My Comments On The Verisign “.COM Vs New gTLDs” Stats

verisignVerisign, the .com and .net registry, published a post called “What’s Really New in the New gTLD Space?” in its blog. It has some interesting stats in it although some are not so accurate.

Here are some quotes and my comments:

verisign-stats1

“I looked at comparing SLDs in new gTLDS with SLDs in .COM. The results show that a significant majority (~84%) of the SLD strings being registered in the new gTLDs are also registered in .COM.”

Most of the registered New gTLDs probably have a lot of duplicates in .com. A large percentage of top 500 or 1000 keywords in search results are probably registered in all New gTLDs and of course so are all the brands that are trying to protect their mark in New gTLDs. This means that the 16% of not registered domains in .com is higher if you take out the duplicates.

“However, there are 521,834 new gTLD domain names (493,563 unique SLD strings, or 16% of all new gTLD SLDs) that are registered in new gTLDs but not in .COM. ”

The duplicates here are not so many as these are obscure and probably worthless domains that some may have been given out for free just to inflate registrations numbers. But what someone has to admit is that people register domains that don’t make any sense (even to the people registering them) everyday even in .com.

“Next, I looked at whether the combination of the SLD and new gTLD string is available as a SLD in .COM –e.g. Andy.NewgTLD as AndyNewgTLD.COM.  As can be seen in the second pie chart, when the new gTLD is combined with the SLD, nearly 75% of the names registered in new gTLDs are available in .COM today.”

I have pointed out this problem many times but some people seem to disregard it. A large percentage of these 75% are worthless and have no purpose. I have written about the “65% .club domains from day 1 are not registered in .com” and that “71% .com from corresponding sunrise new gTLDs not registered – Many trademark.newgtld combinations make no sense.”

“I proceeded to explore which new gTLDs are the home of new SLDs that don’t exist in .COM?

For starters, a few gTLDs seem to have a disproportionate number of these strings.  The bar chart shows the top new gTLDs that have “distinct” new gTLD names along with the percentage of their zone that is in effect now “distinct” from .COM:”

verisign-stats2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“One interesting takeaway is that the IDN TLDs all skew higher in terms of the portion of their base that is “distinct”.  Intuitively, it seems that these may be an area where broader internationalization in new gTLDs help the domains make sense (i.e., IDN.IDN).”

Of course IDNs skew the results because I think that mixed domains, e.g. IDN.com, don’t work good together and no one is buying them. IDN.IDN domains on the other hard make sense.

You can also see that the 10 top New gTLD in terms of domains not registered in .com are either IDNs, that makes sense, or extensions that offered or forced a lot of free domains.

“Using a domain tokenization algorithm I have written that identifies domains that are made up of exclusively English keywords, 153,316 (31%) of the SLDs registered in new gTLDs that are available in .COM are keyword exclusive domains.  A few example strings that were available in .COM at the time of writing include: pvcbusiness, emailinvention or searchcustomerservicejobs.”

While researching for New gTLDs I found myself buying a few available .com. Start buying.

“I also observed that it is possible that end users and / or applications are confused using the new gTLDs and are trying to reach the .COM domains in error.  I observed this by looking at DNS requests for the new gTLD strings that are available in .COM.  When observing the DNS requests for the string in .COM, I found that for more than 20 thousand strings they began being requested as .COM strings only after the new gTLD string was registered. While this is an opportunity for applicants that may wish to acquire the corresponding SLDs within .COM, it also further illustrates the universal acceptance challenges that continue to exist with new gTLDs.”

I made a poll about this confusion. See the results here.

The bottom line is that you should be careful what New gTLDs you are buying for your business and as a domain investor. You may be buying a domain where the .com is available. While there is nothing wrong with buying the New gTLD you should probably also get the .com as well and avoid any headaches. For IDN domains it is a whole different story. IDNs don’t go so well with .com. Domain investors can’t expect to get good money on a domain that is available in .com or it is sold for $600. Everybody should make some research before buying like we should be doing with everything, anyway.

And yes there are some good .com domains still available.

Sold.Domains

About Konstantinos Zournas

I studied Computer Engineering and Computer Science in London, UK and I am now living in Athens, Greece. I went online in 1995, started coding in 1996 and began buying domain names and creating websites in 2000. I started the OnlineDomain.com blog in 2012.

25 comments

  1. Great article~ here’s a good example. We wanted~ as everyone does~ the keyword “insurance” as a stand alone word for to hold as an investment~ we found one~ so we bought
    Insurance. moe and have already been approached on it (to my surprise) .Happy Holidays~

  2. Wow, interesting dissecting of a report. Happy holidays and have a Merry Christmas to everyone!

  3. Konstantinos- good work, very detail!

    You see, the owners of thedomain dot com have a big interest$$$$$ in the dot club and other gtlds and their interest is making money regardless of the outcome. Their job is to spew propaganda via drawing attention.

    • I agree many investors are sitting dumbfounded as their GTLDS are going without offers, and auto renwals are set to start charging in 2 weeks.

      This cycle reminds me of all the previous extensions such a .mobi .name .us that failed to materialize, same feeling, same empty parking lot

  4. When the winds of change feel too strong … the time is a shadow!
    Happy holidays and have a Merry Christmas to everyone!

  5. It seems some can’t handle the winds of change, they live in denial thinking their little bubble will last forever 🙂 It’s funny if it was not so sad to see people live only to attack progress whenever something is against the old mantra.

    As for K, thanks, appreciate the time and energy you put in bringing us domainer news !

  6. PS: Also it is kind of bizar to feel thedomains is spreading propaganda. Michael himself has 75000 .com domains himself and i bet most of the whiners have hardly a fraction themselves.
    So whatever he does, he will gain with his .com portfolio but also with his investment in the new gtlds. Also from my few contacts with Michael, he’s a relaxed guy and to the point in getting things done 🙂

  7. It’s a funny thing about these new G’s …brings to mind the Gandhi quote: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”.

    The truth is none of this matters.. no Verisign quotes, no blog talk, no Monday morning quarter-backing, no bloggers, no experts, no leaders, no super-domainers… nothing.. There is absolutely nothing, anyone can do that will talk down new domain names in the next few years. Why?

    Because people like me and others keep paying hundreds and thousands of dollars for .com names on the secondary market that are completely open and available in new extensions for $5 or $10 or $20 a name.

    There is no logical talk around for the difference in price, and the more young people that get online, the more old dogmas will die with the old-timers who fail to adapt.

    Will there be people who give up and declare these new namespaces DEAD between now and the future? Yes. Will it matter?.. No. You can not have condos selling for 20 million dollars in New York City and open land available in New jersey for $20,000 an acre. One has to fall or the other has to go up. This moment in time is a wonderful anomaly for those who understand these comments and posts and know how to invest for their benefit.

    There are thousands of new people coming to this space each day and they are increasingly scratching their heads about why the dot com is 10k or 1 million and the dot “something else” is sitting there for $15. Time and more people (not those here to read this now) will increasingly melt away the trust barrier just as Facebook made socialmedia main-stream when Myspace couldn’t.

    Merry.Christmas to you all. Looking forward to a ridiculous 2015 with at least 8 million new GTLDs registered and 500mm – 1 billion in re-sales that are available at registration price today.

    Bon chance.

    • Great point Frank-that’s exactly why we bought Insurance.moe to buy and hold. Happy Holidays.

      • 1. John: .moe is short for .moron
        2. Frank: the world has been stuck in the “laughing at you” stage since the death of .mobi. You may want to stop and reassess. The g’s just ain’t catching on and never will.

      • “Moron” really? I’ve had two offers on it unsolicited-we also own Loans.moe and plan to buy more.-have a nice holiday.

      • I wonder how you got two unsolicited offers on insurance.moe, considering you registered it on December 14th while the name sat unregistered for 5 months, ever since July.

      • p.s. It’s nice to see that you know more than Mr.Schilling.

      • To be honest Mark-I have no idea-but i had two people inquire within three days-i bought it with my info public and was on whois immediately-and listed it in my SEDO account as well as others-I assume people just search for “Insurance” because you can’t find any. Also-NO ONE looks on whois for a moe-no one.

    • “It’s a funny thing about these new G’s …brings to mind the Gandhi quote: “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”.
      This instead brings me to mind when some people, near the bubble peak, say “This time is different … things can only get better … sky’s the limit …” and then comes a harsh wake up call …
      It’s 20+ years that I’m seeing this stuff (bs) … well before you started domaining in early 2000s … same with real estate …

      ” There is absolutely nothing, anyone can do that will talk down new domain names in the next few years. … There is no logical talk around for the difference in price, and the more young people that get online, the more old dogmas will die with the old-timers who fail to adapt.”
      Same blind optimism … the reason behind price difference clearly lies, among other factors, in the adoption of newGs by end-users, which has only partially to do with people age … a mkt with little or no end-users is not healthy and it’s easy to manipulate …

      “You can not have condos selling for 20 million dollars in New York City and open land available in New jersey for $20,000 an acre. One has to fall or the other has to go up.”
      Meaningful comparisons should be ceteris paribus, and apple to apple, not apple to oranges, like usually sales reps do to protect their own interests …
      Otherwise is just “smoke and mirrors” …

      I Think 2015 will be ridiculous … but not in the sense you mean … it will be “back to reality” for this and more …
      Bonne chance! … or Bon courage!, as people say in France 🙂

      • Let’s see-we own ShopChina.co and we would have paid how much for ShopChina.com ? $1million-2 Million-who knows-this goes directly to Mr Shilling’s point and he’s correct and I know about the .com bust VERY well-there’s no comparison. Happy Holidays.

  8. So there’s not much migration from NameTLD.com to Name.TLD, like LisaPhotography.com to Lisa.Photography?

    • There is no point in this migration. It is not an upgrade.
      Going from zero to a new gtld can be an upgrade.
      This is where New gTLDs should focus: new users.
      Especially those without any budget. Putting $60,000 domain renewals is driving people away.

      • I see 5 upgrades from LisaPhotography.com to Lisa.Photography:

        -Shorter
        -Better seperation of the 2 words
        -Removal of the useless .com
        -Looks nicer overall
        -Probably 1/1000th the price

      • When we say that we have an upgrade we of course assume that Lisa already owns and operates LisaPhotography.com.
        So you must factor in that Lisa needs to have a great incentive to abandon the already developed LisaPhotography.com domain,
        make the difficult migration (links, SEO etc.), change email address, update stationary etc.

        So:
        1-Shorter (3 letter are not worth the time and money to migrate from the established and well known .com to a New gTLD)
        2-Better seperation of the 2 words (that is subjective, some may say this but a lot say it is confusing)
        3-Removal of the useless .com (see 1)
        4-Looks nicer overall (see 2)
        5-Probably 1/1000th the price (not applicable as Lisa already owns the .com and actually Lisa.Photography has more expensive renewals)

  9. “While researching for New gTLDs I found myself buying a few available .com. Start buying.”

    My experience as well 🙂

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