It seems like new domain name extensions are being proposed all the time. Some proposals are adopted and actually become domain name extensions, but many, if not most do not. Only a few will become prominent, popular and gain wide recognition beyond the domaining community. So, for example, if you are based in the UK the public are probably aware of .com, .net and .org as well as .co.uk. and .org.uk., but that is all. Newer domain name extension such as .info and .biz are still struggling to be widely recognised by the general public the way the others are and I suspect that this is a situation that is reflected in other countries as well.
I feel that .biz is too similar to .com, to be successful as they both relate to ‘commercial’ websites. Demand for the .biz extension also seems relatively weak.
The .info extension seems to fill a niche and may well become more popular than .biz for this reason.
I do have concerns about the long term success of recently created high profile domains, .Asia , .Eu, and dot mobi.
Starting with .Asia and .Eu, we are always using political or geographical terms to refer to groups of countries - ‘Latin American countries’ for example. It is simple and it works. However, the problem is that there is little that a .Asia or .EU domain name can do that a .Com cannot. In addition, the diverse countries that are covered by the .Asia domain is a weakness, rather than a strength. There is little that, for example, countries like Tajikistan have in common with fellow .Asia countries Sri Lanka and New Zealand. European countries have been at war with one another on and off for two centuries and have entered only reluctantly into some sort of economic / political union. It is doubtful that they will enthusiastically share a domain name extension. It’s a bit like having a continental domain name for North American countries – for example ‘dot NAM’ for Canada, USA, Cuba and Mexico!
Now, the .mobi extension may be a better bet. You can tell simply by looking at a domain with a .mobi extension that it is for mobile devices. Some would argue that the .mobi extension fills a need. However, there is also a trend for some mobile devices to have the capacity to view ‘normal’ internet sites. So the success of .mobi is by no means guaranteed.
I try not to become emotionally attached to my domains, especially generic ones with more unusual extensions such as .tv and .cc. It doesn’t help that a small proportion of these domain names sell for significant sums of money. However, in my opinion, generally they will appreciate in value more slowly than a comparable .com, and will be less marketable.
For me, this means that I will be steering clear of specialised and continental domain name extensions. I know that a lucky few will make lots of money buying and selling the most generic domains to one another, but my plan is to stick to .com, some .net/.org domain names and UK ccTLDs. I think I am right, but only time will tell.
