Are Premium .US domains worth it?

[LarsenDomains]

I have seen several gambling domains sell very well on Flippa

I just came across an awesome domain on ebay for $50

estibot appraised at 6600

worth the bite?

Average Monthly Searches:	300,120
Average Cost Per Click:	$7.02 USD
Average Ad Competition:	high

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[south]

As always, it depends on the name. Feel free to PM me the name & I'll tell you what I think.

 

[grcorp]

Blindly, I will give you a very likely "no". Estibot very poorly estimates these values, especially on ccTLD domains.

Chances are there's a reason why it's listed for only $50. I'm assuming it's a buy it now, based on your wording.

Feel free to pm me the domain as well. I'd be glad to give you my take on it.

 

[LarsenDomains]

Ive seen some good .co domains that I have seen are they worth it even if its exact keyword? like financecompanies.co for example..

 

[dcristo]

It's one of the weaker extensions. Whenever I see available domains it tends to be either .biz/.us

I think .us will always struggle because it will always be considered .com's second cousin for American folks.

Who the heck would want to develop a .us? Not many people. With such a small pool of end users it limits its value significantly and only the super premium keywords would be worth anything, and most of those would already be taken.

 

[hugegrowth]

Timely post, DNJournal just reported that .US is planning an advertising blitz, should be good for the extension.

It's been a long time coming.

http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2012/dailyposts/20120416.htm

 

[south]

We have heard this before. Let's see if it materializes.

Timely post, DNJournal just reported that .US is planning an advertising blitz, should be good for the extension.

It's been a long time coming.

http://www.dnjournal.com/archive/lowdown/2012/dailyposts/20120416.htm

 

[lotk.com]

I have a few premium .us and have been holding for a while. I recently sold one of them for $4888 through Afternic, so there are some buyers out there.

 

[Bill F.]

As long as Americans consider themselves the center of the universe, they will see .com as the default. However, as American power declines, and as more .coms are bought up by non-American companies, I can see a tipping point where .us will take off. This is almost inevitable. With cctlds taking off everywhere, Americans just need to realize that .com is not America's own cctld. Eventually, they'll start to notice.

The bigger question is whether Neustar will do the right thing in promoting it. Or failing that, hand .us over to someone who will promote it properly. For that reason, I keep a few on speculation. I haven't sold a one, though there are some domainers who sell them fairly regularly.

 

[dcristo]

^ I have to disagree. The .us extension is a different situation to other ccTLD. When it comes to ccTLD they have always been the .com of whatever local extension. There isn't the same relationship between .us and America. In fact, I reckon a lot of people think .com is for Americans, even though it's a global extension.

I don't think the fact that .com is not a ccTLD matters one bit. I mean why should it? The extension is established, recognized, trusted, SEO friendly, gets type-in traffic (depending on name) I think .us will be always fighting a losing battle and has a small pool of end users which makes it fairly low value.

The beauty of online marketing is that you can develop a global brand. Very few companies would want to limit their exposure to just the U.S. and if they did they'd want the .com

 

[Bill F.]

The beauty of online marketing is that you can develop a global brand. Very few companies would want to limit their exposure to just the U.S. and if they did they'd want the .com

All kinds of companies limit their exposure with .de, co.uk., etc.- and to much smaller markets than the USA. Sure global brands would want the .com, but what about the vast majority of businesses that will never be global brands? What if I need tax assistance, and the .com company is a Canadian or British tax accountant? What of I need a builder, and the .com I visit is based in Australia? Most small business in the world are confined to one country, and that's why cctlds have done so well.

A good example would be asbestos inspection. The domain asbestos-inspection.com takes me to a UK website. Many asbestos sites are UK or Australia, though I need one in the USA. Wouldn't the .us be an advantage in that case? It tells me that my click won't be wasted by taking me to someone who cannot help me because they're in another country.

As I see it, the crux of your point is that Americans (and others) see .com as the de facto USA cctld. My point is that perceptions can change. In fact, I think one of the reasons that .com will continue to be the leader is exactly because it is global. On the other hand, the strength in the cctld is that much of the business we do is not global, but local. The perception of Americans and some others that .com is American is not based on fact. It's erroneous, and eventually the disparity between that perception and reality will be so wide that it cannot be ignored.

Again, I am not talking about today, or even next year. But I think the shift will come.

 

[dcristo]

Like I said .us is a different situation to other ccTLD's.

Like .com is synonymous with the U.S. the ccTLD is synonymous with that locality. The established ccTLD's have recognition, type-in traffic, SEO benefits, etc etc. None of that applies to .us

Sure there will always be small businesses confined to the U.S. market but what benefit is there in choosing .us over .com to target the U.S. ?

Their egos aren't going to say "I'm a proud American I only want .us" it's just not going to happen unless there is something of value to be gained from migrating to this extension.

All kinds of companies limit their exposure with .de, co.uk., etc.- and to much smaller markets than the USA. Sure global brands would want the .com, but what about the vast majority of businesses that will never be global brands? What if I need tax assistance, and the .com company is a Canadian or British tax accountant? What of I need a builder, and the .com I visit is based in Australia? Most small business in the world are confined to one country, and that's why cctlds have done so well.

The Canadian tax accountant would likely have a .ca and the Aussie builder would have a .com.au

I think it would require big US brands to actively use .us for the extension to gain any momentum and for others to follow suit.

But i think i'd prefer my chances of winning the lottery than that actually happening.

I think your basically saying the more .com gets diluted with global websites the more appealing .us will become? I don't really get that logic. For the most part, if you want to get in touch with a local business you will find them on a .com and with internet shopping, customers have become accustomed to dealing with overseas companies for years now. This is not alienating the .com extension and I doubt it's frustrating U.S. consumers.

 

[URLtrader]

I have few premium one word .us domains for which I have declined several $$$$ offers. Waiting for nice $$,$$$ offer each.

 

[dcristo]

^ Do you have less than premium .us and have they been receiving offers?

 

[URLtrader]

^ Do you have less than premium .us and have they been receiving offers?

Yes. I have sold 2 word strong keyword domains for $$$$.

 

[dcristo]

Yes. I have sold 2 word strong keyword domains for $$$$.

Nice. Can you give me an idea about search volume / sector ?

 

[URLtrader]

Nice. Can you give me an idea about search volume / sector ?

Searches 110,000 , CPC above $7 , Medical sector , sold for $3900

 

[dcristo]

Very nice. When you said strong keyword you meant it. Was the buyer a company, developer?

 

[URLtrader]

End user, a Doctor.

 

[katherine]

The US is indeed a peculiar market, .us is not synonymous with the US and I think it's not just because of Neustar's poor performance. Not even the fact that it was made available to the public late (2002).
The US also has .gov .mil which are not shared with other nations.
+ .edu (80% American I would guess)
That's it, unlike other nations the US has more than one TLD

Ten years ago, many ccTLDs that are thriving today were still struggling for recognition.
Things can change, but they don't have too.
In the case of .us I'm skeptical. It might never take off. But you never know.