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Dot-Com Will Always be King!

By Wayne Ford

The new domains are coming! "Dot-biz is going to be the next coming of dot-com," I recently read in an article in the Denver Post. The buzz has begun. Seven new top-level domains have been approved by ICANN, the organization that governs domains, and could be available as early as spring of this year. The new domains approved are .biz, .info, .aero, .coop, .museum, .pro, and .name.

Pre-registration sites like PreRegisterYourDomains.com have already begun taking applications claiming that "Three million domain names will be registered in the first five minutes." That same Denver Post article later says, "If predictions from analysts hold true -- dot-biz will rival the popularity of dot-com -- startups will no longer have to settle for second-tier domain names." Hogwash! -- To put it gently. Dot-com will always be the supreme ruler of domain names. Here's why:

Word Association

Ask anyone the first three words that come to mind when you say 'Internet' and one will almost always be 'dot-com' along with 'Web' or 'surfing.' Dot-com is forever chiseled into our brains as directly associated with the Internet.

'Old Habits Die Hard'

The new domains will confuse the average everyday Web surfer. With so many suffixes it will be harder to find the information for which they are looking. Out of frustration they will most likely resort to the old standby, dot-com.

Marketing

Big businesses like IBM and Microsoft have already spent billions promoting their dot-coms' in print and media advertising. Is Microsoft going to switch to promoting Microsoft.biz instead of Microsoft.com? Not likely.

Brand Protection

The same people who own the corresponding dot-com will most likely buy up most of the dot-biz (said to be restricted to business only) and dot-info (open to anyone) to protect their valuable brand. Someone with fishland.com is not going to want someone else to own fishland.biz and fishland.info. They already do much the same thing with .net. Why would they treat other names differently? Sad to say, but the real winners here are probably the lawyers, who will be kept busy for years with trademark infringement suits.

Meaning

None of the new top level domains meanings are as elegant or as classy as dot-com, which can mean 'communication' or 'commercial.' Dot-biz obviously stands for 'business,' but it sounds like slang and it also happens to mean sh** in the United Kingdom.

'Information,' the meaning of dot-info, would be perfect if it was restricted to sites with a high concentration of information about a certain topic, but it's not. The domain name is unrestricted, and can be registered by anyone. Surfers will quickly lose trust that all dot-info sites actually contain quality information.

Dot-pro and Dot-name will be effective, but on a limited level. To register a dot-pro you must 'prove' you are a professional on the topic in the domain name. Dot-name will be for individuals' names only (good luck to all the John Smiths out there.)

Appeal

Sure the new TLD's, especially dot-biz, will make it easier for smaller companies to get a Web address that fits their business. But will it be as appealing as a dot-com? Those businesses that have a dot-biz domain may seem to be in a different class than the dot-com and it may be harder than ever for them to compete. It may be worth it for them to invest more money in a dot-com domain that be 'stuck' with a dot-biz. Even with the recent doom of a few dot-com companies, there are many that are still going strong and they continue to breathe life into the dot-com world. The only new TLD applicant that might have been able to rival the dot-com for appeal was dot-Web. Unfortunately the application for dot-Web was not approved by ICANN.

Bottom Line

Dot-com is established and respected. It has the distinction of being one of the first domain names of the new Internet frontier and the most sought after. The new domains will make it easier to get a home on the Web and will have a place in the cyberworld of Internet. But Dot-com will always be the beautiful white mansion up on the hill with the brand new Ferrari out front.

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