The rising popularity of .Com in Australia

[snoopy]

Go global or go home!

I think that is what it comes down to. If people want to target a global market they only need one extension to cover the lot, simple and easy. For a local business they can use a .com and it is a simple well known address, no red tape, no administrator risk, and the option to expand anywhere in the world if they want to.

 

[chris]

For global markets, no doubt about .com, but for local businesses and those that want a local presence I still think .com.au is preferred. There's also the issue of availability, .com's sometimes just aren't an option.

A question I often get is "what is better?" (assuming they have both .com and .com.au)

• example.com/au
• example.com.au

..and occasionally au.example.com (but that's third on my list)

"Better" is subjective, but I don't think one has any clear benefit over the other, and either one will have bleed. My own personal view is that the .com.au performs better for local search results. Depends on the type of business, horses for courses.

Always interested in data or references on this.

What do you think the longer term trends are @snoopy @Data Glasses ?

 

[snoopy]

For global markets, no doubt about .com, but for local businesses and those that want a local presence I still think .com.au is preferred. There's also the issue of availability, .com's sometimes just aren't an option.

A question I often get is "what is better?" (assuming they have both .com and .com.au)

• example.com/au
• example.com.au

..and occasionally au.example.com (but that's third on my list)

Lots of local companies use .com and but I have never seen one stick a /au on the end when advertising, I've never seen one use a subdomain other than www. either.

For a global company they don't need to use this either, just advertise the example.com and redirect it to whatever url if they want to, customers won't take any notice and some browsers won't even show all of that even if they do redirect it. https://www.domain.com/au/page.html, nobody takes any notice of all of that, its gobbledygook because they are already at the site.

Whilst historically .com.au has been preferred for purely local companies I think this is in decline as can be seen from the Alexa data at the start of this thread and the fact that .au growth has been close to zero for a long period of time. I think this paints a picture of growing .com usage by local businesses. How many millennials want to put .au on the end of their new website? I'd say the number is less and less each year.

What do you think the longer term trends are @snoopy @Data Glasses ?

I think there is a global movement away from cctlds to .com, added to that new tlds are dying. It can all be seen in those Centr stats. The world is gradually gravitating to one extension. That makes a lot of sense to me much like we have one dominant search engine, one dominant social media company, one dominant ecommerce company, one dominant auction site.

 

[Data Glasses]

I think from a "red tape" point of view the .com works best, ya gotta wonder how many folk have tried to register a domain name only to be told "But you do not have a A.B.N ....... sorry" They then go to Godaddy because they see the ads on Television and register "SouthYarraHats/Com" They then use the website builder and have an instant internet presence. I just don't ever see .com.au advertising ?

 

[snoopy]

I think from a "red tape" point of view the .com works best, ya gotta wonder how many folk have tried to register a domain name only to be told "But you do not have a A.B.N ....... sorry" They then go to Godaddy because they see the ads on Television and register "SouthYarraHats/Com" They then use the website builder and have an instant internet presence. I just don't ever see .com.au advertising ?

Agree, .com.au has major issues with red tape, people starting a business from home are far less likely to use it I'd say as they may not yet have an ABN, and those types of registrants where most of the future growths likely to come from in my view. People should consider shifting with the tide as the extension is unlikely to be reformed.



(The above type of buyer may not yet have an ABN.)

 

[Scott.L]

CENTR released their quarterly stats -
The report shows that general market uptake of domains has slowed this may have resulted in overall market saturation (gTLD choice overload) or social media uptake. See full report here:

 

[Scott.L]

For many years .au was ranked in the top 10 now, .au isn't even in the top 15 ccTLD's (Good Job Mr Boardman)

 

[Data Glasses]

(The above type of buyer may not yet have an ABN.)[/QUOTE]
Or a Logie

 

[Data Glasses]

I see DataLand / Com is at $1709 via DropCatch ...... handy name for Data fans

 

[chris]

Agree, .com.au has major issues with red tape, people starting a business from home are far less likely to use it I'd say as they may not yet have an ABN, and those types of registrants where most of the future growths likely to come from in my view. People should consider shifting with the tide as the extension is unlikely to be reformed.

View attachment 1266

(The above type of buyer may not yet have an ABN.)

SouthYarraHats/Com would still look better with an .au on the end I reckon, but that's just my opinion

I agree the ABN restriction is a hurdle for some people, but that could be something that is addressed, i.e. residents etc.

 

[Data Glasses]

I see DataLand / Com is at $1709 via DropCatch ...... handy name for Data fans

I see the domain went for just over $4,000

 

[snoopy]

I agree the ABN restriction is a hurdle for some people, but that could be something that is addressed, i.e. residents etc.

It could be, but let’s not forget auDA is a basket case organisation. There Is no way good decisions will get made for this extension so let’s factor that in to any future predictions.

Things could have been fixed 20 years ago but instead they fluffed around with nonsense like .id.au for people who don’t have an ABN.

 

[Data Glasses]

Worth noting that South Yarra is a bit of a shopping destination for celebs and oversea's visitors, a .com would not look out of place imo, cheers

 

[chris]

Worth noting that South Yarra is a bit of a shopping destination for celebs and oversea's visitors, a .com would not look out of place imo, cheers

True @Data Glasses

Was more thinking DubboDentist, would go for the .com.au.

 

[Data Glasses]

Just go "toothless" for Dubbo , it's like Racing/Com .. sometimes allowing for international visitors will only enhance

 

[snoopy]

Just go "toothless" for Dubbo , it's like Racing/Com .. sometimes allowing for international visitors will only enhance

I think it is still a way off for a business like that but it may only be a matter of time before we see more using .com. One thing is in the medical field they would have their ABN stuff sorted before starting and they are local with little potential to export so they'd get less loss to people choosing .com.

 

[snoopy]

More bad new for cctlds, this time from the organisation who is charged with promoting cctlds!

Transitioning to the count of startups, the ccTLD market share decreased to 23% (5,379 startups). The funding market share of ccTLDs further reduced to 13% ($58B). The drop in total domain market share from 45% to 23% likely reflects that startups may have greater global aspirations, resulting in a higher market share of .com choice. Individual country breakouts of ccTLD market share versus .com and other gTLDs are shown later in this study.

https://www.centr.org/library/libra...startup-businesses-2017-vs-2018-analysis.html

Also page 5 has some a very sobering graphic, where local startups using .com far outnumbered country code in every single country studied!
eg,
"2,122 companies in the United Kingdom received funding in 2018. Of those, 434 or 20% chose .uk as the domain name to base their business on, and 1,310 or 62% chose a .com domain name."


In my view

• Cctlds numbers will eventually start to shrink, I think in the next 5-10 years.
• The majority of new businesses worldwide will prefer .com as even very small local businesses begin to factor in export sales.
• Over time using a cctld will be seen as a limiting factor that is best avoided at the start. That seems to be playing out with getting funding for startups but may filter down to mum and dad businesses as well.

 

[chris]

Over time using a cctld will be seen as a limiting factor that is best avoided at the start

One issue I come across is that the .com often isn't available.

For startups I agree, but for local businesses, it's not just a question of choice, it's also availability and price. I'm not anti .com, but I'm not anti .com.au either.

 

[Data Glasses]

One issue I come across is that the .com often isn't available.

For startups I agree, but for local businesses, it's not just a question of choice, it's also availability and price. I'm not anti .com, but I'm not anti .com.au either.

That's why "PetesPlumbing" only needs a .net/au

 

[ttfan]

Personally I tend to trust .com.au more than .com.
Also when Googling just for local results, it's not uncommon to include the site:.au , which would exclude .com from the results.
Some businesses may want to show they're Australian owned because that's their strength... for example those that sell milk powder to Asia want to emphasise it's an Australian product.
I don't disagree with the points made above, but I do think .au will continue to have a place.