I saw literally hundreds of articles today on the conditional passage of the .xxx extension by ICANN and everyone seemed to miss a very important point.
.XXX isn’t just for adult content.
Sure the intent of the extension if for porn sites to use .XXX domains, but in fact there is nothing that requires any site using a .XXX extension to displaying porn.
So you certainly could sell cars under cars.xxx or computers under computers.xxx.
Just look at the headlines of Major media mainstream publications:
CNet.com writes, “ICANN OKs .xxx domain name for porn sites”
CNN.com writes: “Porn sites get their own domain, .XXX”
ZNet.com: ICAAN appoves .xxx domain name for porn sites
Just to name a few.
All of these publications simply miss the fact that the extension is going to be even more muddled as non-adult sites are equally eligible for registration of .xxx domains.
Let’s not forget our trademark friends who are I’m sure shuttering over the inevitable registrations like verizonphones.xxx, iphone.xxx, the thousands of variations and typos. Its one thing for having you brand squatted on a .com and quite another for it to appear on the .xxx extension.
At the same time people will be able to register glasses.xxx, they will be contributing $10 to a non-profit company for child protection initiatives that ICM will set up.
This forced contribution is an issue.
A registry is suppose to charge fees for the maintenance and operation of the registry.
I don’t know where ICANN has the authorization to allow registries, to collect forced contributions for non-profit causes as part of a registration and renewal fee, and I have no idea of how the registrant of say applejuice.xxx would need to, nor necessarily want to contribute to a fund to protect child.
I think this part of the proposal is a real issue that will have to be dealt with.
Now that .XXX has the full attension of the media, the media needs to get the story right.
Good point, maybe the media should stop calling ICANN a not-for-profit corporation at the same time 🙂
Fireworks are going to fly and the lawyers are going to be kept very busy…should be interesting to watch the mess unfold.
This is a harbinger of what the media will write when the new gTLDs are launched. Expect limitless variations of “Death of DotCom” articles.
“I don’t think that creates innovation, I think that creates rapid confusion.”
http://www.google.com/search?q=%E2%80%9CI+don%E2%80%99t+think+that+creates+innovation,++I+think+that+creates+rapid+confusion.%E2%80%9D&hl=
Unless the all new TLD’s invest a fortune in advertising to create public awareness they’ll have a very limited audience. And I doubt that will happen.
And like always, as we saw with .mobi, all the domain speculators will jump on the best domains and do nothing but put them on parked pages, which provide a ZERO user experienc. How many .mobi sites do you go to every day? Exactly.
Just like opening a new restaurant, if there is no great food to enjoy the public will come at best once and never return and the TLD’s will be destined to fade into the Internet sunset.
Kevin
Lets not try to compare .xxx to .mobi
.mobi was an extension based on, and meant for only one thing, to make websites look better on mobile devices.
It therefore had a VERY limited purpose to begin with and as with anything technology based things can change overnight which it did when the iPhone was released.
“Unless the all new TLD’s invest a fortune in advertising to create public awareness they’ll have a very limited audience””
I’m counting somewhere around 800 article on Google news search for .xxx so far, I’ve gotten calls and emails from media as major as ABC news looking for comments.
This is Big.
It’s going to be well know, covered extensively by major media, and by the time it launched I would guess well over 75% of all internet users will know of .xxx existence, making its own marketing efforts even less important.
Lets not forget that Stuart’s company is well funded and see’s big dollars.
He is a smart guy and he is not going to skimp on marketing.
Most of the domain community I know is still building out .com and their friends .net and .org.
Adding more extensions doesn’t make sense. In one of my my analogies it’s like saying the library is built and filling up with books. Lets build another one next door and fill it with the same books. And so on and so on.
The Bing commercial with people babbling out search results will increase. More confusion, more useless searches.
I think cctld’s make sense but more tld’s? No way… yet.
And xxx? Brand.xxx ? Sounds like someone is trying to dilute the quality of the content that is finally getting better.
1 cents worth from a developer. Hava a good day.
good point. i’m sure these publications love the legitimate chance to use the word Porn in their headlines. like how print magazines always must have the word ‘Sex’ somewhere on the cover.
@ MHB – Do you know anyone making the kind of money they used to in Adult???
I don’t. It’s really just the handful of major programms that still have CC’s they’re re-billing from years back hanging in there, a few of the truly unique porn starlet and specialty fetish sites, and the few major domainers with the top one word premium adult names. That’s about the extent of it. And even within those 3 realms, revenues are not like before.
I think it was unfair that ICANN didn’t grant Stuart the .xxx extension years back. Instead millions had to be spent fighting for it, and now achieved, the adult marketplace has changed dramatically. Online porn is still huge in terms of traffic obviously, but the monetization ability has eroded dramatically and that’s what’s been a challenge due to the tsunami of free content out there.
Stuart will make money. Like you said he’s got a sizeable amount of capital to do it right and I’m sure he will. But not as much coin will be coming from adult webmasters. I think it’ll be from domain investors who don’t understand what the economic reality is in today’s adult market, and there’ll be lots of registrations for corporate defensive buying also. That should be enough of an audience to get the job done. But again, if no one actually builds great content stuff on the .xxx extension, I don’t see consumers being there on a sustained long term basis to where it will be a goldmine for adult webmasters. And I do agree with you that there’ll be lots of traffic for a while from all the news media PR.
XXX is known for sex and porn. People don’t associate XXX with anything other than adult sites. Cars.xxx, colleges.xxx, and homes.xxx would have little credible.
I don’t see how the extension will work. .XXX will always be attached to adult-oriented websites, just like .org are with nonprofit sector.
Kevin
No I don’t know anyone making the same money in adult as they did years ago, but I do know people are making money.
Webcam, Tube sites , Voyeurweb are the only area’s making money to my knowledge.
There is still some money in parking but its dropped substantially.
I think Stuart is smart enough to hold back some of the Super premium domains to make sure that say xxx.xxx doesn’t wind up as a parked page.
The rest of the best .xxx will go to auction.
Stuart will get richer
Domainers will do what we always do take the risk.
Invest or choose not to.
Buy and sell, buy and hold or pass.
What will work?
Write me back in 5 years and I’ll tell you.
Jason
“I don’t see how the extension will work. .XXX will always be attached to adult-oriented websites, just like .org are with nonprofit sector.””
As you know you don’t have to be a non-profit to own a .org.
Its been blended.
Likewise with .xxx you’ll see cars.xxx and college.xxx grabbed up right away.
The negative effect on trademark groups will never be higher than when they have their trademarks appearing on the .xxx extension
It hasn’t been mentioned, but 3X is a size. Plus size clothes is bigger than you think. Did you ever look in the audience at a golf tournament in the south, like in Augusta? The cameras are player-level. The bellies of male audience members are straining against their shirt buttons. All triple x. There can be triple x sports jerseys, triple x plus size women’s clothes, triple x mens’ leather jackets, etc.
There needs to be a venue for triple x size. With 70% overweight, this country needs it.
This is good blog message, I will keep this in mind. If you add more video and pictures because it helps understanding 🙂
I can imagine that some underground organizations, rebellious youngins, hackers, and jokers will use .XXX as an alternative, but I doubt it will gain any real traction beyond porn.
.xxx is a unique proposition. It is not .mobi or .travel or anything else for that matter.
If it weren’t for porn and the adult industry, the internet simply wouldn’t be what it is today. Let’s face the ugly truth…Adult MADE US and made the internet.
.xxx will succeed – most of the others (new tld’s) will die.
This is big as Michael said…
@ Andrew – Yes it will succeed for the .xxx registry.
But will it succeed for the owners, speculators and operators of .xxx domains? That’s the big question. Like I said I’m sure whoever gets porn.xxx, and all the other ultra premiums will find a way to monetize some dollars or just for traffic redirects. But for the thousands of dreamers who reg thebestporn.xxx and those kind of domains, good luck.
And no adult domain owner in their right mind will take the risk of shifting their .com brand traffic to any other TLD. Plus we haven’t even touched on the effect all the blocking software will have on traffic. Every corporation, many conservative countries and most families with kids will block this TLD.
Mike you are a smart guy but I think its a stretch to think people will register .xxx for other areas.
Sure a domainer will reg Cars.xxx but not Ford, Mercedes or Rolls Royce. Like someone else said the blocking software will be out big time for .xxx.
Then there is the stigma that you were looking at a .xxx maybe at work or at home. You can get around twistys.com someone may not know and its a .com. But if you are found looking at a .xxx someone right away will think “pervert”
The area to focus on in adult imo is cam. That will never be free because its real people and real interaction. The rest well, anyone paying for porn is just clueless unless its a niche fetish or a stars own site that does exclusive content for their fans.
Mike it seems to me reading this article I get the feeling you like .xxx will you be regging a lot of names ?
RH
I wanted to point out what no one else did is that this extension is not just for porn.
Like all opened extensions there is no requirement of the use of the domain for porn.
I do think you will see all non adult categories quickly registered by someone, not by me.
Personally we will be doing a bunch of defensive registrations for our adult .com’s and like any other extension, that we think have staying power, we will try to get some key properties if we can at a reasonable price.
Back on Terra Firma in the US.
Some observations:
1) there is no requirement to post adult entertainment on the .xxx websites, that is the registrants choice, however,
2) in order to be able to register resolving names, the registrant has to be a member of our sponsored community. Please see the draft contract for full definition
3) non members of sponsored community can apply during the start up period to effectively remove their trademarks for ever being registered for a reasonable one time fee. We believe this launch will be the most friendly to the large non adult industry IP holders. Pay a reasonable fee once and forget about it thereafter.
4) pre-reservations have gone crazy since the announcement with over 23,500 received on Friday alone, now standing at circa 135,000
5) when the community see our full range of plans for .xxx including proprietary payments systems and age verification methods with ICM as the ‘trusted clearing house” we genuinely believe that, over time, .xxx will become the PREFERRED TLD of choice for the adult industry.
Many thanks for all of your comments
Personally I think that .xxx will be associated with porn sites.
and ” Yes it will succeed for the .xxx registry. ” only !
Mike, did you see the CNN’s poll on the xxx extension? Over 200k voted and strongly in favor of the approval.
i didnt see the poll, do you have the URL?
Stuart
It’s on the front page of cnn on the right after the fold, just a quick poll
83% in favor
197638
No
17%
40492
Total votes: 238130
Can’t believe they have more people taking their poll
LOL
People seem to be missing the historical significance that .XXX was one of the first TLDs proposed to break the IANA Cartel’s socialist/communist notions.
.BIZ was another early TLD to chip away at the IANA Cartel.
.XXX may help to restore the need for ISPs to have a clue. They may have to
make some decisions.
Consumers may now also become more aware and decide on a TLD-by-TLD
basis what they allow.
The 1984 Orwellian Big Brother IANA Cartel wants to make those decisions.
They are terrified of free markets and anyone other than their cozy I* society
clique from making decisions.
.XXX comes at a time when the IANA Cartel is on the ropes. The IANA Cartel
is tossing hot potatoes from one member to another. Social networking is now
helping to expose their lack of social networking, their smoke-filled back rooms.
.XXX should not underestimate the IANA Cartel’s ability to control the .NET.
It Seeks Overall Control.
Follow the money…it tells the whole (real) story…