Morning Folks!!
There are certain people who would have you ignore history because when you bring it up they get their panties all twisted in a knot and then have to resort to insults to defend their weak stance based solely on THEIR need not yours.
That was the case the other day and you see a pattern developing.
Now please separate the two issues. There is money to be made as a registry, as a registrar and as someone taking on ads and such. That is a given. I have said so. I said half the industry would be getting JOBS with these folks. But please put all that aside. We are talking about investing your families money. So is your family or your friends more important? It's a fair question even tho it is a tough one to ask and put out there. I am just saying whatever you do, do for the RIGHT reasons not the pressure some feel.
But that is respectfully tough. Our "friend" Shaun Le Cornu that Berkens posted his comments and then dug a deeper hole in his comments is much less than respectful. He has been insulting. When the facts don't go your way, what to do?
Top 5 reasons domainers don’t want new Gtlds according to Shaun:
- Invested interest in .com
- Resistance to change
- Lack of understanding of new industry
- Short term objectives
- Old thinking
So here is my biggest problem even tho Shaun would have you and I ignore things like history and facts. Here you have .mobi, .Tel and .xxx. They have many things in common. But the single biggest thing they all have in common and NONE of the new extensions have is they had a COMPELLING story and a compelling reason for their extensions to have a chance and be very valuable.
.Mobi for Mobile before the ipad came to market but the market was turning to things mobile. So now that .Mobile is coming to market, that will surely save the day. Right?? Are you just idiots that are resistant to change? Line up for .Mobile!! It will make you RICH!
Give me a damn break!
.Tel to hook your phone up to your website.
.xxx to keep all the porn in one place
The registries all do fine. Domainers for the most part have not done fine. These are facts. And these are extensions that did have a story. Even .co. They had typos and it was shorter than .com and maybe stands for "Company". I still have a few of each in my portfolio. A few hundred grand buried in the dirt. Maybe more.
The public and end-user is not very interested in these extensions. Are they?? Seen any TV spots? Billboards? etc? They are out there but invisible. Want to tie your money up? May as well just open a pawn shop then and get something tangible in return that at least can be sold. But hey, it's your hard-earned money and if you want to buy .mobi today, knock your socks off.
So when we get to some of the ones I see that have no compelling story, no rhyme or reason are verbs and not nouns are nouns and not extensions, are some of the most limited in terms of combinations that make any sense whatsoever and will never reach the status of .aero. what the hell am I supposed to do? Tell everyone they are the next coming when I see nothing further from reality?
If the gTLD's depended on public support and not your support, only a handful would be viable. The rest would just collapse. Sure Godaddy and 1 and 1 and many others will be promoting. But think how many they can really promote on the top list? So they are not removing .com, .net, .org, .tv, .me, .info, or even .xxx. So they have to pick the ones that are being embraced and the other 880 are where? Let's just say they are off the radar map. I mean I can't even go thru the entire list without throwing in the towel or getting nauseous. Can you?
Soon we will be called "Neanderthals" and "Flat earthers" instead of just making a strong and coherent case and take on the tough questions with actual answers and not this silly stuff that some are becoming famous for. Your words fellas. Wise up before you choke on them.
I would rather overpay for value then get a bargain on .pigeonshit. That is the lesson of history. The hierarchy on the internet has been set and it looks like this:
.com, .net, org, and country codes. Then you have the .me, .co, .tv .info, .biz, I think you can add all the others up and you have less than .mobi.
Metals of value you can list right here and the same amount and see where it all measures up to.
.web is going to try to join that group. That's the only bet in town and that is such a huge longshot.
My next post compares extensions to all the metals in the world. Stay tuned!
Rick Schwartz
Don W.
Sold a two word .com in December for 30k. Just received a $60k offer for a single word .com from a medical group that has been chasing me for 2 years. The .md is available, wondering why they don’t just take that and save $59,900?
One year and 45 days after .xxx launch so many dropped at Dynadot, I almost drown. Shortly after, .xxx was forced to have a $9.00 promotion.
I wonder how many $9.00 promotions there will be in the coming years for the new TLD’s?
Don W
mariano
Hi Rick. Please let me know which .mobi, .tel, .pro, .co and .biz domains you drop because i´d like to register them. Just one cuestion for you: “How much you think that the domain name CamSlots.com can be worth ??? Thank´s & regard´s
Michael
The only difference with the new extensions, is they themselves are now words. I still don’t see .Mobile working not now with responsive web design and before that companies would just put a sub-domain m. in front of there domain like https://m.facebook.com
Nadim Ash
.mobi was promoted before its time. The time for .mobi is now. In 2006 .mobi launched yet the smartphone/ tablets/ infrastructure was not there. Its like seeing an ad on tv and u go to the store and don,t find it. Timing was wrong.
Buddie
@Nadim:
Timing of .mobi was wrong? Er — how about — the timing of the whole %^*&%*^ gtld idea is way off! Nineteen years too late if you want an exact time line. Had these 3-12 letter right of the dot suckers been around in 1995 when Schwartz and other pioneers were busy building the web into what it is today, they probably would have had a superb chance of succeeding. After all, the categorization scheme is arguably superior to having just one unorganized chaotic .com category. But alas, this was not meant to be and it is way way way (way!) too late to close the barn door now. The horses are long gone and most have already died by now. Closing the barn door (ie, coming up with a better naming convention) is a total waste of time at this point and will not be accepted by the .com brainwashed public, especially when they learn that the prices are several times that of a reputable .com. It is .coop regurgitated.
To hear that the Mayor of Las Vegas accidentally referred to .Vegas as Vegas.Com is just priceless and gives us all a very good indication of how this fairly predictable story is going to end.
Nadim Ash
Buddie
You are right. I do not disagree. They tried coming at .com one tld at a time , it did not work. Now they are trying to slap hundreds in one shot thinking maybe something will stick. Maybe the googles and amazons will pump money into some of the tlds …..
After all maybe .mobile sticks and .mobi will get back on for the ride. If amazon gets .mobile who knows.
Anita
Hi Rick, One of your best posts regarding GTLDs – they should use a couple of your posts as disclaimers for anyone just investing (with no intention to use) in the new GTLDs.
Philippe Franck
Hi Rick, very good post.
dot info is an excellent example of what would be considered today as a great new gtld with great signification and many project holder fighting for it, but there are no example of serious enduser having invested money in a website with a dot info name….
Betty
.TEL is a very neat and unique gtld. I saw it first visiting http://www.yellowsearch.tel, which uses both styles for a great brand. Good opportunity for the unique gtlds from the past.
brand
rick you should start putting the new extensions in a positive light, then investors will fill there portfolio with .whatever’s and have to let some good .com drop, then we can pick them up for a song.
David J Castello
Excellent post, Rick. The bottom line is that, no matter how hard they bang the drum, the public couldn’t care about these new TLDs. They didn’t care about dotCOM either, but it was there first and that’s what matters most. The value behind dotCOM is that it is the only universally accepted TLD and that trust factor will only be enhanced by the coming tsunami of names. There is NO compelling reason for the public to buy into these names. My brother and I first monetized our Geodomains and I’ll never forget how hard dotTravel tried to make a stand utilizing the same logic being spewed now. They tried with zero competition and plenty of spotlight. And now, the prevailing logic is that by launching thousands of these things they will have a better chance of being embraced by the public. Right.
Chris
The only problem with the thoughts made by the last couple of comments is that there are now major .com owners who are going to put their gtld before their own .com; This is a major shift that affects the new gtlds like nothing since the advent of the public internet.
http://www.101domain.com/branded_domains.htm
shows just a handful of those that will begin the trend of putting .com second. This is where .com becomes vulnerable for the first time legitimately and can change the game significantly.
David J Castello
Chris:
That is nothing more than brand protection and the public will see it that way. Regardless of how much they use their brand TLD, there will be no major shift from these companies putting it above their dotCOM. The ones that do will quickly realize their marketing mistake. DotCOM will never be vulnerable simply because it will always be the only universally accepted TLD in every language. Case in point: most of our sales (and we just did a monster that will be announced shortly) are from foreign companies with ccTLDs who want the dotCOM. And their reason is always the same – they want the international dotCOM brand.
Kenn Wagenheim
… Agreed Rick. I posted a simple reply to the facebook tout of the article…
” … Here’s 5 more: .biz, .info, .aero, .mobi, .me ……”
https://www.facebook.com/thedomains.co/posts/10152228811142049
Pete
Hi Rick,
You said a metals comparison post was coming.
But I and other people are more interested in your post about your recent dot com domains / vein you just registered.
Can you please post this instead?
Rick Schwartz
I did a special show with domainsherpa that will air a week from monday about the domains i mined.
Chris
Well, your opinion on their use is certainly clear, however, the truth of how they truly use it and whether or not it will be a mistake is certainly not clear! As always, time will tell.
John
All the major domainers are so critical about.tel domains. Why ?
Because it is one of the best and easiest to use extensions. Anybody can create a simple information site about you or your business in a minutes and without spending thousands of dollars for hosting and web developing. It is also mobile ready.
For example if you are planning to visit Las Vegas go to http://www.nevadahotels.tel
click on Las Vegas and you have a list of all Las Vegas hotels. Simply click on it’s website or a telephone number and book a hotel in a minutes. You don’t need Google to find a hotel or a hotel booking site. Simple, quick and inexpensive
.tel is the best extension to build directories
Rick Schwartz
John,
I own some .tel domains as I do .mobi and .xxx among many others.
I just can’t say there has been a lot of demand. Almost none in fact.
But I do think .tel has a more compelling story than 90% of what is coming.
That is a hurdle they should address not ignore.