.info .biz .info ??

[Grrilla]

What is your thinking on these exts, which one do you prefer for the short term, and what do you think the long term prospects are for each? Also interested in hearing from the naysayers-those that think either one of these TLD's should be avoided.

During a recent search/analysis of names in a technology group, I found a definite trend towards.biz popularity -biz being taken w/.net and .info still available-particularly where name could be identified w/ product or sector of industry.

In general searches, I have been finding .info available w/ some very good names, which are appropriately matched w/ .info, but where the .com or .org are already filling the niche. Has made me somewhat retiscent about picking up .info names (unless keyword is very, very good).

Additionally, where do you see .us fitting into the scenario? More and more, I'm viewing .us as being a final resort option for picking up the strong names (ie nothing else left, but the name is too good to pass up). Also feel that .co.uk is outdistancing .us in popularity.

Any observations?

 

[JMJ]

.biz business related.
.info information related
.us anything us related

 

[Grrilla]

Thanks. That was informative.:zzz: (If only it was as cut and dry as that.)
I guess it follows that

.com commerce related
.net network (the internetwork) related
.org relates to organizations

 

[Sharpy]

Eventualy, there will come a time when you will rarely see good .com/net/org dropping. Every day, these names get picked up by domainers. These domainers are not going away. Therefore only a really stupid mistake will allow good com/net/org drops to occur. .us/.biz will continue to grow in value as early speculators who don't have the patience to let them mature will let them drop.

At least I think that's the way it will go

 

[jj2ii3344]

Personally I like .us more than .info, which is more than .biz

 

[Kodeking]

I think both info and biz are equally worthless. Reasons:
info is four characters long. 33%-50% larger than other extentions
biz is not the proper spelling. Shouldn't it be .bis ?

 

[Grrilla]

I think both info and biz are equally worthless. Reasons:
info is four characters long. 33%-50% larger than other extentions
biz is not the proper spelling. Shouldn't it be .bis

or .bus? bu? Are you given me the biz? Showbiz. Insurance biz.
Restaurant biz. DN biz. ___?___ biz. "Biz" rhymes and is frequently used in conversation and the media as a shortened form of "business".

.info is 33% or one character longer than .com, .net, .org .biz. 50% longer than .us and country codes. Can't think of a more appropriate ext for an information site, however.

Maybe the basic question is whether the demand for websites and DN's has room for .info and .biz and where the cut-off point in terms of name quality lies. IOW, Sex.info, Cancer.info, Travel.info being above the line and peanutbuttersandwich.info not having a demand to fill.

But I must admit, hearing that .info and .biz are worthless has a sobering effect. (As does hearing rumors that TLD's/exts will be abolished within 10 years and replaced by a keyword system).

 

[Ron Jackson]

Originally posted by Grrilla
I must admit, hearing that .info and .biz are worthless has a sobering effect.

It has a surprising effect on me, especially since I just sold a .biz for $1,000 this week (to a German company that approached me). It's funny, the stores I shop at accepted the money almost as if it WAS worth something!

Also got $395 this week for a .info (ChicagoHomes.info, sold on Afternic). I paid $7 each for those two domains. I guess my question would be, if products I sell for a profit of over $1350 in one week are considered worthless, how much do I need to get before they become worth something?

 

[armstrong]

The good thing about such end-user sales is that the buyers would be sure to develop, which would help raise public awareness of the alternative extensions.

As does hearing rumors that TLD's/exts will be abolished within 10 years and replaced by a keyword system

If that happens, we would in effect have only one TLD, which would be worse than when we started with only com/net/org/gov/edu/int. I can't even begin to imagine why we would take such a backward step. That woud be totally illogical!

 

[x3knet]

.biz and .info extensions are not really useful to most people. Yes, they both do open MANY oppotunities for different URL's that may already be taken under the .net, .com, and .org extensions, but .biz is improperly spelled (already above said) and .info is longer than a .com which is saying that people would rather a shorter extension than a 4 letter one.. this is only my opinion though

 

[RJ]

.COM's may always be the first choice for development, but .INFO domains have a lot of potential and often are the best alternative to a .COM. They work excellent for certain purposes like geographical sites, fan sites, and most content oriented sites. "Info" is a word that transcends many languages barriers also.

Kodeking, it's obviously true that .info is an extra character longer than .com or .net, but I don't agree that this fact along should diminish its usefulness. Instead of considering the length of the extension alone, how about thinking of the whole domain name? Since most short names are gone in .com already, alternatives will be longer. (ie: Site.Info is shorter than GreatSite.Com)

.BIZ just looks goofy with the slang spelling of "business". I can't imagine any professional business utilizing it.

 

[painperdu]

I few months ago I sold a .info and .us together for $500. Again, not too shabby for a $16 investement.

I like .info because it is a universally reconized term and fits right in with one of the main reasons people flock to the net: information. I really doubt that people will refuse to go to a site because of the one extra extension letter. Conversly, is .us more visited because it has one fewer letter than .com?

 

[DSL]

If you have seen .info and .biz arent doing too well. However, .us is shooting up

 

[Ron Jackson]

Well I like .US a lot, but I am doing fine with .info & .biz as well and they are currently doing better than .us in global markets (they also had a head start though as they debuted several months earlier). I just sold a package of more than 80 .biz and .info domains to a major domain investor today.
.US's time will come too.

 

[mole]

Originally posted by -RJ-
[B.BIZ just looks goofy with the slang spelling of "business". I can't imagine any professional business utilizing it. [/B]

Neither can I :]

http://www.hewlettpackard.biz

 

[Tippy]

.info and .biz are fine in my book, the term/word/Domain just has to fit.

Mike

 

[x3knet]

.US is going up HIGH in ranking mainly only because its a 2 char extension which people LOVE because they dont like to type that much... and if you get a 3char .us name, wow, people would love it.. like x3k.us its SO SHORT people would pay SO MUCH for me.. thats how im thinkin about it lol.. opinions anyone?

 

[Tippy]

I dont think I'd touch a 3 character .US unless it ment something like mp3.us etc...

Mike

 

[Grrilla]

I know .ws is almost universally disliked among domainers, but out of of the 25 names I recently put up for sale at AfterNic Bazaar in a "housecleaning", the only two that have sold, so far, (one almost immediately, 2nd in day 2), are both .ws names. In both instances, the names are very good ones, but have the weak ext. This, along w/ what I am seeing is being purchased in the resellers market (based on TLD availabilities in batch searches) is indicating to me, that .info and .biz are both very viable if used properly, and if they are a good fit with a good keyword. Theoretically, I can see where the naysayers are coming from, but the theories don't appear to be lining up w/ current events in the marketplace.

 

[Ron Jackson]

Originally posted by Grrilla
I can see where the naysayers are coming from, but the theories don't appear to be lining up w/ current events in the marketplace.

That's exactly right. I thought I had it all figured out about a year ago but I have had to change my mind about some things based on what buyers are spending money on. At the end of the day, they are the ones who decide what is worth having and what isn't.

I love the .com only guys who proudly tell you they have never owned a .info and never will, then proceed to tell you that there is no market for them. If they have never particpated in the new extension market and never plan to, how would they have any idea what is happening in that market? They crack me up. It's like me telling active traders in the pork bellies market that they are wasting their time when I don't know a thing about pork bellies!(well...glancing down at my stomach...I know a little)

 

[Grrilla]

If that happens, we would in effect have only one TLD, which would be worse than when we started with only com/net/org/gov/edu/int. I can't even begin to imagine why we would take such a backward step. That woud be totally illogical!

Again, this is only a rumor, (something I picked up off of a thread at another discussion group). I don't think it would be you or I (or most others at NP) who would take the step. It falls more in line w/ a changing of the guard, ie the United Nations or another international group taking control.

I love the .com only guys who proudly tell you they have never owned a .info and never will, then proceed to tell you that there is no market for them.

My first contact w/ other domainers was through the Usenet group "alt Domain Names for Sale" where, at least back then, the strongest, most vociferous posters were in the .com only group. I now realize how easily influenced one can be by others opinions.

My recent "housecleaning" included my 3 .ws names based, in fact, on being swayed by the opinions of others in a thread here at NP. http://www.namepros.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10632
I appreciate the balanced input that this thread is receiving.

 

[jj2ii3344]

Agreed with Tippy, I wouldn't mind getting sex.us, but even 3 letters ones like qqx.us is out of my interest!

 

[AdoptableDomains]

Personally, I think .info will be the upcoming star TLD in the future. It has better universal acceptance as the first 4 letters are the same as the translated spellings of "information" in many languages besides english. This I don't believe to be true with .biz. People go the internet for information and info fits real well. Many of those people use the information to make a purchase decision, so I think there is noting wrong with giving information to intice a sale and do business.

I agree it would be hard to take serioius a major company using the slang expression for business. It sounds to "showy" or hollywoodish like "show biz". Personally, I think .inc or .corp would have been much better for big business. .info is a lot less pretentious.

.us is great for an american company or a US division of a company. However, it may lead one to believe a comany doesn't care about the rest of the world if they only have a .us name. used to differentiate local offices like sedo.us vs. sedo.co.uk and sedo.de, I think is a good business approach for many. The US situs rules bar (or should bar) many from using them though.

I am a little biased since I recently purchased several hundred good dropped info's. However, No, .info is never going to be to domains what real estate is to downtown New York. However there is plenty of room for companies to do business in other cities just as there is room for cyber companies to do business in the .info realm. I think .com is king for trademark names, but other extensions are okay for more generic uses.

As an example, there is no way I could have gotten a name like retirementplans.com. Maybe I could get retirementplansavings.com or retirement-plan-services.com. However, I think I have a much better chance marketing retirementplans.info, which I got in a recent drop. For the right name like this, there are hundreds if not thousands of potential users from brokers, banks, individual companies, cpa's, or legal firms that could effectively use this name. You just have to watch what you pick to market. On the other hand a name like uraniumprocessing.info would have few customers and few potential buyers (hopefully) to make it worthwhile as an investment.

I think info will be in a race for second with .net, and for informational international sites. I see many more .info deletes being picked up than I do .biz domains. I also see a lot of pretty fair .infos where the .us is not even registered yet.

I already see .org finding it's niche going back to it's non-profit or organization structure use and falling out of favor as being used in business. Even though technically every corporation is an "ORGanization".

.biz may find a niche with smaller businesses that just want shorter email addresses than available in .com. I have a few of these where the market is broad and the extension fits well.

I've recently put my money on .info over org/biz/us. however, I wouldn't pass on the same name in net or obviously com.

I also obtained a couple rather expensive .aero domains recently for personal development (you can't sell them). I have plans to develop them into active and profitable sites. There aren't a lot developed yet, but being a closed industry they have more credibility.

(side note: I got books.aero, photo(s).aero, airplane(s).aero, planes.aero, privatepilot.aero, and CFI.aero which is the acronym for "certified flight instructor".)

You can and have to be more picky in the secondary TLD's. To use another analogy, .coms are like diamonds with even bad ones having prestige and some value in industrial use. The .info and .biz are like rubies, opals, or other gemstones. Good ones are valuable, and bad ones are just useless colored rocks.

 

[RJ]

Originally posted by mole
Neither can I :]

http://www.hewlettpackard.biz

That's a good example of a defensive registation, but how about a Fortune 500 company that is really putting a .biz to good use or uses one for their primary web presence? Hewlett Packard uses hp.com

Originally posted by AdoptableDomains
Personally, I think .info will be the upcoming star TLD in the future. It has better universal acceptance as the first 4 letters are the same as the translated spellings of "information" in many languages besides english. This I don't believe to be true with .biz. People go the internet for information and info fits real well. Many of those people use the information to make a purchase decision, so I think there is noting wrong with giving information to intice a sale and do business.

Great post Mark. Your observations about .info are spot on.

 

[mole]

Originally posted by -RJ-
but how about a Fortune 500 company that is really putting a .biz to good use or uses one for their primary web presence?

For every Fortune 500 company, there are hundreds of thousands of other companies/SMEs/SOHOs in this world who need, or will eventually need, some form of web presence.

.BIZ was created as a namespace to establish new virtual terrain for these companies/SOHOs who continue to stream onto the Internet everyday as it becomes increasingly more a part of everyday life.

The issue is not one of whether .BIZ can replace .COM, but the right of every business netizen to secure a decent sounding name without having to take a mortgage with the bank.

It is good that speculators don't see .BIZ worthy enough to work out a sweat over. Well stay away, let the people who really need these names for their businesses have a fair crack at them for reg fee. This is after all, 'restricted' namespace for bona fide business usage, and not for cradle-to-death reselling.

Originally posted by AdoptableDomains
I agree it would be hard to take serioius a major company using the slang expression for business. It sounds to "showy" or hollywoodish like "show biz". Personally, I think .inc or .corp would have been much better for big business. .info is a lot less pretentious.

It never ceases to amaze me how the business vernacular has evolved over the years. Fact is, biz is a very common vernacular used in the corporate world and business publications - to conveniently abbreviate the word business. It is easy to get blind-sided if your day-to-day job does not expose you to the numerous occurances of that term, but that does not mean its not bizzing (sic).

I would understand if someone was a fish monger all his life. Such a word would be simply ridiculous to his/her ears, just like .ORG was to me back in 1995.

I would, however, be extremely puzzled by someone who watches CNN and its BizNews everyday, and thinks .BIZ is a coloquel slang used by the wannabe riffraff to sound level with the corporate glamor of the white-collar world.

If don't believe how commonly occuring the term biz is, just put it up as a single keyword on Google Adwords. I used to get 150-200 click throughs PER DAY for that term, let alone the thousands of impressions it was generating every 24hrs. Boy, was that an expensive exercise on my credit card!