A geo and an open .brand top level domain name launch this week.
It’s a slow week again for new top level domain names, and that will be the case going forward for awhile.
On Tuesday, the geo domain .bayern (Bavaria) launches.
On Wednesday, Donuts releases .deals in general availability. .City will enter the Early Access Phase.
Next week Donuts won’t send any domains to EAP, as it is running low on domain names to release.
There’s an interesting launch on Thursday. OVH, One of Europe’s largest webhosts, launches .ovh. Although it’s a brand, they’re opening it up to everyone.
According to the company, it announced .ovh as an April Fools’ joke back in 2009 and received 22,000 requests to register them. That convinced the company to apply for .ovh when ICANN opened up the new TLD program.
Robbie says
Donuts was smart to get all their extensions out early, a bit of a glut starting to backlog now.
couponpages says
Pre-Registrations drive me nuts. I keep paying extra for names a few days before GA, then wondering if I could’ve saved a bundle by waiting.
I keep promising I won’t get any more that way, but then I do it again. It’s a crazy game of chicken. Patience saves you money, but you risk losing the chance to somebody else.
I need an email filter that keeps me from reading your notices about new TLDs that are scheduled until a day after they are GA. 🙂
Robbie says
Don’t worry, they are creating more every week, there is no shortage, renewals will start in only a few months, some expensive calls to be made, many will drop, it is an endless cycle. If you miss out, there is always next week, and the week after that, as well that is one of the gtld’s biggest downfalls as well, unlimited supply.
couponpages says
Unlimited supply is right. The question is, which ones will the public and search engines consider the most viable?
It seems to me that for lack of a real reason, the only buyers of the new TLDs are people who are parking them or redirecting to their existing sites.
Robbie says
Here is the thing, if the public accepts them, it is an all or nothing type deal. Either the concept of the DOT Keyword works, and catches on, or they all die a horrible deal in Redemption Hell. They are all being parked, because they are being grabbed by domainers. There are some end users grabbing as well, many via backorders, some are just leaving on host servers, others are redirecting to .com, with no real use, other than keeping it out of someone else’s hands for the time being.
I honestly thing by the registry playing both sides, holding back names just as Best.Deals, and charging $3500 a year for names like Top.Deals it just deters end users, they still have .co extension, and many techies have gone to .io as well. I am seeing many companies just add their locale to certain domains such as Richmond Virgina, KeywordServiceRVA.com etc… This is a different beast all together, it is not a $8 bet, you are talking between $30-$500 to roll the dice.
bul says
I told you to STOP but you’re stubborn so I quit ;). but if you’ve been around for a while, you know that this hype cycle is going to slow down and adoption is not a linear thing like climbing to the summit of Mt. fuji but rather climbing mount probable. Lots of small consequential cliffs but the goal is to get to the top.
The top here is mass adoption and that’s going to take lots of little false summits to navigate. Like I said, stay away from premium prices and buy in GA. Your odds of losing money are high so keep it simple and buy what you can keep for years. Robbie is right about very expensive decisions at the end of the year.
couponpages says
I’ve been pretty good about ignoring most of the initial prices… but I’m a sucker when it comes to the prices just before GA.
It already bugs me that some of the TLDs in my category, like .Deals are $29 instead of $8.47 on GoDaddy. I’ve drawn the line at anything over $300, but I reluctantly spent a few thousand overall on some of the more strategic ones in my category.
Deep down, I still know the new TLDs are a long-term investment that still could be worthless in a few years. I just need blinders to keep me from paying a premium.
I’m more of an accidental investor. I never expected to have over 700 domains, so I need to remember that or I’ll spend a fortune on renewals each year.
Domainer Extroidinare says
Too bad wannabe domainer’s credit cards are already maxed out.