Hostess rejecting generic names based on 'close & substantial' connection policy.

[DavidL]

.com.au's used to be $140 and still just about everyone used them. I'm guessing you are joking with the comment above.

Course I'm not joking. And your statement above is not true.

10 years ago com was way more dominant than it is now. .AU has made huge inroads in terms of marketshare and that's largely due to falling costs.

Once these gTLD's are launched no doubt registries will be offering $1 domain names under .shop or .web etc and the danger is businesses will be tempted to go that way.


one, I take all your points but I really do believe it would lead to an exodus - people will always choose the cheapest option unless they can see the difference in value and many people just can't.

With a block of land, if the one you want is taken, then you simply move onto the next one in the street. If they are all taken you move onto the next street, and if they are all taken you move onto the next suburb / development.

That applies exactly the same way with domains but instead of compromising slightly each time you move away from your preferred position, you're compromising slightly on the domain.

Premium Domain = Waterfont Block
Crap Domain = Out in the Sticks

Just as with land prices people are happy to do that. They say 'I don't need to be in the high street' just like a business owner says 'I don't need the best possible domain'

Perhaps current domain registration pricing is undervalued?

I have no doubt it is but that's just my opinion, your opinion and most people who understand domains opinion. The market seems to say otherwise...

 

[Shane]

That applies exactly the same way with domains but instead of compromising slightly each time you move away from your preferred position, you're compromising slightly on the domain.

Premium Domain = Waterfont Block
Crap Domain = Out in the Sticks

Just as with land prices people are happy to do that. They say 'I don't need to be in the high street' just like a business owner says 'I don't need the best possible domain'

Here's where it differs though...

Waterfront block = $1,000,000
Out in the sticks = $200,000

If you want a much better block, you pay 5x the price. That sounds pretty fair.

Premium Domain = $1,000 (minimum)
Crap Domain = $20 registration fee.

So if you want to upgrade to a better domain, you're paying 50x the price. And that's only for a bottom tier "premium domain". A proper premium domain would be more like 500x the price.

It's the equivelant of the government selling off fully serviced blocks of land for $20,000 to people who are buying purely for speculative means rather than useful development. It would create suburbs full of empty blocks that the owners would refuse to sell for less than 5,000% profit...

I really think that increased registration (but not renewal) costs would be a good thing not only for business, but also for domainers.

Take Mike (shags) as an example. If domains cost $100 or more to register, do you think he would have gone out and registered 1,000+ of them? Probably not. Instead he would have put much more thought and consideration into each name before purchasing.

I know the cost domain registration will never increase substantially, it's just an interesting debate.

 

[snoopy]

Course I'm not joking. And your statement above is not true.

10 years ago com was way more dominant than it is now. .AU has made huge inroads in terms of marketshare and that's largely due to falling costs.

10 years ago a .com was as expensive as a .com.au for most people, around $140 aud for 2 years ($70USD / .52 + foreign exchange fees). There was Network Solutions who had a monopoly then Register.com started in mid 2000, more competition came in around the end of the year but most still paid full price for a long time. That is very similar to the situation with Melbourne IT accept .com.au took longer to get price competition.

Personally I can't remember a time when .com was even remotely popular for Australian businesses. .Com.au has always been dominant from what I know of it.

Once these gTLD's are launched no doubt registries will be offering $1 domain names under .shop or .web etc and the danger is businesses will be tempted to go that way.

I think you are working under the assumption that small business owners are stupider than they really are. No way businesses here would be tempted to use an unusual or confusing extension because of price other than some rare examples. In my view .com.au is in a monopoly situation because people realise they have to have it more so than having the most suitable keywords.

Premium Domain = Waterfont Block
Crap Domain = Out in the Sticks

Just as with land prices people are happy to do that. They say 'I don't need to be in the high street' just like a business owner says 'I don't need the best possible domain'

It isn't like land though, otherwise .biz and .info would be popular. People choose extension first and keyword second. .Com.au is as high street as a glass of water, it is what everyone uses. The rich and poor drink the same stuff.

.......Actually it is like land in the sense it would be like a family not being able to afford Toorak then deciding;

"If I can't buy in Melbourne best suburb I better find somewhere where I can be in the best suburbs",

..and then running off to Baghdad to buy a mansion for $200k.

Instead they'd just go for weaker and weaker suburb until they can buy something instead of getting priced out of Toorak instead going for something totally foreign.