The rising popularity of .Com in Australia

[snoopy]

I could just as easily say that the perceived decline is normal, more businesses (or registrants) are becoming smarter (savvy) to domain names and so they are becoming increasingly more aware about what is useful and useless.

.

I can understand that argument for raw number of domains registered, you could say, well maybe it has just topped out rather than people using something else. But the decline in .com.au in the Top 50 paints a different picture in my view.

The case study type situations aren't good either, where large companies are shifting to .com. For example bhp (largest company in Australia) has shifted to bhp.com a while ago and now hasn't even bothered to keep bhp.com.au online. There is a gradual shift taking place.

Going by those Alexa stats within 15 years it could be at the point where .com has 80% and .com.au 10%. This could easily happen if a couple of banks and organisations like Google, Ebay or Australian media organisations made the change.

 

[snoopy]

"With Google, you also get a distinct advantage. Your domain name is indexed higher in searches on Google." what an absolute load of CR*P.

please show me where that has been written or said by an employee of google !

tim

Tim, do you want Stephen from Sydney to respond?

 

[findtim]

Tim, do you want Stephen from Sydney to respond?

i think i was pretty clear, i want someone from google. if i want a comment like stephens i'll just head down to coles and ask the trolley person.
one thing is clear in this thread, there has been absolutely no FACTS written ! even alexa is a one sided assumption.
" i met a guy , in a pub, that had a mate, that read IN A NEWSPAPER !, about another guy, who said......................"
tim

 

[Shane]

I could just as easily say that the perceived decline is normal, more businesses (or registrants) are becoming smarter (savvy) to domain names and so they are becoming increasingly more aware about what is useful and useless.

That's a good point. I used to have dozens and dozens of related domains for my businesses, but over the years I've realised they're just wasted renewals that add no value. I keep a couple of good ones for defensive reasons now, but I see little point in having loads of different variations.

 

[snoopy]

i think i was pretty clear, i want someone from google. if i want a comment like stephens i'll just head down to coles and ask the trolley person.
one thing is clear in this thread, there has been absolutely no FACTS written ! even alexa is a one sided assumption.
" i met a guy , in a pub, that had a mate, that read IN A NEWSPAPER !, about another guy, who said......................"
tim

If you have better data than those Alexa rankings let me know. Do you really think they are somehow wrong & these stats showing Australian's using .com far more are some random error?

The whole point of those SMH posts are that they are everyday people. 3 out of 13 specifically said "buy a .com" even though the story had nothing much to do with .com. It doesn't matter if they are right or wrong because when enough consumers think the same thing, guess what, it is right! If you are selling coffee and 3 out of every 13 people tell you it tastes terrible then it does taste terrible.

Many people will just buy a .com whilst AUDA keeps telling everyone it is ok to charge their own fee $4.85 per name on top, and registrars will tell people "only $9.95 per year" whilst presenting a bill of $19.90 (or even worse, $140). The fact is it is an expensive extension, people think it, they are right.

AUDA is they wanted to could halve their fee and bring in 1 year registrations, over time that would change public perceptions because people would have bills of $8 on the low end.

 

[findtim]

your stats DO NOT show australian businesses are USING .com more then .com.au , they show visitors to websites ending in .com
everything else is just mentioning the same ol stuff.
tim

 

[snoopy]

your stats DO NOT show australian businesses are USING .com more then .com.au , they show visitors to websites ending in .com

Tim I stated that from the first post.

This trend isn’t really due to local sites choosing .com (from looking at the actual sites in the ranking), it seems to be that Australian’s are spending more time on overseas sites.

 

[Data Glasses]

Some of the .com numbers would be old school regs, I suspect the banks had the .com well before they had a .com.au The banks would know it is better to have the .com. Visitors from all over the world expect it. Still while there restrictions on .com.au it would be expected people will choose the .com over lessor cctld options. Change the abn requirement, the option of renewal years and we might see the .com.au gain some more interest. Nothing wrong with being seen as local but the rules are forcing people elsewhere, hows your facebook page going?

 

[Scott.L]

That's a good point. I used to have dozens and dozens of related domains for my businesses, but over the years I've realised they're just wasted renewals that add no value. I keep a couple of good ones for defensive reasons now, but I see little point in having loads of different variations.

The increasing opportunity cost effectively kicks in, its what will happen if (when) direct registration occurs - IMHO

 

[Rhythm]

I only visit .com for news

for anything financial and ecommerce i stick with .au to reduce risk

 

[Data Glasses]

Ebay.com redirects to Bay.com.au ..

 

[snoopy]

Just to keep this thread up to date, a great example of Bigw switching from .com.au to .com with their catalogs.

https://www.dntrade.com.au/threads/crazy-domains-acquires-enetica.11643/#post-89128

 

[Horshack]

This might be a sign that Woolies are getting ready to offload BigW. The .com makes it more attractive globally.

 

[Scott.L]

This might be a sign that Woolies are getting ready to offload BigW. The .com makes it more attractive globally.

Share Price is taking a dive. Masters liquidation did them no favours whilst Big W is a huge drain on earnings, I doubt anyone wants to buy it.

.

 

[snoopy]

This might be a sign that Woolies are getting ready to offload BigW. The .com makes it more attractive globally.

Will be interesting to see if they are able to buy any of their other brands in coming months, woolworths.com and bws.com. Both are going to be much more difficult to acquire than bigw.com I'd imagine.

 

[nt81]

To add to this thread, I've been looking after a large portfolio of domain regs for clients over the past 5 years.

Not only are clients now well informed /educated that .com.au is what to register, they are watching like hawks for dropping .com domains they can use as aliases for their .com.au website(s) and here comes the wank term - They want it for "Brand Protection".

I've personally been surprised by the amount of .com / .net we have been asked to register for clients over the past 12 months.

 

[Data Glasses]

Anyone can register a .com without restrictions, no wonder it is more popular than the local offering

 

[Cheyne]

People want URL's to be shorter because they are more memorable which is why direct registrations of .au is a good idea.

I can assure you that Big W would rather use bigw.au rather than bigw.com.

 

[snoopy]

I can assure you that Big W would rather use bigw.au rather than bigw.com.

How can you assure anyone of that?

 

[Cheyne]

Because I own the largest domain name retailer outside of the Big 3, and our second most asked question in our sales department is "why can I not register the .au like I can .nz and .uk?".

People want shorter URL's and it is why Big W advertise the .com instead of the .au. It's the same reason why businesses go for 13 numbers and pay the hefty tax because they are easier to remember.