Probably Most People...
...will assume a typo and type .com.
Auction opens for rare single letter net domain
The auction of a rare single-letter domain – e.co – has just hit the interwebs, with bids reaching $16,500 in the first 90 minutes. The sale is advertised on the domain itself, with the name pitched as the potential “home to your e-commerce site, education site, entertainment site” or even “to showcase your company's plan to …
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Tuesday 8th June 2010 08:23 GMT Steve Roper
Yes, that was my attitude
until I ran into a cybersquatter who put his case very eloquently. His argument ran something like this:
"It's not a scam. It's as perfectly legitimate a business enterprise as real estate. There's a recognised market for domain names, that people are willing to pay for. Short, easy-to-remember domains are like shops on a high street; high-rent, because they get a lot of traffic. People do type in these domains just to see what's there, and that incidental traffic has a monetary value, just like the hundreds of cars seeing your high street shop as they drive past have monetary value. That's why you pay more rent for a shop on a main road, see? Now long, complicated domains are like shops in a back street. Those who look specifically for what you sell might know where to look, but you get no traffic, so it's worth less, see, just as a strip-shop in the 'burbs is worth less than one on a main road. You with me so far?
"OK, now, consider this. Suppose you were walking along one day, and you saw an empty shop in a row of shops on a main road where the rent is $500 a week. You inquire about it, and you find the shop is for sale - for $20. No scam, completely legit, legal title deeds and all - 20 bucks. Can you honestly tell me you wouldn't buy that shop at that price and rent it out for $500 a week if you had half a chance?"
I replied, "Well... of course I would." As you would.
He said, "Exactly. So now tell me how you buying that shop so cheap and leasing it for that 'extortionate' rent is any different from what I do as a domain investor?" (He didn't like the term 'cybersquatter')
I couldn't answer that. If anyone can, I'd be grateful to hear it.
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Tuesday 8th June 2010 11:16 GMT MartinB
www.2r494fncwwssr8-3243fs34.co.uk
While trying to retrieve the URL: http://www.2r494fncwwssr8-3243fs34.co.uk/
The following error was encountered:
Unable to determine IP address from host name for www.2r494fncwwssr8-3243fs34.co.uk
The dnsserver returned:
Name Error: The domain name does not exist.
This means that:
The cache was not able to resolve the hostname presented in the URL.
Check if the address is correct.
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Thursday 10th June 2010 23:58 GMT Alex Tajirian
Dot-co Goes Rogue
Relaxing registration requirements for dot-co, Colombia’s country code top-level domain (ccTLD), is value destroying.
The dot-co is what I call a “rogue” TLD. Unlike a signaling TLD, which adds value by steering traffic based on its implied message, a rogue TLD captures traffic: that is, a mistyped dot-com lands Web users on a site where they don’t want to be. Such a TLD is value destroying because it forces the owners of a large number of brand names or high-value generic domain names to register their domain names under dot-co. Moreover, generic.co domain names increase parked Web sites, thereby creating more useless information for search engines and human users to sift through. Furthermore, it dilutes the signaling of Colombia-related domain names.
On the other hand, TLDs such as dot-com, dot-tel, and dot-me have strong signaling value propositions. For example, .com has practically no substitutes for signaling a global brand. TLDs that signal location include country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) and some proposed TLDs such as dot-NYC (which signals New York City). TLDs that signal a particular business strategy include dot-outlet and dot-eco. The dot-tel has a strong use differentiation because it signals the brand owner’s alternative contact information, while dot-me is personal and reassuring, as opposed to the chilly dot-name, which is faceless.
Thus, TLDs fall into two categories: signaling TLDs and rogue TLDs. The latter are value destroying.
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Biting the hand that feeds IT
