websaway

Could icanns new proposed domain name extensions serve to strengthen the co.uk brand ?

techtimmy

I bloody well hope so

Whibs

Yes and NO.

It could and should strengthen the co.uk domains but i suspect that will be a time of uncertainty among endusers.

Purchasing a keyword domain in the co.uk will always be more expensive than purchasing some other TLD that is yet to be released, so the uneducated buyer may well go down the route of buying the new tld looking to save the initial outlay.

What i hope will happen is that the release will go through the phase of uncertainty and as a result the publicity and marketing will make others aware, and educate them about the value. In time the proofing of SERP potential with the new releases should show poor results and then the drop should gain its footings again for the co.uk

I expect to see a drop in large sales for a period as long as two years, i am not sure it will recover completely either.

That said, what do i know All new things in this industry go through the same phase. .eu, .tel, .mobi. All failed to make their mark, but yet there were a few amazing sales in their infancy

Edwin

It will take no more than a few months for the whole "new gtld" thing to blow over. As soon as companies realise they can't push uphill against the billions of pounds spent each year advertising .co.uk extensions (and, globally, the tens or hundreds of billions of pounds spent advertising .com) they'll back off.

Even if a couple of hundred "top" extensions succeed because the companies behind them are household names (e.g. Google, Coke, Microsoft, Pepsi, Sony, Facebook, Twitter, Hilton, etc. etc.) this will have ZERO impact on the wider takeup amongst the general business population.

Remember, it's US$180,000 just for the application, plus probably 2x that to actually set up all the legal/technical/business structures to reg a gtld. So it's only going to be the top 0.1% of companies that would even CONSIDER doing so. The average small-to-midsize company is as likely to apply for a gtld as to send out its products wrapped in solid gold leaf - never going to happen!

So I for one literally can't wait - that giant flushing sound a few months after the gtld launch, crash-and-burn, will be the wiping away of all remaining doubts about the supremacy of .co.uk and .com as the ONLY game in town. And at that point the domain aftermarket should switch rapidly from first gear to top.

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GreyWing

The ext's are just like streets, sure there are new streets in town centre's being built but you'd still pay top money to be on Oxford Street and Bond Street and medical practices on Harley Street.

As long as Nominet or the Goverment don't go mental on us with crazy regulation everything is fine.

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Edwin

The most important thing is this: once the new GTLD are released, for the first time there will be no "future doubts" lurking in the wings as far as domain extensions are concerned. No uncertainties, no awkward what-ifs. And that can only BENEFIT holders of generics in the top extensions.

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Skinner

I'll put my first born on the line if those companies who setup their own TLD don't also stump up the cash for the .com and/or the .co.uk. Which should tell you everything.

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pred

.com and the top cctld's in the world ie. .co.uk , .de, .nl , .ca etc will just grow stronger

I'm doing a detailed blog post soon on this as sick of the crap spewing from icann, nxt and other blogs

I am not worried one iota

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