gTLD – Fad or Here to Stay?

[amplify]

Strictly speaking in the United States, the US Census shows a population of 104,853,555 for those that are 24 and under (33.9% of the total population). Though growth between 2000 and 2010 was lower than expected, it did see similar results of that from 1980 to 1990.

There could be 2 arguments posed to this.

The early .com registrations (1990s) could have easily been made by this age group, which puts them at an age of around 48 as of now. These are the ones who made bigger profits on smaller investments.

Now we have gTLD’s launching in 2010+, which if the registrants hold onto them for the 24 years as some of the .com investors did, would put them near the same age.

Statistically speaking, looking at these figures and knowing that the likelihood of a ~40 year old ‘entrepreneur’ is twice as likely to succeed as one in their 20s, if someone in their 20s invested in gTLD’s and they were here to stay, one can only conclude that they would be successful in a long-term capital gain like the early .com’ers were.

Looking at it from new point of view that you may not have considered before, does it somewhat change your mind about investing in many gTLD’s that may pay off in the future (less than $10,000 invested) rather than one(+) great investment now ($100,000) and take a gamble that gTLD’s don’t become the front-runner, commonly spread and understood by word of mouth, ranked higher in search engines, etc.?

Just asking for honest opinions, looking back on your past, not gTLD bashing (one or the other: $1000-$10,000 for gTLD’s or $100,000 for one).

I don’t want to look back on the past 19 years from now and kick myself in the ass for not investing in gTLD’s when around 17 years ago today I couldn’t hold onto a couple domains that were mid-six+ quality because I couldn’t afford the $99 renewal fees and my parents wouldn’t renew them (without slave labor). However, I’m behind the wheel now and it’s apples or oranges—but that’s a loooong term investment at the same time.

Which will pay off better: a retirement plan investing the same amount of money as gTLD’s and adding the cost of renewal fees to them each year or gTLD’s and renewing them year-to-year for 19 years?

If you don’t want to publically speak up (as I know some of you on here bash, but own yourselves), send me a PM with your sincere thoughts.

Think about it, one last time before you respond (and probably bash, even though this isn’t intended on being a discussion that goes that route as there are many other threads like that already). How old was Michael Castello when he was making his purchases? How did it turn out? Will be saying .whatever be just as common as .com 19 years from now? Food for thought for your response/PM. k:

 

[DomainsInc]

the main problem with investing long term in the new gtlds is...they are going to keep on making new ones. every year or two till infinity possibly. so there will always be new tlds coming out, there will always be the same set of keywords available all over again. when there was but one, .com...it was much easier to lock up a niche or set of keywords but now...virtually impossible. the idea of investing into new gtlds like people did with .com 20 years ago won't work, in my opinion.

 

[Biggie]

Hi David


the "hook" with gtlds, is due in part to speculation about a "what if" scenario, like the .com boom back in the 90's


if you can spread the fear that you better get in while the getting is good mentality, then yeah...domainers will register them, thinking one day they will be the next "celebrity" domainer.




in that context, the reality is not about wise investments, it's about ego and personal claim to fame.

logically, .com will always rule, therefore it would take something extra special to replaced it. and no gtld so far, has come close to replacing .net/ or .org yet.


for sure, there will be resales for many gtlds registrations in time, but will the roi's or volume of sales be anywhere near that of traditional extensions.


the flaw in your premise of comparing internet 20 yrs ago to 20 years from now, is the landscape.

what you had then, was all you had to invest in, the ".extension" pool was smaller, but the "keyword" pool was wide open.


this time around, the ".extension pool is larger" (with a few redundancies ie: .pics .photography .photo), but notice that the "keyword pool smaller" for gtlds in comparison to com/net/org then..... and more expensive, with renewal fee's that are not guaranteed past initial registration.

there are simply waaaay too many keywords on "reserve".


so, no, imo it won't happen the same, there are too many folks, vying for too few keywords that are relevant to a .whatever



imo...

 

[Theo]

Totally a fad. Nobody registers them. They will perish by April 30th. ICANN will refund everyone.

 

[Theo]

Forgot to add <sarcasm> tags

 

[amplify]

Yeah, just had to do some population research and compare it to demographics of then, now and possible future population growth. I suppose there is no way of telling, except to register them and see. I think my money is safer in a retirement plan I have setup, mutual funds and a few diversified stocks. Calculated out, it is that 1 big sale, but made in monthly distributions that I'd be comfortable at after 50 (that is if I make it there, heavy :hat:'er :uhoh

Just was wondering takes with that added quantitative data rather than bash after bash without any backing but just opinionated posts. Could barely get through it and it did make me bash them as well, but didn't want to make the same mistake nearly 2 decades later (though it wasn't really up to me, I didn't want to work my ass off for $500+ doing slave labor to renew them...).

 

[Theo]

The bottom line is, it's not our daddy's Internet any more

 

[Shane]

I don't think any gTLD will ever become a top runner without strict regulation. I do believe if a gTLD operated in a similar manner to the .edu that it would stand a fighting chance. Imagine, if you will, an application based system that required signing an agreement to develop within a certain timeframe. Further, all development must adhere to strict quality guidelines to ensure only the top sites were built on this extension. This type of system would eliminate both spam and affiliate websites and all personal projects. This would allow the top domains to be developed by high-quality, legitimate businesses. In turn, this would bring a certain prestige to the extension. Users would begin to identify .whatever as a mediated, trustworthy source for both information and commerce. In my opinion, this is the only way for a gTLD to succeed in an overcrowded world full of hype.

 

[Gerry]

The name is the brand. The brand is the name.

No fad at all.

The key is estimating who will survive, who will perish. Which name+extension will be in demand and which extension will not sustain any demand and perish early.

Simply because some names cost more does not guarantee success nor is it a gauge for demand.

Most of the time I am searching I absolutely laugh out loud when I see register A charge $19 for a perceived "common" name and then $5,999 for a perceived "premium" name.

 

[katherine]

the "hook" with gtlds, is due in part to speculation about a "what if" scenario, like the .com boom back in the 90's

But there will be no second coming of .com.
Because the landscape is set. It's not like the Internet is new.

The GTLDs are here to stay, the question is: are they ever going to amount to anything ? I'm not too optimistic. But it's not my problem.
I prefer to stick to what already works, everything else is speculation. It's never too late to enter the market.

The problem is that domainers generally do not have a business plan, they know how to waste money on regs, but they don't factor the crushing renewal fees because they think hope they will sell fast
You gotta be super confident to keep and renew your domains for 20 years.

 

[Theo]

Personally, I'd rather have more choices, than having no choices. If the model fails, it won't happen in our lifetime, as this is a long term investment by the organizations that regulate the domain namespace.

That's why I profess making small, carefully placed investments than an all-you-can-eat feeding frenzy.

 

[Gerry]

I will take my chances with something like California.builders and glad to pay the renewal fee. I am confident that I will construct a site. I am confident of revenue generated to renew the name in a year's time.

 

[Gerry]

it won't happen in our lifetime

...nor will there be another opportunity to invest and invest early in our lifetime.

I agree com is king. Just like myspace was king at a moment in time.

 

[MobileDesigner]

These are "keyword driven" unlike the original gtld which were/are "url driven". Search engines will work differently. I work for one and see what theyre doing

 

[amplify]

These are "keyword driven" unlike the original gtld which were/are "url driven". Search engines will work differently. I work for one and see what theyre doing

I can only assume which one, knowing your location and it being near my hometown. You quite possibly work down the hall, up the stairs, across the street, etc. from someone.

That was one issue I was concerned with. Search engine algorithms when it comes to new gTLD's compared to the king, .com.

Will c4liforn1abu1ld3rs.com outrank c4liforn1a.bu1ld3rs or will they both be on the same playing field so to speak? Will it look further than the name itself and see if it's parked, rather than developed, etc.?

 

[DomainsInc]

These are "keyword driven" unlike the original gtld which were/are "url driven". Search engines will work differently. I work for one and see what theyre doing

all domains are made up of words...

 

[Biggie]

That's why I profess making small, carefully placed investments than an all-you-can-eat feeding frenzy.

Theo, you alluded to it quite well


as the timed releasing of these .whatevers, is a just that ...a chance to feed on a limited pool of keywords, served up in a buffet style of extensions.

...nor will there be another opportunity to invest and invest early in our lifetime.

I agree com is king. Just like myspace was king at a moment in time.

myspace was on a .com

application, cost, redundancy and longevity of .extension is the issue, not that of a website which exists on it.


imo...

 

[MobileDesigner]

Yes. But the keyword being searched is just that. Users would not type in "name domain .com" in the search engine, they would type "name domain" instead. And results will be seen differently (sorry, NDA) which would perfectly compliment these new .gtlds.
Regging domains carefully. "Ballerina.plumbing" would not make any sense and would throw such domains out of the search engine (sorry, darn NDAs).

when we old folks were regging .coms .nets and .orgs, we put "quotes" at the end and beginning of the keywords to see how many reults would appear. This was one of the main factors in determining regging a domain name. This was around 1997? Now its 2014. 17 years later. A lot has evolved. More companies were created. More people were born. New technologies were created. New names made. New fads and fashion looked upon. And so on. When you searched for a certain "keyword" in 1997, how many results came up compared to now? It just got huge! Therefore a restructure of search engines is desperately needed. I remembered seeing a google engineer saying nothing will change, thats BS. I dont care what he says. Hes wrong. As to my job, i work at the begining steps: taking in business requirements and designing them and then sending them off to development. Ive seen it. I usually see tgese things before developers do. It wont be too long before things will change. Im still regging regardless of what bashers think. Users depend now on searching from the search box. Not searching from the url.

The .com owners own all the good domains and would only sell them for $xx,xxx. Not all start ups will invest that much. No mom n pop place would pay that. Theyed rather add a few letters after that or not even getting a domain hence limiting the growth of the internet.
How many of yall own a plumbing domain extension? Exactly. This gives plumbers opportunities to reg their donain names tgus expanding opportunities.

With the new gtlds, it looks very good. Dont underestimate these. If you bought some of these domains, hold onto them. It will be worth the investment

all domains are made up of words...

 

[manyagem]

I hope you're right, MB. I'll be 68 this year, I'm not planning on leaving a portfolio of domain names in my will.

 

[asfas]

yes but....my questions are :

- Why would a mom-and-pop place need a category killer ? It just doesn't make sense to me. A so-and-so domain would be ok, possibly including location
- If everyone owned the equivalent of a premium domain like plumbing.com or plumber.com etc, how would people know which one is the big site when presented with a long list of results ?
- If expensive .COMs is the problem, then why do registries withhold all the good domains ?

Yes. But the keyword being searched is just that. Users would not type in "name domain .com" in the search engine, they would type "name domain" instead. And results will be seen differently (sorry, NDA) which would perfectly compliment these new .gtlds.
Regging domains carefully. "Ballerina.plumbing" would not make any sense and would throw such domains out of the search engine (sorry, darn NDAs).

when we old folks were regging .coms .nets and .orgs, we put "quotes" at the end and beginning of the keywords to see how many reults would appear. This was one of the main factors in determining regging a domain name. This was around 1997? Now its 2014. 17 years later. A lot has evolved. More companies were created. More people were born. New technologies were created. New names made. New fads and fashion looked upon. And so on. When you searched for a certain "keyword" in 1997, how many results came up compared to now? It just got huge! Therefore a restructure of search engines is desperately needed. I remembered seeing a google engineer saying nothing will change, thats BS. I dont care what he says. Hes wrong. As to my job, i work at the begining steps: taking in business requirements and designing them and then sending them off to development. Ive seen it. I usually see tgese things before developers do. It wont be too long before things will change. Im still regging regardless of what bashers think. Users depend now on searching from the search box. Not searching from the url.

The .com owners own all the good domains and would only sell them for $xx,xxx. Not all start ups will invest that much. No mom n pop place would pay that. Theyed rather add a few letters after that or not even getting a domain hence limiting the growth of the internet.
How many of yall own a plumbing domain extension? Exactly. This gives plumbers opportunities to reg their donain names tgus expanding opportunities.

With the new gtlds, it looks very good. Dont underestimate these. If you bought some of these domains, hold onto them. It will be worth the investment