arange) how and when BIG brand name companies are allowed in a NEW search engine…thus giving the ‘true power’ of the Internet back….to ‘the people…and business (smaller brand name business’s) included…but in a much much different way….all the while adding million if not billions of dollars of VALUE to domain names.
You do not add true value to domain names with “domain auctions”…the true value of a domain can be added through its value for/and in…. Internet search…but NOT in its current form…because WE are letting the “bizarro world” form of Internet search take over the Internet….and have been for the past 4-6 years.
Sometimes what makes a great ‘search engine’….is NOT what in have in its results….its what you leave OUT. (yes…you can “quote” me on that line…LOL)
What is Google….Macdonalds? ‘Over 1 trillion search results “served”.
Really need that…. when almost no one gets past the first 2 pages…of any search ever done….what a joke.
Domain owners….own the Internet…but WE have let Google and BIG brand business just take it away…worst yet…I would say we have handed it to them them it on a ‘silver platter.
Why?’
The Internets greatest power and value is the GENERIC DOMAIN NAME! Domain names are the Internet….without them…there would be no Internet.
Where is “Frank Shilling” (and others) when Internet search needs them the most…including a couple of SEO experts…like “Johnon.com (John Andrews)…never met him…but I think he is one of the very few SEO experts…that really ‘gets’….domains.
Sorry….done with rant….for now… LOL
Peace!
Dan
“Danno” on Frank’s blog….if it ever starts back up…I hope.
PS…. I will try and work on my spelling and grammar….and not leaving out or adding words that do not belong or are out of place.
Always been a challenge for me….”bizarro brain function”…I guess…lol
Best,
Dan
Marketing is all about getting brand out easily. Branding is perfectly built into intrinsic generic domains like successful.me, http://www.beerdrinker.me, champion.me, insure.me, monetize.me, etc.
Mark
Dear Sir,
marketing provocativeness is guerilla marketing.
For Branding in www you need Generic Domain Names.
http://www.indish.in ore http://www.indish.asia
A Concern with more than 200 Employees has mostly over 50 Generic Domain Names in Europa.
The german leader in Telekommunikation have over 14.000 German and English Generic Domain Names.
The biggest Software Concern in the World have 22.209 Generic Domain Names.
As part of an investment seminar at the Hedge Fund my brother works at, a certain high tech company introduced an voice activated interactive search engine.
In my humble opinion, there is most assuredly some merit to this story. The statistics they showed and their stated plans used some pretty complex formulas and real world tests that show less need for generic terms.
My brother told me the demonstration was mind boggling. As we all know, voice recognition has come a very long way. History is full of situations where one company or another felt quite secure in the need of their product only to wake up one day and the bloom is off.
Again….in my humble opinion, this could have some running for the Kaopectate.
This is not to flame as there are good and bad in every business. Unfortunately, it is hard to conceive of a business with easier entry that this business.. Walk, breathe, and have a credit card, and your a businessman!!!! As we all know, the domain business has had a tough time getting respect because it is too often associated with sleazeballs. I have many times been laughed at the minute I got the word “domain” out of my mouth.
I do not have a lot of names, but a few good generic ones. I have tried to get appointments with many companies who sell the exact product of the generic term I have, only to be shown the door. I had one CEO I did get to see and he told me that “you guys are like poison….I could be kicked out of the club for talking to you”, and he laughed. What the hell is that?
Does anyone in their right mind really believe that American or international business/commerce was going to be held hostage by some kid with a credit card and a domain name?
Regardless what Mr. Dunn has to say about generic domains, they are still gold mines for companies. It’s pathetic to see someone that would even try to dismiss this fact.
I agree that creating a brand is important, but it takes more money in the long run to do so.
Loving the daily newsletter guys! Congratulations on a great source for domainers.
Dan
Brent
I got to tell you I’m no kid, nor are many of the domainers I know.
As far as approaching end users, its not something I have ever done.
If they want a domain you have and understand the importance of it, they will contact you.
Every once in a while someone like this comes along and says domains are no longer important, search will replace them, etc. And they’ve always been wrong. If you get to experience the power of a good, generic domain name you wouldn’t say something like that.
This writer is probably a Google shareholder and hopes to see search become the only viable portal to the internet. It is important that the URL address bar and Google/Yahoo search bar remain separate entities. Google Chrome is a bit more insidious than meets the eye, and widescale adoption of it could hurt direct navigation (type-in).
As stated, high quality generics are not just a logical URL destination, but a brand. Hotels.com, Apartments.com, Homes.com, Cars.com, Realtor.com could have all branded and launched under something like “NeatoHotelDeals”. But the intuitive power of the pure generic won out. No explanation needed.
John Dunn, editor of Techworld,—he does not know what he is talking about!!!
Get him fired and see what he will do.
BTW, TechWorld is the worst name–another BullshitWebsites……………..
Domain name is KING@
He can send all his readers’ useless, generic “scrap” domains, and provide him “fair” compensation in return.
It would be nice if someone could enlist an expert in the Psychological Study of Human behavior to see if people trust the name http://www.isuckatpickingdomainsand dontknowwhatiamtalkingaboutsocomereadarticlesonmywebsite.com or http://www.techworld.com.
I think John Dunn has a point. Look at a few sites that have had good launches: Flickr.com, Imeem.com, Orkut.com We’ve seen the growth of web 2.0 domains where generic domains aren’t needed.
I’m not sure what these sites would be with generic keywords. It’s hard to say. I think the argument can be made that a domain/site doesn’t need a killer domain to succeed. But, I think we can all agree having a great domain gives you a competitive advantage. The lynch pin is how much money can a startup justify in domain spending when the budget can barely cover servers, bandwidth, and staff costs.
Lost count of how many SEO “experts” (strange how many use blogs to post questions) have told me keywords do not count it’s all about SEO like it is some mystical voodoo art, linkback counts. The fact that the generic is one of the main keywords you will be targeting in the search engines, combined with the fact that it is used exclusively in anchor text to your site and it matches the domain location exactly adds up to a very powerful piece of SEO. Voice activated search engines will use the same protocols, the system works, be great to see it rebuilt but that will not happen, or will we have a sex.voice registration ?
Nobody knows s++hit about the internet. If the so called SEO experts are so damn knowledgeable, why aren’t they rich and why would they want to share their secrets?
again, straight generic domain name is KING!!
bullshitSeo.com
Hi,
Just look what “Johnson & Johnson” does with their portfolio of “Generic Domain” names.
One of the very few companies….that REALLY GET’S It.
And they do the best by far…. in marketing them.
They have “brains”…. and have not just let some “Madison Avenue” AD agency….spend and waste their money…”old school” .
Who every is in charge of their “generic domain marketing should be invited to every domain Auction or Conference…I would not only “invite” them to speak at DOMAIN events….BUT PAY them if you have to…
Find out what their “Generic Domain Name ASSET Portfolio”…. has done for their company’s…Marketing & Branding etc…over the past 2-3 years.
I think we would ALL be “astonished”
And IMHO….I think it would do the domain Industry a great deal of GOOD….by advertising the fact they will be speaking and giving a presentation…..
And Advertise this to EVERY Major Corporation “internal” Marketing Dept…. in the country….and don’t charge them to attend…have them be….”invited Guest”
Peace,
Dan
Mickie The generics are about traffic, driving to whatever brand name you choose, classic example is Johnston & Johnston with Baby.com Bay.co.uk
The generics keep costs for a new brand to a minimum. The existing corporate brands have huge budgets for SEO keyword bids. imagine having a number of generics registrations all related to one industry and developed as stand alone sites ( not url redirects ) each will working independently when the content is unique to each keyword but each with the same comparison platform.
Dan,
YES!!!!
Excellent idea!! If only someone would do it….
Bulls,
I happen to know some SEO’s that are very rich…if they realized they could make money by bringing domainers and businesses together they could be richer. They would have more domains to tweak their SEO skills on….
Empedocles ….totally agree with you.
Amazon is going to sell wine online this Oct and as the 2nd largest wine domain owner int he world, I’ll plan to execute your strategy.
thanks
I was going to write a poem but GenericSun beat me to it.
Maybe Techworld needs a lot of “spin” to get some new traffic from the domain industry sector. Is “sucker.com” generic? That’s what anyone believing John Dunn should feel like.
Some very mature, and respectful messages. No doubt will help the image of a mature industry.
Wonder why people laugh? Incredible.
Some inappropriate comments were removed
Let’s keep it civil people
MHB, what has happened to freedom of speech?
http://www.winna.com
Freedom of speech has its limits.
These are the first comments I removed in 10 months.
Very good “comments” thread….always someone that tries and ruin them…nice editing job. I hope it keeps going in the right direction.
Peace,
Dan
BullS Be careful as Google will pick up on Amazon shops use another route
Thank you for this board. It is one of the better ones if not the best. If all were of the caliber of this one, we would all be better off.
Dan and Mark
Thanks for your kind words
I’m not sure what planet John Dunn is on at the moment, but he is so so wrong it’s not even funny!
His clients had better take out “wrong advise insurance” if there is such a product on the market.
If anyone is in doubt why your generic domains are worth ten fold more than what they were worth only 2 weeks ago, just download the new Google Chrome as your new browser and then attempt to enter and set of keywords and see what happens!
I entered ‘palm springs’ and instantly it pointed me to palmsprings.com, just to be sure of my excitement, I also entered ‘cannes films’ and guess what? it pointed me directly to cannesfilms.tv a new very basic keyword website I just launched only weeks ago!
Therefore I can safely conclude, google has just added tremendous value to your generic domain portfolio, by simply predicting what users are searching for from within their browser!!…wicked!
There is one catch though, google still does not favour a parked page, so my advise is to at least try to develop your important generic domains, in a basic way for google to start showing them through its chrome browser. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!
All you so called domainers just missed the biggest domain name commercial ever to hit the Internet.
These domains were available to buy for two weeks before they were all snapped up.
Now all the owners will enjoy a lifetime of heavy traffic forever thanks to my superior selling skills.
Enjoy crying plenty of tears John Dunn and so called domainers.
Who said you needed to have a generic domain to attract massive amounts of traffic.
And a special thanks goes to domaining.com for showing the link to our commercial.
Have a really great day,
Bo Wellen
http://www.DomainNameDollarStore.com
Ha ha ha Bo Wellen.
You don’t even own your dot com loser. WorldInternetDomains.com does.
BoWellen.com LMAO
This thread is making me laugh every time I read it.
All the best
EatYourFace.com
We sold the following generic names this week alone:
Cambuddy dot com $2000
JumboTube dot com $3500
M o b i l e W a r r i o r dot com $3550
So take that naysayers š
Iām not sure what planet John Dunn is on at the moment, but he is so so wrong itās not even funny!
His clients had better take out āwrong advise insuranceā if there is such a product on the market.
If anyone is in doubt why your generic domains are worth ten fold more than what they were worth only 2 weeks ago, just download the new Google Chrome as your new browser and then attempt to enter and set of keywords and see what happens!
I entered āpalm springsā and instantly it pointed me to palmsprings.com, just to be sure of my excitement, I also entered ācannes filmsā and guess what? it pointed me directly to cannesfilms.tv a new very basic keyword website I just launched only weeks ago!
Therefore I can safely conclude, google has just added tremendous value to your generic domain portfolio, by simply predicting what users are searching for from within their browser!!ā¦wicked!
There is one catch though, google still does not favour a parked page, so my advise is to at least try to develop your important generic domains, in a basic way for google to start showing them through its chrome browser. ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!