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Yesterday's
news
about the record $500,000
sale of a new gTLD domain (Home.loans)
has sparked a lot of renewed
conversation about the merits (or
lack thereof) of new extensions. The
conversation will likely go up a few
more decibels when our next weekly
domain sales report
comes out tonight with news of a
second big 6-figure new gTLD
that will join Home.loans on the
chart.
As
I noted in yesterday's post about
the Home.loans sale, no one sale -
or even cluster of sales - is going
to settle the matter of when
or if an active, broad-based
aftermarket for new gTLDs will
develop. While we all wait to see
what happens, there will be ups and
downs with both good and bad news
taking turns in
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the spotlight
along the way. In the interim, if
you have an interest in new gTLDs, I
think it is best to stay abreast of
all of the news and opinions put
forth by credible sources - then go
with your gut and do what you
think is best, whether that be
investing in or developing new gTLDs
or ignoring them in favor of
traditional favorites - .com, of
course, being chief among those.
You
will find several interesting
opinions, pro and con, on new gTLDs
(among many other topics) in our
14th annual State
of the Industry Cover Story
that was just released this morning.
The piece features 24 leaders
from all corners of the domain
industry, making it by far the
biggest State of the Industry piece
we have ever published.
Earlier
this month another article
you should read on this
topic was published at CircleID.com.
The piece, titled New
TLD Launch: Lessons
Learned, came
from a very reputable
source, Tobias
Sattler, the
Chief Information Officer at
United-Domains AG
(part of corporate giant United
Internet, the parent of
companies like Sedo, InterNetX
and 1&1). It was
originally published in
German last fall but was
just translated to English
this month.
The
names of the section
headings in Sattler's piece
will give you a good idea of
the ground he covered in
researching these early
stages of new gTLD
development: Far Too Much
New GTLDs at Once, High
Complexity on the
Introduction of New gTLDs,
Technical and Operational
Challenges Due to
Non-Scalability, Marketing
and Awareness – the
Assumptions Were Wrong,
Unpleasant Pitfalls and
Future Prospects.
Cumulatively,
those headings might lead
you to believe that Sattler
is anti-new gTLD but
that
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Tobias
Sattler
Chief Information Officer
United-Domains AG |
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is
not the case at all.
He details where the program
went off the rails but also
what it can do to get back
on track. In his closing
comments Sattler wrote,
"Despite all the
difficulties surrounding the
launches of the new
top-level domains, they
will find their way into
everyday life and expand
step by step. Even
.com took some time to
skyrocket. However, the
consolidation of the domain
market will continue and
some top-level domains may
disappear again."
Sattler
added, "Nevertheless,
it looks like there will be more
new TLDs from 2020
onwards. However, this time
around, it will most likely
be mainly trademark owners
who will apply for their
ending. However that may be,
it is important to continue
to work on the success of
the new extensions,
true to the motto "Keep
it simple, stupid"
(KISS), all parties should
not lose sight of the big
picture."
Whether
you agree with Sattler's
findings or not, this is the
kind of clear-eyed
commentary you need to
consider when considering
your own path forward -
rather than basing it on a
big sale or two or, on the
flipside, mis-steps that may
be damaging but not
necessarily fatal as new
gTLDs continue on toward
whatever their ultimate
destiny may be.
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(Posted
January 24, 2018) |
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