mole said:
I don't think you should underestimate the power of the .US extension. Sure, everyone wants a .COM for its image of stability and defacto representation of the web. But .US domains have its own inherent branding values for the site that uses them well. As the web matures, users will mature and will quickly understand that navigation is more than just .COM. Germans, for example, use .DE religiously because it almost guarantees the site will be in German. I think global reach, local comfort should not be taken lightly. Google doesn't.
I don't think you can really compare Germans and Americans, and the situations in their respective countries/societies.
It is widely believed that average German citizen is inherently smarter than his American counterpart. That is because unlike an average American, who is brought up on a steady diet of localized mind-dumbing-brain-candy-smorgasbord of Jerry Springer, Jackass, WWF etc... average German is brought up with, more or less, educated and self-experienced international knowledge of other nations, cultures, values, trends, issues etc...
So, while average American, already weak on an independent self-thought process, further bombarded by the American corporate .com advertising messages, continues to identify internet with the letters .com, average German (aka "the independent thinker") is already aware of other extensions, or is at least willing to become aware that the world is a big place, and explore other extensions which might be offering different content etc...
And you can't compare .us and .de, either. Because to americans (even if they were aware of it,) .us is just another english language extension (in addition to most others) while .de is a strictly German extension that breathes and functions in German language only.
So, when Germans want to look inward, they visit local .de websites. And let's not forget that not every german speaks English, so for those .de is the only choice, and it alwyas be that way. While on the other hand .us is not, and will never be that way.
Now, this is not a general opinion on the future of .us extension, but just a comment that you
can't compare situation in Germany, and in the U.S. and say, oh look German and English love their national extensions, so by the same token - we will too?
It's just not the same.