Do you think there will be a lot more top level domains in the next few years?

Also will they be longer than the typical 2 to 4 letters?

.pro is coming out soon and people are taking pre-orders. Also .name which I think is stupid. Do you have to show some type of picture Id or can you just register a name. This seems more of a marketing ploy to me the address is like lastname.firstname.name I just don't want to see the market suturated with top level domains. If people keep coming out with them to make more money then I'll boycott them but that still won't stop people from using them. So it's an endless cycle and we will have lots more on the way.

This is the basic issue. What is the point of more top level domains?

More confusion?
I already type in name.com for some name.net's and with all the country TLD's and the new TLD's and new.net's extensions, the benefit of being able to get the name 'you want' gets lost (IMHO). I had one country code domain, I'm letting it drop (a short two letter one - ab.cd type), and one .info which I already don't like all that much.

More money?
If you own the .copm of your name, go out and register the .everything of it so no one else can? I'm not that rich.

More names?
Sure, until pre-registration opens and all of 'the good ones' are pre-taken. Any last 'good ones' are taken within a week of live registration. So after a certain period, we're left with ones that aren't so good again.

The solution? More TLD's! :D

Somewhere between where it is now and the phone systems. What do I mean by that?

Today, .com has a tremendous advantage as people think of it first and many times enter it without thinking. Once you didn't have to enter area codes to use the phone. However, unlike domains, there was never a primary area code. They were all considered equal from the start.

If you look at a particular area there is a similarity. At one time, Dallas, for instance, was 214. Everyone dialed 214 without thinking. In fact, for local calls, no area code was required. Then, along came 972...now 469...and others on the way. But you still think for 214 first for downtown dallas and 972 for outlying areas. However, now you have to dial all 10 numbers and slowly people are no longer assuming anything.

We will reach the stage where you make no assumptions on domain names....always ask for the full name with extension. However, that is far down the road, and we still have a long period where .com will hold major added value. Furthermore, even when all the others are used more, .com will always carry an image of the older, stable internet name and, therefore, company.

I, personally, have over 400 names and only one is a .biz and one a .info. My only .net's are identical to .com's I own. I will probably buy some .us's where they fit perfectly. But, not at a premium. Also, not for protection as that will become too costly and will become unnecessary. No one is going to accidentally type myname.us or myname.pro when they meant to type myname.com. The opposite may happen, but not that way.

I am sorry I have contributed to the increase of the number of domain names you own :D At least they are .COM's :)

Personally, I think .NET domains are highly usable as well, not only by web hosting/Internet providers but really for anyone that views "networks" as groups of users, societies or clubs, instead of just computer networks. In fact, sometimes xxxx.net might sound more authoritative than their .com version.

The .biz hasn't taken off, .info is a joke and .us is facing MANY problems as we speak. I don't see a major need for the rest of the lovely TLDs like .coop and .museum, .name will be a disaster as well. I think the three original TLDs will be around for the next 25 years to haunt us :D

Anyone interested in 3 char .COM's ? :D

I think the CNO (.com, .net, .org) names will be with us for a long time.

.biz and .info are not doing well - only adding about 1,200 per day, compared to 29,000 per day for CNO.

.name is a total joke - only about 220 names added per day after only two months in business.

.us??? May be more successful than .biz, but I think it will struggle like the other ones.

I don't think any new TLDs will catch on anytime soon. The truth is that there is just not a big demand for *any* domain name, and domains are not being renewed at an astounding rate. The total number of CNO domains registered has been shrinking dramatically since October (over 9% decrease), and shows no signs of letting up.

All the new TLD proposals are from desparate domain registrars that are trying to stop the bleeding.

The only domains that are being registered in the new TLDs are "defensive" registrations (like microsoft.info), and really catchy ones. But on the consumer level, nobody sees value to a "good" domain name, because there really is none. No one just types in "hosting.com" anymore, they go to a search engine to find out about hosting. If your business is dependent on a good domain name for success, it probably went under two years ago.

Very well-said. That's why I've focused my reselling efforts on providing SHORT domain names, that serve as an identity for anyone that might want them. Names like, T66.NET, 3C7.COM etcetera. And at no major investment - most of my names sell for $35 - it's a name that lasts for a long time.

From CNBC's web site today:


A bubble in dot-com names?

What's in a domain name? Not much profit, apparently, judging by the results reported today by VeriSign.

The company sells computer security but is best known as the main company that licenses Internet domain names. It missed revenue projections for the quarter and announced plans for dismissing 10% of its workforce.

That set off a slew of analyst downgrades -- Briefing.com reports it may be a record number for a single day -- and lowered the boom on the stock. It's down more than 40% this morning.

One problem? Chairman Stratton Sclavos told CNBC this morning that, with the Internet bubble popped and tech spending by business staying low, there's no more rush to snap up available names ending with .com and .org. Fewer dot-coms companies, fewer need for domain names.

"What's happening is the tail end of that, as people clear up their businesses, and people who signed up for 10 domain names settled on three or four," Sclavos said. (emphasis added)

While VeriSign sold 2.6 million domain names, Sclavos said, even more were surrendered.

Oh, and the company offered little evidence that its other businesses were about to turn around, either. It's a story we've heard a lot lately from the tech sector. Less than a year ago, VeriSign was trading above $60 per share; today, it's below $11.

That's also after Verisign laid off 500+ employees, in order to display a lower financial loss.

The number of domains being deleted each day is staggering and many are quite good and is not running significantly less than the number being registered. Good domains become available every day.

You just have to grab them :D

where are these domain names to be grabbed?

do you do this on some specific interenet site? :mad:

http://www.deleteddomains.com is a good place to start :)

Greg Moore

Originally posted by anna


.us??? May be more successful than .biz, but I think it will struggle like the other ones.



Strangely enough we have actually been swamped with .us registrations, and the others, .biz/.info etc went by almost unnoticed by comparison... understandably.. I also really hate .biz

I believe that the marketing edge/ploy which appeals to the current sense of national solidarity/pride in the USA may have something to do with it, I'm not sure.. I think it has a good chance of being the only other TLD to get near the legacy TLD's, even though it's restricted to the USA.. but you're right about it's staying power.. iffy..

Outside of the quote above, you are spot on in your assessment, however I suspect that the future, as Incognito suggests, will be a hybrid of the telephone number cycle, with a bit of the Company/Business registration system and a touch of the personalised number plate [vehicles] concept etc etc It's certain you can't make long term plans on its outcome...

That's why short domains make excellent car plates :D
Want U9X.COM at the back of your car? :D

still planning on have AKASHIK on a numberplate one day :)

Greg Moore

LOL.. well maybe if it's XXX.COM, the car will be reposessed soon??

Better off XXX.NET, don't you think :)

DEFINITELY NOT XXX.BIZ

Here's a great link:
http://www-chaos.umd.edu/misc/origplates.html