Excellent article Duke--very well written!! Somewhat of a "change" from other Domain news oriented sites.
Just a couple of comments I had from the article:
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DNJ: He is primarily interested in one-word domains
My comment: Smart move! 2nd tier names will be plentiful in a few years time.
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Zouzas: .US if by far the best bet for those looking for an alternative to .com.
My Comment: Certain dot US names will be considered an "alternative" to dot com FOR US residents, and those doing business in the US.
I think that will be fully recognized in a few years time after we've distanced ourselves from the hype of the roll-outs. It appears Zouzas has picked up on this and is only going after solid names. I do not see anything wrong in his choice of dot US names so far. They are good/excellent alternatives to dot com. HOWEVER finding a good dot US alternative to dot com in the United States will be difficult. Made up names, and or MyBusiness.us type names are not a good fit for "investment" purposes. Especially since the "alternatives" are growing by the day.
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Zouzas: The only other extension that does not need branding is .US.
My Comment: Wrong. All extensions have to brand, even the dot com sites (retooling their image).
This is akin to which comes first the "chicken or the egg". In the online world people still HAVE have to find you otherwise you'll be without visitors to your site. So the ENTIRE URL is important to brand, not just the end.
Also remember Dot US is a ccTLD...not a gTLD. If I am looking to brand overseas, a Movie.US would not make sense. HOWEVER, since the US has one of the largest online populations, I don't see a problem AT ALL with trying to brand Movies.US here in the states. This is a situation where Movies.US is a very good alternative to it's dot com counterpart.
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Zouzas: Look anywhere and you will see the letters US.ââ¬Â Zouzas believes .US only needs to have people realize it is now available as a domain extension. He thinks the upcoming debut of kids.us will help make that common knowledge in America.
My comment: The connection with the "Kids.US" ending and a regular dot US name is well, not a very good one IMHO. The name recognition of .US is already well known given the fact some states use dot US third level URL address already:
www.state.sd.us (as an example). IF dot US is to take off it must "stand on it's own". The problem is an uphill battle since dot com is "America's TLD". So the best bet as Zouzas has seemed to pick up on would be to pick "Top Tier" dot US "dot com" alternatives.
FYI: Some states have actually stopped using their "State.SD.us" URL for promotional purposes in favour of "dot com" addresses.
Example:
http://www.discoveringmontana.com/css/default.asp
http://www.myflorida.com/
REASON: American's are used to dot com for obtaining information. Also, who likes a third level domain. So if I were a dot US owner I would DISTANCE myself from the "Kids.us" connnection.
POINT: If you go after dot us names, ONLY go after the best. That is my best professional advice I can give you.