closed Dot Com will always be king????

[izopod]

Originally posted by CrucialDom

It is very hard not to see the fall of WorldCom as the aftermath of the DotCom bubble burst. DotCom has forever lost its credibility. I am afraid that .biz does not sound credible enough to take over, but .info is pure, simple and universal.

CrucialDom

I disagree with you that dot com has forever lost its credibility. There will be another day for "tech". Mark my words, there will be another day.

My feeling is we are all forgetting what domain names are used for. Simply put they are to help us access a web sites via http. Some companies brand their business name, using their URL address. Makes sense. This way people won't forget what their URL address is.

So domains names are half utility and half branding. As I stated early what is driving the internet is marketing. Your site will die if you do not (water) market it. So as my theory goes with almost 70 percent of the internet being "business" based, they WILL need a name to have people find them, and some will want to brand their business name, using http://www.My.biz . So by this fact alone PEOPLE WILL brand the biz domain. Otherwise they will go out of business. In my case, I plan to market the sh#%$ out of http://www.canoe.biz . I am not doing this because I am in love with dot biz, or dot com if it were a com. I am doing it for basic business survival. If you think about it. This is ulitimately the reason why com has it's current value. It is also why .biz will have value in the future.

Will some busineses use "info" to brand their name? Yes and No. Take DomeBase's, http://www.healthinsurance.info. This is a very good info name IMHO. The utility of the name is definitely there...Easy to remember, common term, and very much in demand. However the very pretense of the name gives a potential visitor a "heads up" they will just get "info" when they go to the site. From a business marketing standpoint you may not want to call yourself, HealthInsurance.info. You may list your URL address in promotional products, but you may not opt to CALL yourself by your info name. See the difference between com/biz and info

Of course we all know Dome's site is information only. This is the built in value of the dot info TLD. When someone goes to his site, they will expect info. They will not be disappointed. They will remember, and visit often. He may throw up a banner ad to cover costs. What I fear with dot info names is that they will be used to only sell things like a dot com/biz will most likely do. That conflicts with the "info" ending, and therefore would negatively impact it's value as a TLD IMHO.

To wrap up:

1) Don't forget what a domain name is for (first and foremost)
2) Marketing Goals seem to drive uses for domain names
3) Business by there very nature "have to" promote their address. That will solidfy .biz's future.
4) To add to the branding a lot of internet based companies use their URL address as their business name.
5) Com (the TLD) has not been hurt by the dot com bust. It's utility is still there. Just refer back to #3 why dot com will also be around.
6) There will be another "tech revolution". Get ready for it, but don't forget the mistakes of the past

izopod

 

[Duke]

I disagree with you that dot com has forever lost its credibility. There will be another day for "tech". Mark my words, there will be another day.

I totally agree with this. Tech history is marked by booms and busts. The next leg in the cycle will be an upswing and I also believe it will be a very powerful one. .Com did not cause anybody a problem - you can blame the bust on bad business plans. Ideas like trying to sell 40-pound bags of pet food via the internet.

.Com is still intact and when the next uptick in the cycle is underway it will still be the reigning king. However, with the internet still growing at an enormous clip, I expect domain demand to eventually outstrip the good names .com can supply and that we will see another extension or two gain acceptance. Right now I am trying to figure out which ones those will be so I can pick up a few dozen names now while they are cheap!

 

[CrucialDom]

Originally posted by izopod
I disagree with you that dot com has forever lost its credibility. izopod

I guess I was too slow to edit my post
I immediately realized that I went over the top.
Also with my statement on .biz
However my long term favourite is still .info

If I was given the choice today that I could have either business.com, business.info or business.biz right now I would choose business.com.

However if I was given the choice today that I could have either business.com, business.info or business.biz in 2-3 years from now I would choose business.info

(Wait a minute what am I doing - I am trying to buy cheap .infos and here I am promoting it instead!!!)

CrucialDom

 

[CrucialDom]

Originally posted by Omni
CrucialDom I still don't get it. Care to explain?

From what I understand, WorldCom have accounting malpractice - and I see no link between that and DotCom. Please explain.

Why did WorldCom have accounting malpractice? Because they had to cover up for a very bad economy. Their expectations did not meet reality. Wait a minute have we seen this before? Oh, yes when the DotCom bubble burst!

CrucialDom

 

[Duke]

if I was given the choice today that I could have either business.com, business.info or business.biz in 2-3 years from now I would choose business.info

If someone offers you that choice please let me know, as I would like to pick up business.com since you will be passing on it anyhow !

Most of the new extensions left me cold initially but I am warming up to .us and .info. The only thing about .info is that to me it kind of has the sound of being a non-commercial site (like .org). I kind of expect to see a lot of info there (which is good) but not a lot of stuff for sale (making it less than ideal for commerce). Maybe it is just me! Also, something about .biz just does not sound professional to me and I still haven't gotten past that initial impression.

 

[CrucialDom]

Originally posted by izopod

There will be another day for "tech". Mark my words, there will be another day.

I totally agree with you, but when that day comes the "tech" companies will also prefer .info :swg:

CrucialDom

 

the Dot com bubble burst didn't affect the dot com's domains...
uhh?
I guess it "only" affected their irrational prices...
tech companies will be using .infos on the next tech bubble...yeah the problem is that these companies own their respective .info's eg: microsoft.info oracle.info etc etc...and you can't unless you are planning to infringe tm's....
dot com is here to stay is imbedded deeply in people's minds...to assume that companies will switch to .info .us etc etc it only rivals the past "century" Marketing mistake of Coca -Cola changing to New coke...I really see microsoft switching advertisment brochures logos tv-ads magazines banners to .info...! why?
surely somebody will find some minimal use to some of this new extensions....but nothing will ever overthrone .com .....
at the risk of repeating myself:
name the last 10 sites you visited... .com .com .com .com...
name the last 10 banners/ads you saw.....com .com .com .com
Oh Boy...I feel the rotten tomatoes coming....

 

[dtobias]

I checked my browser history (the Mozilla browser has a very well-organized history list of the sites I've visited) to see what sites I've been to today and whether they're "all dot-com" like the last poster suggested.

The breakdown:
.com: 36
.org: 9
.net: 5
.info: 3
.us: 2
.uk: 2
.ca: 1
.dk: 1
.int: 1

OK, .com sites are the majority, but there are others, and in fact, some of the non-dot-coms are the ones I go to most regularly, sites like slashdot.org and icannwatch.org.

 

[Duke]

Interesting Dan. Mole and some others suggests that extensions are becoming less important. I wonder if the proliferation of new extensions is having or will have a dilutive effect on .com. When people see so many variations they may give up on trying to figure out what they all mean and pay less attention to the extension. I know from my personal surfing habits the extension doesn't matter. I rarely type anything in. I travel with hyperlinks and bookmarks (usually made after reaching a site I like via a hyperlink). I'm not suggesting a sea change is happening this minute but it does make you wonder what the domain world will look like 5 years from now.

 

[izopod]

Originally posted by Duke of Earl

Also, something about .biz just does not sound professional to me and I still haven't gotten past that initial impression.

Keep in mind of what I said earlier. Businesses will use dot biz and to stay alive they will have to spend money to "brand" their business. Some will use the URL address as their business name. In time "biz" will everywhereâ„¢...

To whomever said that TLD 's won't matter in time, I respectively disagree. Users still type in names they are familiar with. It's money you don't have to spend to get them to your site. It's why businesses name themselves after their URL address. If you are Protection.bizâ„¢ (actual name of company) and say dot safety and dot secure come out. I will make damn sure everyone knows that Protection.biz is online. Protection.safety or Protection.secure can spend their own money to brand their sites. In business you leave nothing to chance.

Again, what is the purpose of a URL address...IT DOES matter if someone goes to Protection.bizâ„¢ instead of Protection.info. If your reasoning is that SE will do your "branding for you", then you will be out of business in short order.

just my .02. A lot of interesting comments. I think as I've stressed we've got to remember what URLs are for. If I can get people to remember Protection.bizâ„¢, then I've done my job. It's why this new company I am building will be called "Protection.biz". Not Izopod's Protection Service Inc.

izopod

 

[Omni]

Originally posted by CrucialDom


Why did WorldCom have accounting malpractice? Because they had to cover up for a very bad economy. Their expectations did not meet reality. Wait a minute have we seen this before? Oh, yes when the DotCom bubble burst!

CrucialDom

Still can't see a link Is that really why WorldCom "covered up" for the bad economy? (the expectations part)

 

[mole]

Why .biz is better than .info, and why it is not ;-

I have over 15 prime keyword domains for a particular industry on both the .info and .biz platform - kind of like a mirror, so I'm balanced either way.

I can see the value of .info in that it can do exactly what it says, to get information about something. Which by itself is a very compelling motivator to visit a site.

Nonetheless, getting information about something is just one aspect of the web as an e-business tool. You need to transact, to collaborate, to be seen as a business entity unto itself. Somehow, it strikes me that .info - as an address - seems a little less rounded.

 

[DomeBase]

Originally posted by Duke of Earl


I still buy mostly .com and it is not likely to go down any time soon (if ever). But I am going to try a little diversification this time around!

I completely agree Duke. I view it exactly like portfolio diversification in finance.

In some respects, this whole argument of .COM "vs." other extensions is like a argument of stocks with a Beta of 2 (risky) "vs." stocks with a Beta of .5 "vs." bonds...

With a diversified portfolio that is a mix of assets with different tradeoffs of risk and return, one can get a higher return with lower risk... due to the law of large numbers... see, for example...

http://www.healthinsurance.info/HIRISK.HTM

For example, Microsoft may be the market leader in an industry... but do you really want ALL your money invested in it?

 

[mole]

Originally posted by DomeBase
For example, Microsoft may be the market leader in an industry... but do you really want ALL your money invested in it?

That's a good example Bob. Many people are backward thinking. Their heuristics are based on past experience and past information. They cling to past comfort zones, and past benchmarks to validify this feeling. It's tough being forward looking. You have to confront risk, sometimes very high risks, if you have the entreprenual makeup and the will to succeed. Risk is totally unacceptable to some, funny as it may seem.

The classic risk vs return business model.
i.e. The higher the risk the higher the return. Anyone can take the easy way out, that's comforting to the psyche.

The funny thing about .info and .biz are that the risks of being wrong are minimal to say the least. If you missed the LR, you will need to buy off those domains you want from resellers. And some of the prices you can get them for are great!

 

[DomeBase]

Thanks for the compliment Mole. I can not say that there is no risk to .INFO or .BIZ. There is a possibility that both will bomb and that anything spent on domains with those extensions will be wasted. However, I think that this possibility is sufficiently small, and the possibility of great appreciation sufficiently large, to make some of the new extensions worthwhile additions to a diversified domain portfolio. Based on the DNForum survey results, looks like many others believe that as well.

One more analogy... right now a lot of heart ailments are addressed by mechanical devices... and probably will be for the foreseeable future. However, there is a possibility that advances in biotech/genetics will lead to genetically engineered tissue that may become more successful in treating these ailments and render mechanical devices obsolete. If you are a medical device company... what do you do? Diversify into biotech? Keep an eye on biotech? Keep to your medical device business only? Do you get in early on biotech or take a "wait-and-see" attitude. Key concept is both strategies have risks... the risk of action on something that goes bust... or the risk of inaction on something that goes big. Its a business decision. For my two cents, it is important to not only maintain a strong position in today's prime market solutions, but also keep aware of (and possibly hedge against) new competitors.

Thanks again.

 

[mole]

Originally posted by DomeBase
For my two cents, it is important to not only maintain a strong position in today's prime market solutions, but also keep aware of (and possibly hedge against) new competitors.

Hi Bob. I'm unfortunately old enough to see too many of my clients (over 300 :evil: ) fall to competition, eg. Kodak, IBM, so I agree with your observations totally.

Even as .biz and .info takes their baby steps forward in this fast and reckless internet arena, their lifespan will be limited. The optimal 'window' is what we need to identify for the peak boom of these new extensions. Any one knows the answer?

 

Quote; Even as .biz and .info takes their baby steps forward in this fast and reckless internet arena, their lifespan will be limited. The optimal 'window' is what we need to identify for the peak boom of these new extensions. Any one knows the answer? [/B][/QUOTE]
great summation...bottom line...a few of this extensions will have very limited applications more complemmentary in nature (microsoft.info tablets.info..) at best....perhaps ...identifing these niches is the key...these sites in their complemmentary roles won't create revenue or be commercial (.com) but perhaps will help as a marketing tool hence the extension will never command the yesteryear prices of the dot com's... news flash: the Biotech bubble burst too .....the genome phenomena needed a strong economy...
the chances of dot com reversing its role on the internet are one in a million.....for those that like the underdogs; what you need is a nuclear war! or something of that magnitude in order to reverse the internet from what way it is now..... it expanding now thru undeveloped countries and at the end ....the King will remain the same ...
cheers Signor Moli
Long Live the King dot com!