I think that there is another way to look at this; if you compare the price point of a .info (89 cents), the fact that there are many good names available for hand reg (for example, i reggd SipTrunks.info, ExcerciseMachine.info, TelephoneBill.info, NP1.info, ExpenseSoftware.info, and AuditReport.info today...for less than 6 bucks total), and great monetization potential for keyword rich domain names like the ones I listed, ROI is favorable to all but the best .coms and .nets available for reg. Regarding the .org TLD, there is little advantage to the price point and search engines definitely do not treat them favorably in my experience. My practice with .info domains has been to reg high quality names, turn them into mini-sites with WhyPark, and then work on filling them with fresh content and improving the free site that whypark has provided. I change the nameserver info on GoDaddy's reg page and immediately after reg go to Whypark and set up the sites. Then I offer a handful of them for sale, and once I sell one or two, the rest are paid for. I've monetized each site with Adsense or Whypark (although WP's payouts arent impressive thus far), and have been making a few dollars a day on average for sites that I've essentially gotten for free (although today hasnt been a good day-35 cents so far...). In the meantime, I have a year with these sites to get them worth the renewal fee, and any that havent proven their worth at that time will be dropped; the sites that have shown the ability to make 4-5 times the renewal fee annually are kept, and the process is repeated. There is virtually no way to lose money with this formula, and if I'm able to create some quality sites that will generate traffic, I'll keep them and hone them for life. It's always encouraging when one click pays for the site; my first experience with that was a Whypark monetized site,
www.BearerBonds.info. This has worked so well that I actually am now willing to pay $5-15 for a quality .info domain; I misssed out on businessresources dot info on ebay the other day, but would have paid 6-7 bucks for it w/o question. Info domains are not penalized by search engines; rather, there is a lot of crap out there utilizing the TLD because of the price point. Info domains are also a great way to famaliarize one's self with domaining and "practice" w/ lower stakes involved. In my mind, I rank the TLD behind .com and .net, and about even with .org, which has become the TLD of choice for non-profits. Biz and mobi are the only other TLDs that I even consider purchasing at this point (and while this isnt the forum, those of you that buy .mobi domains that fit the TLD and are of high quality may be very happy that you did so in a year or two). The point is this: with a minimal investment and some keyword research, you can make a consistent profit with .info domains and create passive income by weeding out the non money-makers at renewal time; like anything, it takes some work and consistent site development is a key, but I will continue to use this formula for as long as .info domains can be registered for less than a dollar. And I will renew the quality domains that have proven themselves over the initial year, without question. Anyone who thinks their .info domains are junk and want to dump them, please send me a PM with your price point-but keep in mind I am a bargain shopper with a long list of quality names all ready to hand-reg, so I'll only buy yours if I think they are better than the domains I can go buy on Godaddy for less than the price of a hamburger at McDonalds. The Official .info Facebook page if you'd like to join:
http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=273304167655&ref=ts