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The .blog Bait and Switch

chrisschidle.com

151–160 of 186 posts

Re: The .blog Bait and Switch

#151
post #55
post #11

This seems to have become the de facto pattern with the new gTLD system. A company swoops in and buys a namespace for $200k (or more if there is a competitive bid), and they effectively turn into the cartel equivalent of the domain squatter. You can register your new gTLD for anywhere between $1 and $100, depending on what I suppose they expect their target demographic to be willing to pay. Dot horse is more expensiv…

I was trying to get internet.party for a browser extension I'm working on and I discovered that any gTLD with internet in the name is like $60,000. Absurd.

That seems about market value to me. A lot of it is anybody's guess, but that passes my sniff test.

Re: The .blog Bait and Switch

#152

Are gTLDs like this even worth it as a primary domain? In my limited experience, these kinds of domains tend to confuse people who are not technically oriented.

For people who aren't technically oriented, anything that isn't .com/.net/.org (and regional variants like .com.au) are confusing, but there's no good domain names left there. If you're starting a website you're stuck with the choice of a terrible .com domain with shudder hyphens or something, or you can get something like yourbusiness.shopping or yourhandle.blog.

It's gonna be a case-by-case thing whether one option is better than the other, but them's the breaks.

Re: The .blog Bait and Switch

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how much to buy "my.horse". Then I can setup a sole mailbox "look", and have it auto respond to any messages with "my horse is amazing". I wonder how may will get the joke.

I have a .horse domain - I tried every permutation horse puns and in-jokes (my.lovely.horse, etc) but they were all taken by squatters or reserved for stupid prices. Eventually I settled for sheep.horse, which is easy to remember but not much else.

I recently registered butt.chat. $30.

Re: The .blog Bait and Switch

#154

I fail to understand the purpose of these non-standard TLDs. Nobody is going to remember or type in such a domain, so you stuff is only going to be found by a web search - where a standard domain would be better. So why not just register a .com - which are also cheaper?

Have you ever tried to buy a .com domain dude? There's hardly any useful names left.

My point is that you're better off with a "bad" .com domain (bad really just means more than 10 characters long) than a "good" .weird domain.

Re: The .blog Bait and Switch

#156
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know. I don't think nested hierarchies is a thing. I mean, I guess you have the "Go Network" go.com example (disney.go.com). But I think the ship has sailed for deeper hierarchies. I really don't want an email address that is: taftster@foo.bar.baz.example.com

I didn't make any judgement on whether it is a good or bad thing. The fact remains: don't delude yourself into thinking that adding a TLD free-for-all opens up the space. It doesn't. It closes it. The current "problem" stems from the fact that .coms are full. Once the TLD space is full, the same problem will remain. Everyone who wants one cannot have a memorable name in a flat namespace. There are too many people and…

When that happens, I fully expect that as the value of available domain names go up, people will invest in expensive domains (blah.com) in order to treat them as "2LD"s and sell its 3LDs (xyz.blah.com). But it won't happen while there are 2LDs available for the exact reasons stated above (nobody wants a subdomain when they can have an actual domain).

Re: The .blog Bait and Switch

#157

Here is a message I received from Gandi.net regarding the .blog domain: ----------------- Hello, You are getting this email because you have performed a pre-order with your handle {redacted} for the domain name {redacted}. Unfortunately, this order is currently in error, because the domain name in question has been defined as Premium by the registry. This decision is of course beyond our control and frequently corres…

Good on Gandi for providing a straightforward response. Living up to their motto.

Re: The .blog Bait and Switch

#158

As a fellow very-common-name sufferer, I long ago gave up any hope of getting a vanity domain name (how I wish I had paid the $25 back in 1996). Most of the new TLD seem pretty scammy to me, the costs in obtaining and running most obscure TLDs far outweigh what could be got by paying customers actually waiting to run sites off them. I suspect that a lot of them are just hoping that enough large companies buy up kfc.b…

I registered "steve.org.uk" back in 1999 and it cost me way more than $25. In fact I hate to think how much I've paid for it over the years, it's been a while now!

(Recently managed to register "steve.fi", as it expired just a few months after I relocated to Finland. That was a happy coincidence. I guess that means I have two vanity-domains!)

Re: The .blog Bait and Switch

#159
post #102

This seems like it has gotten out of control - it is a basic key/value lookup, and we've created a rent-seeking, global series of registries to further suck good money from people. I worked briefly at a registry - it is money for jam. I don't know if the DNS protocol and all the related ones are fundamentally broken or need fixing, but it seems to me the problem is ICANN and the web that spreads out from under it. Wh…

> except without the rent-seeking/government ownership attached? Because people like money. This TLD business literally invented a new economic activity , and one with great margins. It doesn't really hurt anyone, has little to no cost, and makes a pretty penny. People With Money love stuff like this; if tomorrow they could invent a marketable TLD system for physical addresses, phone numbers or anything else, they'd…

What is the end game on that though? Everyone for themselves, buy a shotgun, and hick USA?

Re: The .blog Bait and Switch

#160
post #106
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not much different from people hoarding dictionary domains and selling them for insane amounts. But I understand your point and the whole system is rotten. First come first served is no longer viable.

What is viable though? First come, first served enables domainers. Jacking up annual domain prices can be harsh on businesses in poorer countries. Public auctions for each new and released domain might have merit, but will still attract domainers and preclude many fresh companies.

I never said I have a solution I just know that the current situation is not good either.
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