free .info 's and stupid marketing

[OnSpec]

Two pages of discussion and still growing on this board alone, not to mention the "blogs". Affilias has already won.

 

[David G]

That is true. Except my guess is that somewhere around 99.89% will never renew.

You should know the likelihood better than anyone but it does seem extremely far fetched to say an incredible 99.89% will not renew?

I would *guess* the actual numbers would be around 20% (or more) will either renew or sell the name and the next buyer renews, possibly also thru Domainsite.

During last years NetSol free transfer promo I transferred a number of low or no valued names there. However, less than 1 yr later I got to thinking the names were actually fairly good names and I ended up transferring them away from NetSol and renewing them, not letting even one name expire.

The same scenario could eaily happen with many of the free .info's, which is why I am sure you offer it Owen, even though you will not say so.

P.S. Of course the 20% estimate is based on how low the renewal cost is, and strength of the market at that time.

 

[seeker]

long term, this afilias marketing 'trick' wont affect the value. But that is very long term IMHO.
I have some very nice .infos, over a thousand of them that took time, money and a lot of work to get.
I can not list them for sale at sedo now (those that arent there), and I sure wont list them here.
The fact is, they have for now deteriorated in value.
The end user, doesnt know how much I paid or searched..etc.... for them, all they know is that there were/are 'free' for some time, just like those .tk domains.
a shame really.

 

[AndyM1988]

Yeah, this will probably hurt the .Info industry.
Meh, I guess it will boost the Com/Net/Org a bit.

Maybe this trend will, or willn't last.

 

[diverge]

Quick analysis, as I see it:

Short-term: Lower prices among resellers, true. However, I predict no [or even a positive] affect on end-users (this promotion is not likely to make headlines in any consumer newspapers, IMHO, and therefore the affects of "buzz" will be minimal on aftermarket consumers). In the short-run the negative effect will only be felt within the domain industry itself. Also note that this will add to TLD saturation for any given word, phrase or brand, which will also increase value of other TLDs for that term.

Mid-term: When these free domains come up for renewal and 99% do not renew, this will flood the backorder/drop market with .infos. This will increase exposure to .infos, and also provide a nice influx of revenue for backorder systems.

Long-term: Two scenarios based on bottom line -- will there be more or less .infos in the marketplace due to this promotion? Net overall increase in number of registered of .infos in the marketplace will increase their value. Net decrease in number of registered .infos (result of mass exodus by resellers due to perceived reduction in value, and failure to renew by freeloaders) will decrease value. Only time will tell which of these will play out. I predict the former.

 

[seeker]

right now.
.info believers are scre*ed.
Thats the bottom line as I see it...

 

[mark]

the winners on the renewal game for the .info extension will be the registrar who has the lowest price in about 10 months when notifications go out.

 

[AndyM1988]

It has lowered the value a lot.
Very unfortunate.

Death to DomainSite, they started it!!

 

[seeker]

what are u talking about?
you think threats like that to someone with good intentions is logical and/or mature???

Domainsite should be thanked.
It is NOT their doing, and all they did was a humoungous favor to the domain industry including me.
It all has to do with afilias.
The dumb registry. The dumbest of all.

 

[owen]

You should know the likelihood better than anyone but it does seem extremely far fetched to say an incredible 99.89% will not renew?

I would *guess* the actual numbers would be around 20% (or more) will either renew or sell the name and the next buyer renews, possibly also thru Domainsite.

During last years NetSol free transfer promo I transferred a number of low or no valued names there. However, less than 1 yr later I got to thinking the names were actually fairly good names and I ended up transferring them away from NetSol and renewing them, not letting even one name expire.

The same scenario could eaily happen with many of the free .info's, which is why I am sure you offer it Owen, even though you will not say so.

P.S. Of course the 20% estimate is based on how low the renewal cost is, and strength of the market at that time.

The 99.89% was sarcasm and of course I hope lots of people renew their domains. That's how I make money. If the site stays up.

 

[seeker]

I pledge to renew my domains with your site.
Most of them are not .infos

You offered help, idiots abused it, that is one more reason to support you.

 

[izopod]

I wonder when dot museum, aero, coop will follow suit? LOL...

My opinion on this is that this will not hurt .info's position (well in the short term). My guess is that they are trying to increase market share, then at some point in the future they can do some "legitimate" advertising to the average "joe". Their claim to "greatness" will be that they have as many names registered as .net or .org.

It's a gamble as this represent's lost revenue, but like any gamble Afilias is hoping to "prove" something about the fitness of their registry.

Will it work (in the long term)? I don't think so. Those "free domains" will drop like flies next year because the people who take them will not be out any money if they let them drop.

Let's just hope neulevel stays the course. Neulevel just needs a few .biz names to hit the big time, and then just watch the "paid" registrations flow in. People hate to miss out on trends, and this could be one of them.

btw: To those who spent a fortune on .info names. Don't sell yet, after this "free" campaign is over things should return to normal. However I would in no uncertain terms voice your opinion against this type of "business model". Hmmm.... Wouldn't ICANN had to have agreed to them doing this, or at least had their contract modified to allow them to do it??? Of course!! A contract means nothing to ICANN....sorry.

 

[mark]

I wonder when dot museum, aero, coop will follow suit? LOL...

My opinion on this is that this will not hurt .info's position (well in the short term). My guess is that they are trying to increase market share, then at some point in the future they can do some "legitimate" advertising to the average "joe". Their claim to "greatness" will be that they have as many names registered as .net or .org.

It's a gamble as this represent's lost revenue, but like any gamble Afilias is hoping to "prove" something about the fitness of their registry.

Will it work (in the long term)? I don't think so. Those "free domains" will drop like flies next year because the people who take them will not be out any money if they let them drop.

Let's just hope neulevel stays the course. Neulevel just needs a few .biz names to hit the big time, and then just watch the "paid" registrations flow in. People hate to miss out on trends, and this could be one of them.

btw: To those who spent a fortune on .info names. Don't sell yet, after this "free" campaign is over things should return to normal. However I would in no uncertain terms voice your opinion against this type of "business model". Hmmm.... Wouldn't ICANN had to have agreed to them doing this, or at least had their contract modified to allow them to do it??? Of course!! A contract means nothing to ICANN....sorry.

-------------

there was a post here or possibly at webmaster world's forum
(i read too many to keep up) that .biz is believed to be contemplating a similiar free offer....interesting if true.

 

[loho27]

I think it is a fantastic move by the registrar to increase the exposure of the extension.

Research has consistantly shown that the main reason people use the internet is for "information".

If you have some good names they will increase in value on the basis that there are more are aware of the extension.

For every speculator there will be ten developers. Think of the hosting providers who can now offer this deal to there clients, how many more websites and hosting places have to be provided for, how many more dollars are going to be spent in the industry.

I would not be surprised if this doubles or tripples the exposure and acceptance of the extension and thus increasing the value of "quality" names.

I also feel it is a classic case of "pre-emptive marketing" by the registrar in the anticipation of some long awaited new extensions in the New Year.

Chin Up

 

[neologist]

I'm going with the flow. I'd be a fool not to.

 

[Alfarin]

another registar joined the free 25 .info domains bandwagon...
http://www.getafree.info is also offering 25 free .info domains; they're backed by iRRP.Net. Anyone know if they're any good?

 

[David G]

Got email today from Dotser announcing they are also offering 25 absolutely free info's with no strings attached.

I am sure every registrar will offer this, as I predicted earlier when Domainsite.com beat everyone in announcing this and was lucky catching much of the forum members business. For a while some thought only domainsite was going to offer the free info's. Shows the importance of timing in business.

 

[neologist]

another registar joined the free 25 .info domains bandwagon...
http://www.getafree.info is also offering 25 free .info domains; they're backed by iRRP.Net. Anyone know if they're any good?

They're really idotz.net. I've registered a few with them. Their site navigation is a bit unweildy, but FREE IS FREE!

 

[ozgression]

Are you able to register 25 at more than one registrar?

 

[neologist]

Are you able to register 25 at more than one registrar?

So far, I've registered over 50 at 4 different registrars. I've been trying to keep a level head, using only correctly spelled words and two words or less, such as malfeasance.info, maleproblems.info, stuff like that. Still, I couldn't resist wimpo.info. !! :-/