closed Why the value hierarchy for .COM .NET etc?

[Manic]

Why is .COM considered to be at the top in terms of value?

Is it due simply to people knowledge of its existance?

Does a .COM have a better chance of coming up in a search engine's results than a .US for example, even if the first part of the DN is identical?

Do "type-ins" play a major or minor role in .COM's dominance?

Just looking for answers...

Thanks in advance for any input!

 

[mole]

Dot-com is still the best extension for B2C, since you don't need to explain yourself to the unwashed hoards.

 

[domainicanicanica]

I am NOT an unwashed whore.

 

[DomeBase]

Just my opinions, since you asked...

Q. "Why is .COM considered to be at the top in terms of value? Is it due simply to people knowledge of its existance?"

A. That's probably the main reason and a good reason at that. Tremendous brand recognition. Like ATT once was for long distance, IBM once was for computers, Skidoo once was for snowmobiles and "800" still is for free telephone numbers.

Q. "Does a .COM have a better chance of coming up in a search engine's results than a .US for example, even if the first part of the DN is identical?"

A. I would guess yes by correlation but not causation. Prominence in search engines is heavily determined by longevity, links and traffic -- all of which are in .COMs favor. The other TLDs are generally more recent. My guess is that if you did some kind of test controlling for longevity, links and traffic -- that there would be little residual "bias" in SE listing. I have not heard any good arguments why a SE would have any motivation to favor one extension over another.

Finally, a plug to please vote in the DNForum poll on the relative value of extensions for investing... may vote for more than one...

Vote here:

http://www.dnforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4810

Thanks.

 

[Whois-Search]

Would you rather have a Ferrari or a Skoda ?

A can of Coca Cola or a can of nofrills coke ?

Nike trainers or plastic no brand trainers ?

Its just a sterotype that has built up with .com as being the best

all other domains do the same job - but you are paying for the name .com !

.com was first and was used by companies first.

.org has that organisation charity free feel to it

.net is like you can't afford a .com

.tv is just a gimik used on television

.co.uk is great in England - people like it better than .com

.us will become the .co.uk of America

 

Domebase put it well...the "recognition" factor of ".com," at least in North America, is predominant.

Furthermore, I think it will remain so for quite some time. There are some who argue for the other extensions by saying ".com" has been "tainted" by the new economy crash, but there seems to be little evidence for this. Companies in America still overwhelmingly use ".com" for their primary URL's, and advertising in magazines, television and radio show ".com" still to be in wide usage.

Despite the "dotcom" crash, the interent is still recognized as a tremendously important and powerful communications medium, and business on the net continues to grow.

A minor anecdote: the most popular radio station in my city, Toronto, is Mix 99.9. They first began their web presence as "mix999.com," and promoted their URL on air as such. Last year they began to use and promote "mix999.fm." However, after a few months, they abandoned the ".fm," and returned to the promotion of "mix999.com" as their primary URL. The ".fm" still resolves to their site, but they never mention it anymore. I suspect they discovered that people--even new "listeners" who hadn't bookmarked yet--were still going to the ".com."

As people in marketing know, knowledge of the newer extensions is mostly limited to webmaster and the domain industry, with the majority of registrations being corporate defensive and speculator. Very few businesses in the U.S. launch their web-presence outside of ".com"...it's too much of a marketing liability.

Miles

 

[DomeBase]

I am obliged to put on my .INFO hat for a moment with a couple questions

1. Do you prefer Nike shoes or lesser brand shoes? Nike. Do you prefer Nike shoes for $150 or lesser brand shoes for $40? Now that depends....

2. Twenty years ago, non-IBM PCs were called "IBM clones". When was the last time you heard someone call a Dell computer an IBM clone?

 

Originally posted by DomeBase
I am obliged to put on my .INFO hat for a moment with a couple questions

1. Do you prefer Nike shoes or lesser brand shoes? Nike. Do you prefer Nike shoes for $150 or lesser brand shoes for $40? Now that depends....

2. Twenty years ago, non-IBM PCs were called "IBM clones". When was the last time you heard someone call a Dell computer an IBM clone?

I don't think the Nike example quite works here. That's a consumer decision. The preference for ".com" is a business decision.

Although I'm not aware of any research into the mnemonics of domain extensions, experience and observation suggest that people, at least in America, associate ".com" with an internet address: it's the "mnemonic" default." People hear a URL advertised on the radio, or see it in a magazine or on tv, chances are they'll remember it as a ".com," even if that's not the case.

Can a business afford to lose roi on advertising by having customers attempt to e-connect with them via the "wrong" URL? Worse still, can a business afford to send customers to a competitor (or a non-competitor business) at the ".com" version of their URL? The latter is a very bad business scenario: your marketing dollars making business for your competitor.

The current internet-user realities continue to make ".com" the premium extension.

As for you "IBM clones" example, I'm not sure how that fits in here.

Miles

 

[mole]

Originally posted by Namethink


Although I'm not aware of any research into the mnemonics of domain extensions, experience and observation suggest that people, at least in America, associate ".com" with an internet address: it's the "mnemonic" default." People hear a URL advertised on the radio, or see it in a magazine or on tv, chances are they'll remember it as a ".com," even if that's not the case.

Can a business afford to lose roi on advertising by having customers attempt to e-connect with them via the "wrong" URL? Worse still, can a business afford to send customers to a competitor (or a non-competitor business) at the ".com" version of their URL? The latter is a very bad business scenario: your marketing dollars making business for your competitor.

The current internet-user realities continue to make ".com" the premium extension.

I agree that dot-com is the default extension for the internet in general, but don't let that blind you from other opportunities in the new gTLDs that could lead to a nice profit breakthrough.

I recently bought 'The Hidden Traps In Decision Making' from Harvard Business Online. It's a pdf file that costs $7, less than a cost of registering a name. Worth every cent.

What you've just said, Miles, seems to have the elements of

1. Anchoring
2. Status Quo
3. Sunk Costs

Cheers!

 

[DomeBase]

Originally posted by Namethink


As for you "IBM clones" example, I'm not sure how that fits in here.

Miles

I guess I was being a bit over the top in subtlety.

My point is that IBM once had such a brand monopoly on personal computers that anything other than an IBM was called an "IBM clone" in a derogatory manner. IBM had tremendous momentum and brand recognition. Now, 20 years later, the PC market has changed dramatically. The analogy is between IBM and .COM. Personally, I think that as long as there are domain names, .COM will be on top, but will it retain complete dominance? We shall see. (Ask the folks at Dell )

 

[DnPowerful]

that's it's because .com is short for "commie" and secretly America is commie.

We desire our opposite and all that.

Now, I think that commiecrosstrainer.com is available, though I'm worried about Phil Knight passing, er, getting wind of this.

Just my two rubles worth...:sad:

 

[mole]

commie.us is available, although I believe Bush would have issues to that

 

[Manic]

Thanks for answering my questions, domebase! (I've entered the poll) ...and to everyone else for your input.


It's become a very interesting discussion!