Minds + Machines

It’s getting so hard to find a decent .COM domain name that a big weed patch of businesses has grown up hawking really terrible names for enormous prices — and they’re finding buyers. They’re catering to people who are just trying to find something — anything! — that will work for their new web site. The problem is especially acute for those who are trying to start a business.

For instance, have a look at Brand Bucket, a shop that specializes in “unique brand-rich domain names for your business.”

Despite this fine write-up, their names will kill a business before it even gets started — assuming the prices they charge don’t kill it first. These are from the “Internet” and “consulting” areas of their site:

• seodaddy.com – $4895 (Get sued by GoDaddy!)
• mockit.com – $4895 (OK – neener neener neener)
• credulo.com – $1495 (If you’re credulous, buy credulo.com!)
• cacheup.com – $1295 (Would you like some mustard too?)

But maybe (you’re thinking), this BrandBucket business is just for the unwary, just as you can pay $25 for a bad cup of coffee at certain New York hotels. It must be better on the open market, right?

No, it’s not any better anywhere. Check out AfterNIC, one of the larger domain name auction platforms.

AfterNIC has a different style of terrible name. They don’t choose the names, like BrandBucket — these are names being offered for sale by their sellers, à la eBay. At AfterNIC, there’s a different — but consistent — style of awfulness. If instead of a doomed-from-the-start Web 2.0-type name from BrandBucket, you prefer a second-class affiliate marketing name, this is the place. I searched AfterNIC for .COM names in the categories “internet” and “consulting” to try to get a good comparison with BrandBucket. I also started at $5000 or less, skipping such must-haves as ontheinternetmortgage.com at $125,000:

• einternetconsulting.com – $5000 (The extra “e” is for effort)
• internettwopointoh.com – $5000 (Oh! Oh!)
• internetdisabilityinsurance.com – $3900 (Huge market there)
• 64kinternetmarketing.com – $2000 (Even Bill Gates learned you need more than 64K)

I’m not just cherry-picking — try it yourself. And although BrandBucket and AfterNIC are my examples, the names they offer are no worse than you’ll find at other sites. Like any business they’re just responding to a need — in this case, the need for decent, brandable names for web businesses. Domain names under .COM, at any venue, are without exception jaw-droppingly bad below about $50,000, and often above that price as well.

When people are paying thousands of dollars for horrible names, it’s hard to credit the argument that we don’t need new generic top-level domain names.

New top-level domains will not only make it easier to find a decent domain at a decent price, they will, just by the fact of being introduced in large numbers, make people realize that there’s more to life than .COM. In Europe, in Asia, they already do: many business use, as well as .COM, the top-level domain for their country as well as for neighboring countries, as well as .EU and .ASIA. With the introduction of a spate of new top-level domains, we will see some sanity returning to pricing here in the U.S. as well.

The current version of ICANN’s draft Application Guidebook (currently in Draft 2, awaiting Draft 3) allows an applicant for a new gTLD to choose whether they want to be considered as a Community or an Open TLD. An Open TLD is completely open to anyone, without any restrictions. .COM is an example of an open TLD.

To qualify as a Community TLD, you must pass some tests. Most qualifications concern the TLD sponsoring organization(s) and or the requirements placed upon potential registrants. A perfect example of a Community TLD is the .ECO TLD. They have obtained a flood of strong community support from a number of environmental organizations, individuals and supporting organizations such as the Surfrider Foundation, the Sierra Club, and most notably Al Gore and the Alliance for Climate Protection. (Disclaimer: .ECO is a Minds + Machines customer.) .ECO will be somewhat restrictive in its allocations and qualifications to register. For example, corporations with horrific track records on pollution and environmental destruction will not be able to register.

ICANN’s current draft of the Applicant Guidebook indicates that a Community TLD will trump an Open TLD applicant trying for the same name. Does that mean you should always file as a community? Not necessarily.

ICANN has set up a point system for deciding whether an application qualifies as a Community TLD. One must score very high to be considered as a community TLD, and part of that qualification means creating a restrictive process for registrations or qualifications. These barriers to entry may mean lower registration numbers, and there may be additional fields that a registrar needs to capture in their registration process — which makes them less likely to want to offer the TLD.

There are three really good reasons to file as an Open TLD instead of as a community. First and foremost, you might not actually be a community — .ADULT, for instance, really can’t be considered a community. The other reason is that once you set the restrictions on applications that help you qualify as a community, you have to stick with them. You can’t file as a community, limit registrations to a particular community, then change the rules to let everyone register. Finally, an Open TLD might attract more registrations because there are no restrictions. There are many who view Open TLDs as more attractive commercially.

In deciding whether to file as a Community TLD or an Open TLD, you need to balance commercial viability against your application’s chances for success.

In a marketplace where registrars are going to have to make choices as to which of the TLDs they offer, those that are simplest are more likely to appeal to them. They will make exceptions for popular domains, such as .ECO. That said, if a registrar can easily implement a TLD that (from an implementation perspective) is a clone of .COM, they are more likely to do so. Therefore, Open TLDs may be more widely adopted by registrars.

Most of the potential applicants that I’ve seen describe their key metric of success as wide adoption and use of their TLD. Picking the right focus, Open or Community, will be an important decision.

I just did a long interview with Elliot Silver of Elliot’s Blog, where he asked (and I answered) a number of questions about .NYC and new top-level domains in general. With lots of comments by new TLD haters…

I know of some TLDs I can’t talk about, but here’s a list of those who have announced to the world that they are planning to go through the ICANN process. These are either people who have let me know it’s ok to talk about them, or are otherwise publicly announced. With thanks to Dirk Krischenowski at .berlin for his list and to Michele Neylon for his help.

City gTLDs

• .bcn (Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain)
• .berlin
• .hamburg
• UPDATED: .london or .london (One initiative, 2 web sites)
• .köln (Köln/Cologne, Germany)
• .munich (no web site yet)
• .nyc
• .paris
• .pdx (Portland, Oregon, USA)

Regional TLDs

• .africa and .africa
• .bayern (Bayern/Bavaria, a region in Germany)
• .bzh (Brittany, a region in France)
• .cym (Wales, a principality in the U.K.)
• .eng (England, a kingdom in the U.K.)
• .gal (Galicia, a region in Spain)
• .ker (Cornwall, a region in the U.K.)
• .lli (Leon, a region in Spain)
• .lat (Latin America)
• .med (Mediterranean) — no web site yet
• .que (Quebec, a province in Canada)
• .sco (Scotland, a kingdom in the U.K.)
• .vla (Flanders, a region in Belgium) — no web site yet
• (UPDATED) .yks (Yorkshire — thanks to AB)

Ethnic/Language gTLDs

These may be similar to geographical TLDs, but these strings are not official territorial names, so they likely fall outside the ICANN rules for geographical names.

• .arab – web site not operational
• .eus (Basque)
• .indigi (for indigenous peoples)

Industry/activity-specific gTLDs

• NEW: .health (thanks to AB)
• .movie
• .music (there are several other .music initiatives)
• .sport (initiative #1)
• .sport (initiative #2)
• .xxx (adult)
• .web (there are many other unannounced .web initiatives)

Charitable gTLDs

• .eco (Ecological)
• .green (Ecological)
• (UPDATED) .fam (Family — Initiative #1) (thanks to Chad)
• (UPDATED) .fam (Family — Initiative #2)

Brand gTLDs

Brands have been very hesitant to announce, but there are many waiting in the wings. Some are just thinking of defensive registrations, others have innovative marketing and branding plans.

• .deloitte

Know of any others? Please leave a comment. This list will soon find its way to our resources page.

The very public battle for Toys.com is finally over…sort of.

Pending court approval Toys R Us are soon to be the new owner of Toys.com bidding $5.1M for the privilege. The toy conglomerate outbid National A-1 Advertising at auction in which it had originally sold for $1.25M.

One can only wonder who will win the inevitable auction for .toy

Domainnamewire.com has a full archive of the bidding process.