Canadian companies using .com

[Irish31]

I'm personally a bit saddened (but not altogether surprised) at the lack of attention given to the .CA extension. I would have assumed by the way things were going back in 2004-05, that by 2010, .CA would be the defacto extension in Canada.

Now, I will be the first to admit how thrilled I am to see .CA showing up everywhere in media, via newspaper / radio / television / internet, etc. I'll also be the first to say this has done next to nothing in terms of overall interest in my names and the market as a whole, it seems.

Maybe Canadians are just too frugal to really make holding .CA names enmasse, feasible. You would be a fool not to hold onto top generics, as they will also hold value to the big boys. I really don't see much of an aftermarket right now, and to be honest, before the downturn came, it really wasn't all that great anyways.

Edit: Have to add that CIRA has done next to nothing to help the overall promotion / awareness of the country's domain extension. I am happy if they don't want to open it up for worldwide registration, but at least spend a time of resources on promoting it to your own people. This has to be the biggest thorn in my side.

My .002 cents.


Jay

[DomainsInc]

I would imagine companies like td have been using the .com for many years and feel switching to the .ca could cause confusion.

[msn]

TD is active in many countries and TD is their umbrella brand, so it makes sense to use .com while tdcanadatrust.ca would be fine for Canada.

[nameslave]

Originally Posted by msn

while tdcanadatrust.ca would be fine for Canada.

I always think it's kind of stupid to use .CA when your name already consists of the word "Canada".

[theinvestor]

Most companies who put canada do not actually own the .ca.

For example : eascanada.com

[Doc Com]

Originally Posted by DomainsInc

I would imagine companies like td have been using the .com for many years and feel switching to the .ca could cause confusion.

10 years, actually.

This is where the abundance of domains and ccTLD's and gTLD's cause great confusion and unneccessary expense to brands.

Do they have to create a website in every extension?
Do they have to reg every extension as a defensive registration?

Keep in mind that these are not domainers but are away of domains for all the foregoing reasons.

Certainly, reg a domain and redirect it to the present site. If a company uses a .com and has been for 10 years, then I would be most inclined to still use that .com and redirect the .ca to it. The end result is the same.

And how many consumers are going to point this out or even notice it to begin with? The on-the-street consumer is less inclined to know or understand how they got to the site but is more concerned about ending up where they want to be to begin with.

[msn]

Originally Posted by nameslave

I always think it's kind of stupid to use .CA when your name already consists of the word "Canada".

In their case it is a bit different, as TD bought Canada Trust and branded itself TD Canada Trust, which is indeed different from say, NameslaveCanada.ca or something like that.

[Namefox]

I guess is really all depends on where your market is. If it is not in Canada, then why use the .ca. To me, .ca is still in its infancy and many Canadian companies are just starting to wake up to the use of .ca. With that said, many companies have been using .ca for years. I also find many Canadian companies with a .com website and the .ca is available for registration.

[Spex]

Was stuck behind an ICS Courier truck in taffic this morning and noticed their website address...

www.ics-canada.net

man, a hypen and the .net. That's just wrong

[victornumber]

true but its heavily advertised so it doesn't really make too much of a difference. I see it all the time on some of my packages.

[nameslave]

Originally Posted by victornumber

true but its heavily advertised so it doesn't really make too much of a difference. I see it all the time on some of my packages.

Very true. If one spends a few million dollars advertising, even ajs-kdl-f.vg could be a household name.

But the thing is, one could possibly save a lot if it's say household.com.

[Poker]

It's all about global or local.

If I ran a company that sold a product/service outside my country's borders as well as in (not all prods/services are applicable) I would want the global .com and the .ca. If I sold life insurance in CA I would only want the .com if it was affordable.

[DomainsInc]

Originally Posted by Spex

Was stuck behind an ICS Courier truck in taffic this morning and noticed their website address...

www.ics-canada.net

man, a hypen and the .net. That's just wrong

I saw a trucking company using a l-l.ca which i thought was pretty neat, b-b.ca.