Alex Kehr wrote an article on his personal blog, titled “Why .COM will probably get Netflixed by New TLDs”
The article is about the relationship of .com and new gtlds being analogous to Blockbuster and NetFlix. I think he is misguided in his interpretation. The other thing missing from the article is that Alex works for Name.com who is owned by Rightside. It helps the reader know where you are coming from and where your particular bias may lie.
From the article:
The .COM domain is starting to fail the consumer
Ludwig Von Mises, the Austrian School economist, once explained that when an entrepreneur fails to use their capital to the “best possible satisfaction of consumers” they will be “relegated to a place in which his ineptitude no longer hurts people’s well-being.”What Von Mises is saying is that businesses become successful because they fill a need that is unmet. A business becomes unsuccessful when they have failed the consumer. The .COM domain is starting to fail the consumer because of lack of availability and the high prices being demanded by domain investors who are buying up both good and not-so-good .COM domain names.
.Com is not failing the consumer, when I go to Google.com I get what I am expecting, same goes for Amazon.com and 117 million other names. This is the problem I have with new gtld marketing. Come up with ideas to why a business should use a domain to express a certain message or use as a satellite website to accentuate one part of the corporate message. If new gtld proponents continue to tear down .com to make themselves look better it is not going to work imo. Because guess what everything new becomes old, so in a couple years .Ninja is not a new gtld it is just a tld. By then maybe .Samurai will say .Ninja has failed the consumer.
The article is ended by the following thoughts:
What might happens when New TLDs really start to take off?
Blockbuster was forced to copy the Netflix model with mail-order service, but it never worked out– Blockbuster was too late. When New TLDs really start to take off, VeriSign might be forced to purchase competitors to .COM. They would probably need to purchase competitors because New TLDs are creatively destructing the .COM domain. The .COM business is sort of facing an unknown at the moment because it’s being out-innovated.The future for New TLDs is definitely one that should be looked at extremely optimistically. There’s really no reason why New TLDs should flop because they are filling the unmet need of good domain name availability and affordability.
Unmet need ? Who had the unmet need ? Innovation ? Just stop, there is nothing innovative, all domain owners and registry owners should worry about real innovation that would make a domain name unnecessary. It is just another naming option it is not innovation. The day when using .ninja over .net becomes the definition of innovation, well then remove that word from the dictionary.
Read the full article on AlexKehr.com
But here is one of the top 3 greatest new gtld lies ever told, availability and affordability.
Rightside won’t even quote me a price on certain names. Other registries want big dollars for prime keywords. Because see the unmet need was not for three word domain names, they are available in .com. People wanted valuable names that were regged decades ago for $10, that was the real desire.
I know a little something about Football, I think it rocks, but I cannot get Football.rocks at an affordable price, I need to fill out a form.
Submit an offer – football.rocks
This premium name may be available for purchase. Please submit an offer below and you will be contacted by a sales representative shortly.
That doesn’t sound like it is going to be affordable. A lot of people may be interested in a topic like oh I don’t know, SEX. some may even think of themselves as a Sex Ninja, well that is not going to be affordable, another platinum name when I search Name.com, along with Sex.moda, Sex.Rocks, Sex.consulting, Sex.pub.
I support anyone trying to make the most out of their vision, I just don’t think you have to keep trying to put down another entity, especially when some of the putdowns don’t look to be reality in the present time.
Full disclosure: No one at TheDomains is anti – new gtld. I own 8 new gtld names and Mike owns several names. Let’s see the message be more proactive and based on real data and not tearing down others.
Thats a Bingo !!!111
Not only does Alex Kehr work for Name.com, his LinkedIn profile says that he “Manages social media marketing initiatives for Name.com (sales, loyalty, and new customer acquisition).”. So, that blog post is presumably just a “marketing initiative”, one where (as you right note), he should have disclosed his relationship to new gTLDs.
All I see from the new tld’s ,bar a few good ones, is a whole lot of UDRP’s and Litigation. For example, what happens when everyone wants “A Name” in every different tld .Which of those many owners will be considered the LEGITIMATE owner and not a UDRP respondent ?
Also, a whole lot of spam from the free/cheap throwaway domain names.
uhhh.. it’s year 1 George. What did .com look like in 1993 when you first fired up your windsock and mosaic browser, or year 2 when the spam started?
Excellent analysis Mike.
Hello Ray, thanks for your Honest posturing of this shameful PROMO
Rick Schwartz was right when he said the New gTLD Fiasco was going to call for popcorn and a FICTION RATING , We are astounded at the lies that are flying. The Red Flags are flying and a storm front is coming for the New gTLD gang and they know it. No amount of Damage control can bail their boat from sinking. JAS 4/12/15
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Best thing I have read all year. Kudos Mike !
Glad you liked it Franklin, I actually wrote it.
In the past year, Verisign shares are up 38%, whereas shares of Rightside (owners of Name.com, eNom, and various new gTLDs) are DOWN 23%. Minds+Machines, another firm attempting to promote new gTLDs is down 52% over the past year.
If .com was getting disrupted by new gTLDs, why are shares of new gTLD companies sinking, whereas VeriSign is hitting new 52-week highs?
Hello George,
BINGO ! Very astute,
Seems we are all witnessing the Ad men trying to support the New gTLDS.
The original Domainers were way ahead of the ad men and still are. The same Ad men who missed the boat thirty years ago are the ones advocating this new gTLD Fiasco. Rick Schwartz is right again and again and people did not heed his warnings about this Fiasco. We suggest everybody check Ricks Historical Hierarchys, if you do you will see the light even more clearly than you are seeing it now. JAS 4/12/15
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
It is a tricky question to answer, George,
If I had to make a guess, it would be down to diversification.
The .COM TLD is actually a heavily diversified TLD that is active in all major country level markets and has a high percentage of the domain name markets in those countries. It is also a mature TLD. The new gTLDs have yet to completely go through their first renewal period. The also don’t have the same level of diversification that .COM has in the market. They are often limited by the TLD string. The new gTLDs are at a very early stage of their development and their market value has not become apparent. It will take a few years before some of them build momentum but they are closer to being ccTLD in terms of performance (slow start with long acceptance period) than the gTLDs launched in the last ten years. The market has also changed from being a relatively simple one where .COM dominated the global market and the ccTLDs their local markets to one where increasing development of local country level markets is outstripping growth, in those countries, of .COM. One year renewal rates on .COM have also fallen in the last ten years. The .COM is not getting hit by the new gTLDs. The main threat to .COM is the development of the ccTLDs. The .NET TLD is having a far rougher time but it is not due to the new gTLDs. In the next few years, it would not be impossible for .ORG TLD to replace .NET as the second choice gTLD. As a TLD, .COM still has the momentum to maintain some level of growth (even with discounting). There is no escaping the fact that while there will be some winners in the new gTLDs, there will also be a few zombie TLDs.
Hello John,
Our extensive Marketing Strategy/Analysis suggests you are mistaken. This is not the second coming of the .COM Platform Extensions Ascendancy that the new gTLD gang is using in their sales pitches. You and everyone else with these false hopes we are afraid are going to be hurt. just a friendly warning. JAS 4/12/15
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Jeff,
I don’t have an extensive marketing strategy/analyis. I ‘ve just got the facts.
The facts say that the market is far more complex at a global level than a simple .COM model would suggest. The world is not .COM. It has multiple markets were .COM is heading towards being a legacy TLD and unless you know exactly what you are looking at, you’d miss that subtle change. Some new gTLDs are doing remarkably well for early stage TLDs. Others are not. The problem with the approach being used by marketing people is that they typically only have experience of a .COM dominant market and since all they have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. They, perhaps like yourself, don’t have the experience in other TLDs to evaluate each TLD on its merits rather than expecting everything to have to perform to .COM levels to be successful.
quickly @ George.. I think the market had oversold them in advance of new g’s, and then when registration volumes of new g’s disappointed, the street bought back in. That’s a snapshot in time and it’s still early. There has been no discounting yet.
I agree totally. .com will still be the biggest GTLD in 10 years time, unless somebody does something audacious between here and there and talking down .com is not audacious.
It is when it makes you look foolish when you’re using hyperbole that’s completely unfounded. Hey Frank why doesn’t right side sell the domain Name.com. I mean after all it’s failing the consumer. Name.rocks works right ? Now that’s audacious.
I don’t like Name.com as a brand for selling names.. Never have. It’s part of rightside’s problem as a company. They have a ticker called ‘name’, under a flag called Rightside, and everyone knows the legacy brand enom. It’s confusing as all get-out, and has held this company back. Even under 1 brand.. “Name” is too generic. you become a victim of the bigger meaning of the word. It’s why no company named ’email’, ‘food’, or ‘travel’ has ever risen to the top. The name perversely holds you back. It works under less epic words where there is no escape velocity meaning that everyone understands. ‘escrow’ and ‘booking’ come to mind.. The really big names make good redirection pointers and marketing lead-ins but I have come to appreciate that unique brands and 2 or 3 word compound phrases do better as anchor brands because the company has an opportunity to get to escape-velocity and eclipse the meaning of ‘the word’ to most of their customers. Not sure if you’ll feel me on this one.
I like that Frank, escape velocity is a term I used years ago, for a presentation for a VC company.
I think when Bill Mushkin got Name.com it was a different namespace, most did not foresee this and of course Bill sold out and took the money and ran, he took no stock.
>”Even under 1 brand.. “Name” is too generic. you become a victim of the bigger meaning of the word. It’s why no company named ‘email’, ‘food’, or ‘travel’ has ever risen to the top. The name perversely holds you back.”
Lol, yes, sounds a bit counterintuitive there, and a bit like what I just wrote about .link as a TLD in the April 10 “New gTLD’s” thread. 🙂 I personally like “Name” for domains, though. But just as I also wrote in the other thread and over on DI, even in the world of domains themselves, once again it is the “cool factor” that wins and has won the day and the place at the top of the hill and far ahead of its peers in success. “Name” is indeed truly “epic” despite the “escape velocity” factor, but It doesn’t get any “cooler” than a smokin’ hot name like “Go Daddy.”
The gold is flowing from west to east and so are the best .com domains. Asians love expensive quality they don’t trade it in for cheap knock-offs. .Coms are the international equivalent to domain gold, and gold has been the most coveted currency for over 4,000 years running.
Fortune 500 is almost exclusively, if not 100% exclusively, .com. What on earth would make them change when it would cost tens of millions in IT costs, months of IT resources, and millions in marketing awareness. .Brand TLDs are much more likely to be redirects to current .com pages rather than infrastructure changes to the root URL e.g. MLB.TV
New GTLDs will have some sort of future but they will never be oceanfront property like .com.
New GTLDs have too concentrated of ownership ie the company/registry that runs them. .Com ownership is so spread out, especially internationally, with the cream of the crop domains in the strongest hands in the world, that it will be impossible to usurp during our lifetime.
Never say never. Give Google .Web and at a $5 price point they could change the World (yet again). Things change R P. In 10-15 years most fortune 500’s will have a .BRAND. .COM has always been investable because it looked un-assailable to me. I no longer see it having the same gravity and unassailability in 15 years, so now I think of the ‘value’ of my portfolio as more of a 20 year lease than a forever-asset. I’m trying to cash out for as much money as quickly as possible between here and there, without burning the furniture.
Hello Frank.Schilling
Google is pedaling away from this whole New gTLD Fiasco as we speak, trust us we know what they are doing behind the OZ Curtain. JAS 4/12/15
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Then why are you bidding on domain names every day on NameJet ?
I bid on everything bro.. new G’s at auction.. and .com net org expiry.. I even buy new G’s slds in competing extensions.. We spend money everywhere we can make money, but that doesn’t change my altruistic outlook.. I call everything I see, as I see it. And I see a world that’s less .com centric in 10 years than it is today. Remember I own 380k of the best .coms and a sales machine with brokers? I have to buy inventory to fuel that. We do ‘everything’, with ‘everybody’. A few years ago google started doing “get america online”.. billboards in cities, consumer outreach.. A huge project. 1/2 of all businesses in America don’t have a website. The more people that have a website, the more they can sell adsense to, get it? Suddenly they have a registrar, a registry, teams of people attending ICANN meetings, a 25 million dollar win on .app. They are doing the same thing they did on search. They don’t always own the websites or the namespaces, they control the platform that makes the money. Jeff with deference to you but I don’t think you know what you don’t know. I don’t know a single name you own or what your business does. Just saying.
Snap !!! FS just burned the Metal Tiger !!!!!!!
@Frank The Google get your business online thing was due, in my opinion, to the failing levels of intra-site linking. Google’s search engine works on detecting new sites by following links but the FUD from its FUD Buddies in the SEO business have people too scared to link to other sites. It also marketed the GYBO scheme in a few ccTLD dominant countries where it has been shut out zonefile access. Without access to the zonefiles, as is the case with gTLDs, it is a lot harder to find new ccTLD websites and Google is vulnerable in those markets. Google has around 1.4 million gTLD (mainly legacy) websites on its IP ranges and much its registrar business seems to be geared towards this aspect and gaining some market share from the other players. People keep focusing on Google’s new gTLD activities and miss the fact that it wants to become a player in the legacy TLDs because that’s where the volume and activity are.
This makes no sense why the aggressive buying on namejet of .com if you have 350,000 .com .net to liquidate in 15 years, contradicting statement to actions?
I think you will be very surprised how big money is resistant to change, especially when it comes to their real estate. How many Fortune 500 companies have changed their corporate HQ? Most successful companies in the world have same HQ going back 50-100-150 years+. Big corporations most often prevent change that is detrimental to their bottom line. Google has little incentive to make .web more important than .com and I would bet anything that their BOD would definitely agree.
Obviously you’ve been very successful and your opinion means more than just about anybody. However, I don’t recall that you were a .com or domain visionary in the 1990s. I believe you got in the 2000’s as a very astute operator that discovered an arbitrage system that worked (buying mainly expired .coms and putting up parking pages). I put a lot more faith in your ability to make your GTLDs very profitable through superior operations/strategy than I do in your vision that .com will be usurped by any new GTLD in our lifetime.
Regardless, you are hedged so you can’t really lose:)
I don’t know that google ‘will’.. 5 or 6 BIG companies want .web because its a disruptive blank canvas. Today it’s a dot-com world.. but from a domainer’s perspective, namejet prices show you, you have to be right, (almost exactly right) to make any money. It’s not like the old days and the risk to get one good name is much higher than the old days. I still play, but it’s such a small risk for me. At the same time you can get names in new ext’s (just sitting there, unregistered) for $5.. I put .click out with no premiums. We are seeing people flip big names in that ext for 4 and 5 figs already.. Crazy. Keep doing your com stuff, but hedge with a bucket of the new stuff, because it’s a big world out there and the people/brands of the future will not get as hung-up on .com as your dad did
All I see is a lot of malinvestment from too much $$$ printing from the Central Banks of the world.
The .click story you tell is scary if you really think about it. Its called a bubble.
I had someone quote me $XX,XXX on a hyphenated 2 word that was $25 in 2003, I looked it up on the internet archives.
Thats a 65% Compounding return that some of these people think is normal.
I am waiting for the next bog recession [depression] which I expect to hit in the fall.
Lets see what happens than.
Stay liquid my friends.
My dad is 75 years old and doesn’t use the internet. I am a customer of yours and believe it’s highly inappropriate to bring my family into this conversation. Will be moving my domains elsewhere in the coming weeks.
Registered my first .coms in college from a .edu email address in February 1999. Took the money I made off of Internet stocks and bought 100’s of .coms, and a couple of .nets. Back then you didn’t even have to pay for them upfront, had 90 days to pay. I was no techie, actually an accounting major.
I’m not a domainer and rarely sell domains. Still own the majority of .coms I registered 16+ years ago. Really don’t care about buying something for $5 and flipping for $100. Would rather pay $100K for a .com and sell for $1M in 5 years.
Ive worked with multi-billion dollar companies on their IP as well as IT infrastructure, yet was in marketing. Also advised on which new GTLDs to register for sunrise (not .click or .link). They don’t believe in the new GTLDs but knew 2-3 years ago it was a necessary evil to safeguard their marks against fraudsters that use domains to trick unsuspecting consumers.
I had skin in the .com game well before you even though I didn’t even have a commercial email address. No disrespect Frank, but my vision of .com as a marketing success was there before yours.
You are brilliant and I’m confident you will succeed in your new GTLDs making money, but I think you will very disappointed with your ROI. I think its safe to say that all involved in the new Gs to date are extremely disappointed so far.
Unfortunately I doubt .web will be the saving grace. And I advise staying away from bringing up people’s family members. Unprofessional and end up costing you money and respect.
@Frank…five figure sales of .click domains? too bad none have ever been reported apparently.
“I’m trying to cash out for as much money as quickly as possible between here and there, without burning the furniture.”
Yet, you are spending thousands and thousands of dollars a day on NameJet buying .COM. How does that make sense?
There is an obvious disconnect between what you are saying and what you are doing.
Brad
Frank would certainly love to see these four and five figure dot click sales, is there anyone who can substantiate these ?
“Fortune 500 is almost exclusively, if not 100% exclusively, .com.” According to the article dated March 14, 2015 by Paul Sawers on on Venturebeat.com, 100% use .com.
I think this article is missing the point. It’s not about what people have built, it’s about what they’ll build in the future. The new TLDs offer something .COM can’t – personalization and quality names. The argument isn’t whether it’s Netflix vs. Blockbuster because .COM will stick around. It’s whether the next innovative company will seek a new TLD that speaks to their audience.
On the gold standard argument, .COM is far from a gold standard in terms of quality in Internet identities. The value of .COM domains has steadily fallen as the inventory of useful names has dwindled, and new gTLDs will compete on their own merits even if they don’t reach similar total registration marks. However, with over 5 million registrations in just 14 months, the demand that many suspected for new gTLDs is certainly there.
Well let’s see you’re wrong about the value of .com going down.
Netflix was a different experience from Blockbuster. There’s nothing different you seem to care about personalization that’s fine not everyone does,most people don’t care about domain names the way domain investors do most people really could care less.
Innovative companies are happening every day and the majority of them are on.com.
Hello Jerry says
R. E. = ” However, with over 5 million registrations in just 14 months, the demand that many suspected for new gTLDs is certainly there ”
These #s are really suspect ? Once the new Quasi- Derivative gTLD game is revealed, you may want to say (Liars Figure and Figures Lie) JAS 4/21/15
Gratefully, Jeff schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
There is no better way to tell the world… johnny come late to the party… not really up to snuff… don’t know who we are or what we’re doing… than to open a business on a non dotcom name. jmo… https://www.youtube.com/v/bU6m5UqLx9M
What some don’t realize is that the more there are new TLDs, the stronger .COM becomes, and ironically, the weaker each new TLD gets.
Exactly
its called a clusterfuck
George
Don’t forget CentralNic shares are down 50% from the IPO price last time I looked and that stock doubled from its IPO early on.
Shares of Rightside still have no volume
Rightside traded just 18K shares o n Friday & is averaging 56K a day over 3 months, so no even knows about this company or if they do not interested in buying.
Biggest load of shit and agendas your saying Frank. Panic market and keep on buying
You need to start listening to Rick.
Kool aid time.
Rick is a dear friend, whom I’ve known for years. During our journey we frequently matched wits with contrarian viewpoints on his chat board and later on his closed forum. We both learned a lot along the way.. Rick is a couple of years older than I am and he picked a fine time to retire. I’m sticking around and writing the future. The only agenda I have is telling people what I really feel when I feel it. If you don’t like it, don’t listen – But I’ve been known to be correct a few times and you might make some money if you listen at the right times and make the right decisions because of it. (past performance is not indicative of future potential).
A shot at the King. hehe. TREASON !!!
——————————–
“Rick is a couple of years older than I am and he picked a fine time to retire.”
Why not just admit it. Rick is right. Your wrong.
Would rather listen to George K or Brad any day of the week over you.
Your mission get as many domainers out of the market. Full of shit Frank.
I’m done. Your not taking me out of the fucking domain market. Worked to fucking hard.
Jeff.. dude.. Stay in the domain market. In fact stop listening to me. My comments aren’t for you. I have never seen you beat me to a single freaking auction, nor to a name I wanted so honestly, your participation or non-participation is just irrelevant to me. This is not a grand scheme to talk everyone out of competing against me.. I’m trying to tell anyone who cares to listen what I really think. And what I think is that .com is great, there’s lots of money to be made in .dot com but if you’re smart patient and a good miner, there is MORE money to be made (much more) in new G’s. Rick is a nice guy and he’s good with his names but he’s been wrong a lot too. I still remember him bounding into his forum with the greatest of enthusiasm telling all in the room that he discovered the next greatest opportunity to .com but he couldn’t tell anyone yet, when another commentator in the forum pasted a puny code he let out a hearty lol indicating that the opportunity was IDN names. We all know where that went.
Don’t forget .MOBI and .EU, Frank.
Everyone saw the mess that Eurid made of .EU at launch and a lot of peope thought that .MOBI was the next big thing. At the moment .MOBI is under 800K domains and .EU is around 3.75M. Every domainer registration in a new TLD is a gamble and most don’t pay off. But everyone always hears of the great successes and ignores the failures. However for most new TLDs, it can take years before the dust settles and proper market values are established.
John, when are you going to start publishing the 2015 stats? I miss reading them the beginning of each month.
Later this month, KC,
Have been busy updating a lot of stuff.
In hindsight .mobi was an easy trap to fall in. And it showed the natural demand or uptake of names at that time, which was pretty strong.. Interestingly, it STILL has 800k names. And .EU is surprising too with 3.75mm names. Recall that these registries spent very little on marketing. And they are not strong strings! Imagine you could have cars.eu cars.mobi or cars.link cars.web cars.shop .. Which is stronger? All those names will get takers and have value later. In the past, most registries fell into the trap of saying they would take a bunch of marketing (spend big dollars marketing) then retrenched to milking whatever they could get from minimal marketing. I recall my dear friend Stuart Lawley telling me he would hang banners for .XXX from the houses of parliament in the UK. Never happened. I think in this new round there are so many strings and they are so much better than the ones in the past and there’s so much marketing that it’s unusually disruptive. Nobody is settling quietly into the background (because nobody can afford to with all the competition), and many extensions will get re-sold an re-marketed by others in future.. All that marketing will drive “some” uptake against .com.. not a lot but ‘some’ for sure. and it will make the names in the new strings more valuable and drive value to them. .COM will still be strongest, but .everything else will go from ZERO to a value near .com faster than .COM will go up.
So you think behavior will work such that people will uniquely remember to go to a particular G when they see marketing? I just highly doubt that. Seems these G’s are really holes in boats as opposed to boats themselves [to use Ricks parlance]. Imagine spending 100k on a G (as the vales approach .com levels you say),…and some [or most or all] the traffic ,..bleeds to the .com Thats gunna suck BIG TIME. And the only way the new G’s can approach .com in that pricing,..is if that bleeding effect doesnt happen. Seems like a tall order and I am unsure why you believe it wont happen.
The .MOBI and .EU launched in a market where there was an artificial scarcity of .COM drops due to domain tasting. But it is always the external events that throw a spanner in the works. When Apple launched the iPhone and went with .COM, that was it for .MOBI. The .EU slumped in Europe and it has web usage percentages that are closer to .BIZ level (i.e low) but it has taken off in the newer EU countries where it is seen as a kind of replacement for .COM. But a lot of its registrations are brand protection registrations of existing ccTLD and .COM domains. There’s a very unsettling trend developing with .COM in that its one year renewals (renewals of domains registered for one year) is moving down towards 54%. This is down from about 70% ten years ago. The big challenge for the new gTLD registries is to get development kickstarted in their gTLDs. It is a very different market and the best thing that some of the new gTLDs have going for them, with respect to .COM, is their specificity. As to which of those domain examples is stronger, instinctively I’d say cars.shop because the person clicking on that link has probably already made the decision to buy. It is the same kind of dynamic that is at work in ccTLDs – the people using a ccTLD are already narrowing down their possible choices by excluding .COM and the other potentially irrelevant sites. But like ccTLDs, it will be the uptake of specific, rather than generic, registrations that will drive volume along with development.
John I think the thing you’re not considering is that the registration base is changing. The person registering cars.shop today didn’t have a credit card and know what a name was in the era or the .eu and .mobi. You’re correct about that artificial scarcity and tasting issue, but that was driven by that moment in time. There have been many legitimate registrations and growth since then from web/user growth and there will be more in the new extensions for the same reason. We’ll get to see how it all plays out. Lucky us for being here ; )
Yep, Frank,
You get to sell the domains and I have to try figuring out why people are buying them and how they are using them. 🙂 The registrant base always changes as a TLD matures. Back then, it was heavily brochureware based. While there’s still a lot of brochureware sites, small shop sites appear as the market in a TLD develops. But the domain names themselves in a TLD continue to change over time. I was just doing some stats on the Irish market and 22.81% of .COM domain names on Irish hosters in April 2015 were new or transferred in since April 2014. TLDs are continually changing. That’s what makes it interesting.
Hi Frank, When will the new G’s get any direct search traffic ? Thats something Id love to hear your thoughts on. Bought some new G’s.,….and they get ZERO traffic.
You have a time frame when you think this may happen?….or does direct traffic not apply to the G’s?
Are you saying the new G are really about just finding Greater Fools or will there ever be to ur thinking REAL TRAFFIC? Cuz…to me thats kinda important
I don’t know what kind of names you bought Spencer. It could be you think you bought the best names on earth but they are actually total crap, narrow interest or wrong tense and will never get any traffic, even when the spaces ou bought them in start rocking. I’ve got .com names that I sell for 50k that get less than a unique visitor a day. I would not be buying new G names because they get traffic. I would buy them because they look so good, or sound so good, that you just ‘know’ you could get them sold in one outreach phone call for more than you paid because the person on the other end of the line would be a total fool to not take you up on it… The names sound THAT good. Those are the kinds of names that are available unregistered right now. It’s a moment in time bro. We get traffic on the premium names we own but it’s small traffic. These are the earliest of early days, in the grand scheme.
Thanks for the response Frank, bro 😉
Seriously !!!
You are a Fox
Rick is a hedgehog
I respect you both !!!
This has been a fascinating conversation.
@Raymond sorry for the misstep, I thought Michael wrote the article, I should pay attention.
Take care
No need to apologize, glad you liked the article, the comments have been a book unto their own.
I learned something from this thread.
.Rocks is not a gtld for geologists.
Who Knew!?!??!?
great piece Raymond
Thank you sir
Raymond and mike
I’m done. Sorry for my comments.
Have fun with all the bs happening to this domain industry.
Since my blog is a personal playground for my own ideas and never gets many views (100 views/month tops), I didn’t really expect anybody to even read this post. Since a lot of people have read it, I thought it would be a good idea to clarify two things: (1) the idea behind my post was to just write something to make myself think about and understand how scale economies operate.— the very last thing that I’m suggesting is that I think .COM will go away… VeriSign is a seriously awesome company that has done amazing things for the Internet. (2) I think that it’s important to clarify that I’m just super passionate and optimistic about the future in regards to New TLDs (and the Internet in general), and what I’ve written reflects my own personal ideas and doesn’t reflect my employers views (name.com).
Alex you lucked out your views do reflect the views of your employer.
Please delete my comments.
Tired of the bs and have a bad ear infection. Frank you won. I’m done.
How did he win ? you should stand behind what you say bro. Many here agree with you
Won?.. Fellas I’ve got ‘nothing’ i need to prove here. Just sharing ideas. I’m heading to bed. Thanks for the chat.
Thanks for the comments Frank.
Hello Frank.schilling,
My you have been a busy little fella trying to persuade people you are right. Sleep tight Frank.
I just got back from some R.andR. and have not checked the blogosphere that Frank has been working so diligently at persuading, hes quite a Slick salesman as you may know. I will be catching up to his antics and will get back, with our take on his persuasiveness. STAY TUNED. JAS 4/12/15
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Hello Ray,
You should know that Frank is a wiley opportunist and his circular Psycho Babble has mesmerized the best of the best. When it comes to Fundamental Truths hes out to lunch as they say. Do not be mesmerized by his cunningness. And please do not take offense at whats next its just an example of what Frank is capable of. He is as smooth a grifter as has come down the pike.
R. E. = ” Obviously you’ve been very successful and your opinion means more than just about anybody. ”
You see Ray hes a smooth convincer.
Now heres some Real Smart Observations. Frank is desperate and grabbing at straws, his EGO is on the line and will say anything and everything to convince Domainers of which Frank is not ! Here me when we say Frank is not an original Domain Creator as Rick Schwartz is. To the contrary hes a Johnny come lateltly to the Domaining scene, disguising himself as such. Can anyone else see through this Guy ???
It will all be revealed in the end and belive me, the end for Franks Shennanigans is near. JAS 4/12/15
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Alex
I found your post and sent it to Raymond to write about
How many five figure sales have been reported in the new gtlds ?
It amazes me that some registries are pursing such a ham-fisted, counterfactual, and COUNTERPRODUCTIVE course with their marketing and PR.
When registries make ludicrous claims for their nTLDs, consumers WILL conclude that they’re buffoons and decide against buying their wares.
That seems to be the outcome these clowns are hell-bent on producing by declaring .COM dead while everybody can see that it’s thriving everywhere. Ironically, this outlandish strategy makes them a public laughing stock. It sounds desperate or else it insults consumers’ intelligence. Either way, it’s pathetic and self-defeating.
How do real consumers think about nTLDs? They look at them as options, personal options – not as the destiny of mankind. When I renew a .SEXY domain, it isn’t because I believe .SEXY will take over the internet. Rather, it’s because a particular domain looks attractive.
Frank Schilling and Uniregistry struck a much better balance than some of these other registires when he pitched TLDs such as .SEXY or .CLICK as fresh options. Not replacements. Simply new options for self-expression. They can’t replace .COM; but they can play a unique (if smaller) role.
That’s all that consumers ask of them. Registries that insist on more than consumers believe or want … get far far less.
Frank@i took your advice and invested in 1000 G’s .I spent about $12,000.
I did not wanna miss the boat the second time.
I invested in .sexy.shoes.property.link.club.vacations.media.estate.solutions.consulting.click.audio.parts
I don’t think $12,000 is the end of the world.Brad,Shane,George and all of you guys that i do have respect…WHAT HAPPENS IF FRANK IS RIGHT ??? is it very stupid of me not to buy a name like doctor.click for $6 or lawyer.click atlanta.audio $14 or digi.solutions $15 or panda.media $20 or jazzy.club $5 etc…
You know… i make 6,7 times more money with $1,700 co’s then with 4,000 com’s? If i would have listen to some of you that .co is another .mobi i would have fail.
Because i started buying hand regs .com’s starting 2009 my names are less then premium but with new g’s i get more inquiries then with my com’s.
I did not sell any because my prices are in the 5 figures.I’m not a flipper.
Those of you that bought names 20 years a go are fine but the names you are buying at todays drops are anything less then fine.
My view in all this is: What if it works? What if it works for the new generation 10 years from now.Isn’t it worth spending $5,000 for your peace of mind?
IF you don’t have $5,000 to risk it I strongly suggest not to invest in the new G’s but at the same time don’t be a pessimist be an open minded person.
Frank thank you for your time.click
Its not just $5k. Its $5k – $12k…EVERY YEAR !!! Thats expensive,
You’re the smartest guy in the room with those purchases, really. While others shake their first you scoop up the pennies from heaven.. Only better pennies than in my time! I could never get doctor or lawyer in “any name ending” when I started. It always ends the same.. There are those who make it happen, those who watch it happen and those who wonder what happened. Kudos to to you for being the former.
Hello Frank.Schilling,
Google is telling their new gTLD purveyors what they need to, so the purveyors will take the financial hit. Meanwhile they have been buying in shell accounts .COM Platform Extensions, if you cannot see this oh well Good Luck. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
FS@ IMO the com brand is now an entrenched anchor way beyond a the next twenty year timeline, no logic just evolution. I agree with you in principle but not in outcome. Always a pleasure to tune in though.
Nothing exists unless I maintain it (by my interest, or mypotential interest). This is an ultimate, mostly subliminal anxiety. Hence, I must remain always, both in principle + actively, interested in everything. Taking all of knowledge as my province. (Susan Sontag)
Maybe, just maybe, Domainers have been too successful and thus because they have kept all their .com domains “caged up” (waiting for the price they expect to be paid) the general public have not had a “look in ” and instead have gone for the uncaged new gtlds ?. Unless more and more .com’s come into the wild then all that MAY happen is that it will die out. Think of it as keeping an insect in a jam jar with a lid shut, it will be fine for ages but unless you let it out (i.e, sell it to end user in domain parlance) then ti will die. Maybe domainers should look at the much bigger picture and benefits when pricing domains ?.
You could easily say the same about the new gTLD program. The vast majority of the top terms are caged up. Most of the registries are only willing to sell the lesser domains at “registration fee”.
From Donuts with their EAP and variable priced renewals, to Rightside with their absurd asking prices for anything decent, to North Sound Names scooping up tens of thousands of the top terms from Uniregistry extensions, there is not much quality left at what most people would consider “reg fee”.
People are generally interested in new gTLD because it was supposed to give them quality, affordable options. The way the registries are running them that is really not the case.
If people are going to consider paying a premium for a domain it is far more likely to be something established (COM/NET/ORG or ccTLD) and not a new extension.
Brad
As a comparisons MAYBE, do YOU remember how very popular train spotting and stamp collecting WAS ?. Let’s start selling some more .com’s to END USERS so they become more and more used rather than stuck in “jam jars”.
I would be interested to know if anyone knows the percentage of .com domains held by end users (I mean users using domains for a website other than pay per click) ?. Does anyone know, I guess may not be available.
The number of .com domains held by end users is different from the number of developed and active websites in .COM. Typically around 30% of domain names in .COM have active/developed websites. It can be slightly higher for some ccTLDs. However it can fall to around 12% for non-core gTLDs. There is a development curve for TLDs and few, if any, start out with high percentages of development.
Hello Everyone,
Why gamble on the new gTLD extensions when you don’t have to ???
” It is not always necessary to register a new domain name when the one you already own will work perfectly fine. Rather than registering a new domain name, you can always create a subdomain using a domain you already own.
A subdomain is a second website, with its own unique content, but there is no new domain name. Instead, you use an existing domain name and change the www to another name. The subdomain name looks like forums.domain.com, help.domain.com, help2.domain.com (assuming you already host domain.com). ”
Why would any prudent Online Marketer buy a new gTLD, whose operabilty is questionable ?
When they can use a more trusted .COM or .net or .org subdomain strategy ,whose operability is already well established compared to a highly suspect new gTLD???
Oh and by the way the .COM extension used in this way is the TOP TRANCHE EXTENSION OR PREFERRED CHOICE GLOBALLY
OCCAMS RAZOR
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
@Jeff Schneider,
You comment incessantly on this domain blog, spewing forth a steady stream of utterly incoherent babble about how .com is the best, etc.; as if you were this huge domain investor (like Frank, Mike, and Rick)…and when I click on the link attached to your name it takes me to this really stupid “usebiz” website which has a detailed inventory of perhaps the most worthless domains I have ever laid eyes on. Is that it? Are these the only domains you have? If so dude, you really should consider stepping away from the computer, letting those turds expire (and trust me, nobody will register them again), and get a new hobby…a less expensive hobby like knitting, or maybe tree watching.
Hey Jeff Schneider! Man, you are indeed a master of hype – even got mentioned in InfoWorld some 15 years ago:
Read the section under “Auction Overkill”: https://books.google.com/books?id=Zj0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA93&lpg=PA93&dq=usebiz.com&source=bl&ots=iTN8hmNtF1&sig=HWrqI09rWsIfL2lIPaMV-jYHYDA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=KuUrVZ-hAc_woATxr4GADw&ved=0CDUQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=usebiz.com&f=false
Go back to the original real estate comparisons. Supply and demand. Infinite versus finite supply. There’s a lot of nice land being developed in Wellington Florida (after Boca Raton filled up to capacity- they expand). But there is only one New York and that’s about the location, the culture, the equity, the brand value. They are trying in hard Brooklyn, but it will never be NYC. NYC is to real estate what .dotCOM is to domains. Donald Trump wants to keep buying up NY but he also expands to Nashville. That’s what Frank is doing. With New York Real Estate, Just $10 Million Starts to Sound Reasonable http://nyti.ms/1Ft70w9 and that’s the fate of dotCOM too.
Hello Domain Syndicate
Sounds like a Google Ghost name, pretty clever. Thanks for the plug. CHEERS
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Hello DomainSyndicate,
10 Demand Driven Reasons, The Globally Favorite .COM Extension is Here, There and Everywhere.
1. Global Operability Standards.
2. Global Choice for Online Profit Centers.
3. Only Extension with active Secondary Market Thats demand is Increasing not decreasing.
4. Preferred Traffic Corridor or Largest Traffic Channel in History.
5. .COM Enjoys Vanity Status Globally.
6. Worlds Strongest Recognized Brand.
7. Worlds Most Trusted Business Destinations.
8. Rapid Increase in ccTLD Conversions to .COM Platform.
9. Established (First To Market) Beach Head Globally
10.Rapidly Establishing and Reinforcing #1 Strategic Online Marketing Platform
Oh yes and of Course (Follow The Money)
By the way the massive amount of .COM Platform Extensions being developed, is reinforcing and rapidly increasing its 9. Established (First To Market) Beach Head Globally
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Great comments as always,
While T.R.A.F.F.I.C. is in the past and Mr. Schwartz is retired without worry….
Neu’s new domain venture, “THE Domain Conference” redirects the .COM to .CLUB.
Long gone are the type-in traffic days when most browsers (address location bars) used to add .COM to query.
Todays web surfers are most likely siphoned on a search results page where ATF is filled with ads….
BIG LOL………….not read something this funny for a long time !!!
R P says
APRIL 12, 2015 AT 10:36 PM
My dad is 75 years old and doesn’t use the internet. I am a customer of yours and believe it’s highly inappropriate to bring my family into this conversation. Will be moving my domains elsewhere in the coming weeks.
And Jeff (of the metal cat variety) either step away from the Sherry or breathe….
Great topic, who knows what will happen but one thing is for sure the world will be a different place in 10 years. Good luck all.
Hello DC says ,
Thirty years from now the .COMS being birthed in next 24 Mos will be the Big Cats. You obviosly don’t know this but we do. JAS 4/14/15 CHEERS
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Quite possibly, I love my .com’s – you just make me smile…
Hello Everyone,
There is currently a lot of greed and Feeding frenzy type behavior evident in the new Quasi-Derivative gTLD Fiasco. These are classic Market signs of a bust coming soon. Don’t say we didn’t tell you all. JAS 4/14/15 Good Luck
Gratefully, Jeff schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
I do not understand the attraction to the new gtlds. To me, they are like putting a “Closed for Business”, “I Am Not Credible” or “I Couldn’t Afford A Decent .Com” on your company’s front doorway.
My thoughts on the new gtlds ,for what thats worth, is that they may have some uses where the registrant cannot get the .com or country domain that they wish to. Apart from that I myself see no interest in them.All they are doing is causing confusion as to where the company being sought actually is, and then one tends to go to a search engine try and suss out which tld the company uses.
Hello Everyone,
Now once you have answered this first question R. E. = ” Heres a question to ponder. Would GOOGLE support anything that would endanger their Monopoly Grip ?
Next question does Google support the New Quasi- Derivative gTLD extensions ?
Here in lies your answer. OCCAM’S Razor JAS 4/16/15
Now ponder the Biggest Question ; Do you think Google will hold their Monopoly position forever ?? There you now have your own answer go with your Gut feeling. We say Google is at the end of their Monopoly thats our answer.
Whats yours ??
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact group) (Metal tiger)
from this week DnJournal report:
Out of hundreds of sales…
Quote (Selected excerpts):
“It was slow going for the Non .Com gTLDs this week with only 13 sales reported for the entire category and none of those selling for more than $5,600 – That left ONE spot each for .paris and .pro.”
One Dot Paris and One Dot PRO. ($2,996 & $1,380)
Draw Your Own Conclusions!
********
@ Frank schilling :
When it comes to New gTLD registrations: the one and only thing you were right all along my friend (and I missed by a mile) it was that :
Greed will trump fear!
Enjoy till it lasts.
I am yet to see one single New gTLD (or even Alternative gTLD) used in a prime TV Ad (USA), actually prime or sub-prime.
I am glad your BS “Dot com died, Dot com is an AM Radio” rhetoric stopped.
Mission accompli$hed!
I see nothing good coming from the introduction of the gtld and would never risk trying to use one myself nor would I suggest it for use to any of my clients.
“Rick is a nice guy and he’s good with his names but he’s been wrong a lot too. I still remember him bounding into his forum with the greatest of enthusiasm telling all in the room that he discovered the next greatest opportunity to .com but he couldn’t tell anyone yet, when another commentator in the forum pasted a puny code he let out a hearty lol indicating that the opportunity was IDN names. We all know where that went.”
Sorry Frank my friend. You are completely wrong on this one and very misleading. I think you know that. I NEVER EVER talked positively about IDN’s. I have dozens of posts and comments over the years. Ask “Rubber Duck” who I argued with for a decade about it. So please don’t spread misinformation to support your cause. That’s weak!
IDN and gTLD’s are in the same category for me. Just not good investments. Why? Because there are much better ways to invest your dollars without the risk of losing 100%.
I do wish you luck with everything. Just refuse to swallow the hype. And just want to set the record straight.
AFAIK, Rick, you’ve made one bad investment decision.
“I was the fool that bought flowers.mobi for $200k and later sold it for $6500. So I am not a successful .mobi operator. With that said I am getting out of the .mobi business but I do have probably one of the largest portfolio of NNN.mobi names” (Your comment posted on September 8, 2012 on Mobility.mobi)
But, you are still the great domain king!
The following comment is really the heart of the debate.
“The basic disagreement I have with Frank is that he believes .whatever will devalue .com and I believe it will do just the opposite.” (Ricksblog.com post dated October 22, 2013)
Can someone please give me a reason to consider a gtld? I have heard the “it’s not for the people in this room” argument. I have heard the “.com is too hard to register” argument and I have heard the “it is more descriptive” argument. If the people in the room think its a bad idea our kids will too, no? .Com are available in sufficient supply and sticking a DOT in the dot middle of your dot name is just plain dot dumb and makes no dot sense to dot me.