The real reason why Afillias is giving away free .INFO domains

[mole]

1. They have no advertising budget so this is it, folks.

2. They want to beat the number of .ORGs registered

3. They are just trying to imitate .COM in its early days i.e. free to anyone who wanted it.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

Obviously. But their ultimate objective is again obvious: to have as many live and meaningful .info domains as possible. Giving away sites is their cheapest form of advertising.

 

[mole]

Obviously. But their ultimate objective is again obvious: to have as many live and meaningful .info domains as possible.

True.

4. To get people to do the expensive work for them by building meaningful sites with their own money.

 

[Leading Names]

1. They have no advertising budget so this is it, folks.

2. They want to beat the number of .ORGs registered

3. They are just trying to imitate .COM in its early days i.e. free to anyone who wanted it.

4. To keep their lead on biz registrations. I noticed for the weeks prior to them introducing this offer daily biz registrations were higher than .info (on the whole) and the .info lead of 200k or so was gradually getting smaller.

- Rob

 

[ShaunP]

5. To keep the misguided hope of the .info cult that believe that it will one day replace .com.

6. Wasn't selling many, might as well give them away.

7. To give Mole something to write about since the TRAFFIC 2004 thread was closed.

Shaun

 

[adoptabledomains]

Hype - Look at all the threads in the past couple weeks talking about it. Look at all the people who had none, who now have 25. Look at the new registrars that used it to get some customers who may or may not stay. Did anyone really have a domain at domainsite before the promo? This is also the third anniversary of the launch. A bump in the numbers just before that makes things look good.

Income - a year down the road, even if only 20% get renewed, it's a plus for them. Also, next year at drop cycle, some people will pick up drops that they wouldn't have thought to register themselves. Another boost on the 4th anniversary when names sell for $60+ on the drop services.

 

[actnow]

In marketing, there is an old, classic marketing strategy of giving away the razor
and make it up on the blade sales. And, isn't this an example of "sampling"?

If more people see people/companies using them. It will create a positive attitude and interest in .info.

In reality, what does it really cost Afillias to give away the names in the initial year?
Database and server cost.
Communication cost.
Customer Service.

I don't know what Afillias is charging the registrars. I assume it is only a token cost.

And, I am sure they have a formula on how many will be renewed.
How many more will be created because of the momentum.

I assume they have a 3 stage branding strategy on this promotion.
We are only seeing the first stage.

Personally, I think it was a brilliant idea. Classic example of thinking "outside of box".

Adoptable, I didn't mean to duplicate your points. I was typing it just as you
were posting your points.

 

[URLCollection]

I don't know what Afillias is charging the registrars. I assume it is only a token cost.

I heard there is no charge at all to the registars for new domain regs only, not renewals. Trying to build the ext. base, I think.

 

[clemzonguy]

This marketing will probably work somewhat. I am still buying .info names if they fit keywords I want. But that will not change the reality that I am getting more inquiries and sales on my .biz names from business owners.....oops did I just say that.

Overall I think that...

.INFO = Development For Websites By Speculators (information sites)
.BIZ = Development For Small Business (worldwide)
.US = Small/Large Business located within US.

Which is more valuable or better?
Depends on the project I think.