New Domain Extensions “Nail It!” – says Google

While trying to avoid real work I escaped to YouTube, the procrastinator’s dream. The ad below played before the video of dogs who sound like humans.

I’d seen other ads for Google Domains but this was the first that I’d seen promoting a particular new gTLD – and I believe if one of the gTLDs had to be the spokesperson for all, it would be .toys

Turns out this ad is about 4 months old, but one thing I think is significant is that this is the ultimate tech-search-advertising company promoting a new domain extension as “nailing it”.

Last year I wrote about investing in NYC domain names and spoke about the three categories of new domain extensions – brand, geo and generic/keyword. .toys is clearly a generic/keyword and below are the reasons I mentioned that this category of names are perfect for end users:

  • Add meaning to a website name.
  • Acquire the keyword that was unobtainable in a .com in a .keyword.
  • Possibly acquire a perfect-fit domain at an affordable price (some registries have extremely high prices for premium domain registrations. Most likely still cheaper than the .com equivalent.
  • Have your brand stand out.
  • Possibly position your business for future SEO benefit.

My third bullet point above, about a “perfect-fit” domain name is synonymous with Google’s take that some of these new extensions allow businesses to “nail it!” – I like their way of communicating it.

When I wrote about the categories of new domain extensions and the opportunities, I also mentioned that these perfect-fit generic/keyword domains have very limited domain investor opportunity for the following reasons:

  • So many alternatives (keyword variation in a gTLD, e.g. guitar.shop vs guitars.shop, or a close alternative gTLD, e.g. guitar.shop vs. guitar.store)
  • Low demand/limited market for specific domains.
  • Best opportunity to invest in keyword gTLDs is in over the dot phrase domains. For example: fast.delivery, electric.bikes, home.loans (but these types of names are difficult to get and often have high registry prices).

As a .nyc domain investor primarily, I look for those opportunities, but the lack of an investor opportunity shouldn’t negate the very real end user value and opportunity which exists.

For all the disruption and confusion that these new domain extensions are creating in terms of investing (for legacy .com domainers), marketing (to promote sites with unfamiliar endings), security risks (of bad actors leveraging confusion of unfamiliar endings) there are very real opportunities.

  • Security (e.g. Google’s .dev and .app forcing all sites over SSL)
  • Marketing (connecting consumers to brands via perfect-fit domains which “nail it!”)
  • Investing – very little opportunity!! Which is ok. It’s good for businesses who are looking for great domains that resonate.

Google answered “What are the benefits of these new domains, and who should use them?” as follows:

An Internet that offers a more diverse array of domains will benefit us all by providing more organized, meaningful and secure online homes. Businesses and individuals benefit by having new options. Consumers benefit by being able to tell what kind of content is housed at specific domains. Non-English speakers will have more options in their native language. New online communities can form around these new guideposts, leading to more innovation on the web.

To highlight the point again, it’s notable that Google says that “businesses and individuals will benefit by having new options”. It’s simply not about domain investors.

While as an investor I look for opportunities to benefit, I can also see when there’s limited opportunity for me and a great deal of opportunity for others and for the advancement of the web. Why would anyone want to diminish that opportunity? Please leave your thoughts below.

2 responses to “New Domain Extensions “Nail It!” – says Google”

    1. Hi John, thanks for commenting and sharing your link.
      As with most things, motivation and perspective are important. I agree that this cannot be ignored and I’m on the optimistic side that this will make the web a better place (more creative, interesting, more secure and organized).
      I definitely have self interests with my .nyc investment and while I see limited opportunities to invest in .toys (or any other .keyword) I do hope and imagine that many will succeed and that businesses find their perfect-fit domain name.
      I cannot help but think that the strongest voices against the rise of new domain extensions are those with the biggest financial interest in their downfall. Separating investor interests from businesses and individuals, this change to the web could be really positive – but as you said in your article, it takes time.

      Reply

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