Will 2019 really be the year for weird domain names?

[MapleDots]

We all know there are some unfortunate .com domain names:
http://blogstash.com/unfortunate-funny-domain-names/

Some of these are hilarious and they make us laugh, like...

Speedofart.com – They are speedy designers of art!


So.... according to Wired.co.uk it's going to get interesting with gTLD's


Forget dot com, 2019 will finally be the year of weird domain names

Registrations for new gTLDs rose by nearly 11 per cent in the last year, compared to an average 3.5 per cent increase across the entire domain landscape, according to Verisign. One in five domain name registrations in the last year were on new gTLDs.

https://www.wired.co.uk/article/domain-names-future-of-internet



Interesting article for sure but not quite accurate. Most website owners that move from a .com to a gTLD do so because they simply do not own a particularly good .com so a move to a gTLD is perceived as an upgrade to them. However an "on target" short, memorable .com owner is unlikely to switch to a .com right?

Maybe... or maybe not....
I have also heard of a number of sites that had decent .com domains that decided to switch over to a gTLD because the gTLD was 100% accurate to their business motto.

Although I appreciate that a move like TopLine.associates does look tempting if your business name is Top Line Associates but the email address of [email protected] will leave most common folks baffled and I have had personal experience where a business owned a similar address and wanted to move to one of my domains to get a more common email address.

So is the answer a .com with a matching gTLD?

Not sure because I don't own any gTLD's (I do have one .app as an experiment) but it certainly does make for compelling conversation.

Do you think the Wired.co.uk article is right or do you think it's a bunch of malarkey?

Would you pick a mediocre .com or a spot on gTLD for your new business?

It certainly is a decision a new business cannot take lightly.

Discuss below....

 

[~ The 34 Year Buzz!!]

The discussion is easier if you can suspend (temporarily ignore) the issue of renewal fees, and/or "invest some money in the future of your business". One real-world example for having a "a spot on gTLD for your new business" is related to running your own custom URL shortener:

Running your own URL shortener is fun, geeky and useful: you own your data and don't depend on third party services. It's also a great way to add branding to your short URLs, instead of using the same public URL shortener everyone uses. https://yourls.org

A vanity URL is easier to remember, easier to share and easier to use. It’s a win for everyone!
Brands like Verizon Wireless (vz.to), RE/MAX (rem.ax) and Reddit (redd.it) have creative and recognizable vanity URLs. https://www.intelligenteconomist.com/create-free-vanity-url/
​

 

[Kate]

nTLDs may experience some growth, that certainly does not mean they are becoming mainstream.
It is also important to note that in absolute numbers there have been more .com added than in all nTLDs combined YTD.
So even with a higher percentage increase it's not like they are catching up to .com. They are being outpaced.
https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml

The article is not misleading per se, but you have to put numbers in perspective. And numbers do not translate to usage.

I am not expecting 2019 to be different than the previous years in this regard.

Answer: if I can't have the .com the next best option is the local ccTLD.

 

[MSN-Domains]

that certainly does not mean they are becoming mainstream.

disagree there Kate, I think nGTLD is gaining mainstream adoption site's https://cash.app sitting #1 in Google play for a while will only strengthen adoption and will give others the confidence to follow suit

after all, what happened when the .org .ai .io train happened everybody follows suit - The human condition is as predictable as it gets. The same now with .network

I think even the popular podcast JRE uses joerogan.live - nGTLDs is picking up good traction - I have no conflict of interest as I have 2

That said Merry Christmas to you Kate till next time

 

[Kate]

I will only accept Merry.Christmas

 

[MadAboutDomains]

disagree there Kate, I think nGTLD is gaining mainstream adoption site's https://cash.app sitting #1 in Google play for a while will only strengthen adoption and will give others the confidence to follow suit

after all, what happened when the .org .ai .io train happened everybody follows suit - The human condition is as predictable as it gets. The same now with .network

I think even the popular podcast JRE uses joerogan.live - nGTLDs is picking up good traction - I have no conflict of interest as I have 2

That said Merry Christmas to you Kate till next time

Yes, I've seen lots of high profile "projects" that seem to be choosing gTLDs, they're popping up everywhere. I think that people like being able to formulate meaningful names and plenty of them are relatively cheap. Of course some aren't cheap at all, but there's a lot more options available to everyone now.

 

[~ The 34 Year Buzz!!]

...The human condition is as predictable as it gets....

<off-topic>
predictable?

In the summer/fall of 2015 how many "non-believers" actually thought Trump had a chance of being elected?
...and...
Even a year later, he had trouble finding big-name speakers willing to go on stage at the convention.​

^^^
= Not always predictable...
</off-topic>


..."predictable" domain usage/value?
The number of businesses in the Fortune 500 (for example) can never go above 500, so having literally (!) 157 (or more) unique, new domain extensions is not sustainable.

As mentioned in post #2: Some of the new domains have real value for people who care about their business enough to invest a bit extra time and money.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I find the title of the linked article misleading, but the actual article fairly balanced. There are more cases of legitimate adoption on ngTLDs. While I see some hopeful signs in ngTLDs (and personally invest primarily in them) I don't think that 2019 will be dramatically different from 2018 which is pretty .com dominated.
-Bob

 

[MapleDots]

I noticed the article from wired.co.uk in my google feed early this morning and I thought to myself it would be an interesting topic for namepros.

As the day has progressed I noticed there are lots of other that are also discussing this article.

So it basically means the author did pick a good title because it certainly is getting a lot of airplay on other websites.

Sometimes the title of an article can simply be something that is written to make us think and in this case it has been one of the more popular articles I've seen in the last little while.

Here are some more discussions on it:
https://domainnamewire.com/2018/12/21/new-gtlds-is-a-horrible-name-for-new-gtlds/

 

[Bob Hawkes]

I agree that it is a catchy title, just imho not very accurate to the content in article. I presume as in most periodicals the title was contributed by editorial staff unrelated to the author of the article. I don't dispute that the title helped it get noticed by Andrew and Elliot and others who contributed to online discussion.

To me a more accurate but less catchy title would have been "New domain extensions finally finding traction" I expect 2019 will end with more significant examples of ngTLD use as main sites, redirects, marketing campaign use, division/product use, etc. I still expect most days of NameBio reports will be .com dominated.

But I am glad it is being discussed and thanks for starting the thread @MapleDots !

Bob

 

[garptrader]

A car or computer or cell phone which is four to five years old cannot accurately be described as new. Thus by 2019 new is no longer an applicable description of the 2014-2015 extensiins. It would also seem odd to compare the population or GDP of one large state such as California against that of the other 49 states - why? California vs Texas or Florida or New York maybe but it seems silly to be comparing the cumulative sales of hundreds of extensions against those of one extension (particularly when many Ntld sales are registry sales). Given that .Com continues to dominate the sales charts one could perhaps report .Com vs non-.Com and perhaps there might be more .club sales in one month than .info or .biz.

 

[Internet.Domains]

Please do not use "Non-.com" to describe the extensions besides .com.

You can call some beers "non-alcoholic" but you do not describe soda as being "non-alcoholic."

The .com extension is it's own, you lessen its importance by describing other extensions as "non-.com" and vice versa.

 

[BaileyUK]

nTLDs may experience some growth, that certainly does not mean they are becoming mainstream.
It is also important to note that in absolute numbers there have been more .com added than in all nTLDs combined YTD.
So even with a higher percentage increase it's not like they are catching up to .com. They are being outpaced.
The article is not misleading per se, but you have to put numbers in perspective. And numbers do not translate to usage.
I am not expecting 2019 to be different than the previous years in this regard.
Answer: if I can't have the .com the next best option is the local ccTLD.

I've left Kates post intact even as a quote, because it's a perfect summary of the reality. People can Umm and Arr about reinventing the Namespace by extension/wording/cleverness etc etc. It doesn't and wont make a blind bit of difference. You guys who think Joe Publics memory now extends to a clever extension as well as a clever domain are really lost down the proverbial black Hole