As the World Wide Web enters its second decade of existence, .com has become a ubiquitous surname. From the obvious pets.com and business.com to the unique sendmeadollar.com and hollywoodjesus.com, it is clear that .com has become King of the domain roost. .net and .org have been around almost as long, but they are like the red-headed stepchildren at K-Mart. (No offense to red-headed kids, but all offense meant to K-Mart.) .net was initially intended for technical sites and .org for organizations.
A couple years ago, the powers that be came up with a new top level domain extension that could be used for a variety of purposes. .info is its name. Information is its game.
Why would anyone register a blahblah.info domain? I read some interesting information on the editorial page at Domains Name Journal. Think about this...
In the 1960’s, AM Radio was the undisputed king of the airways. An interloper came along called FM. It was widely ridiculed as a joke. The vast majority of radios didn’t even have an FM band! The AM guys laughed at and dismissed FM as a player that would never get off the bench. FM wound up eating AM’s lunch. It completely took over the dial for music and relegated the AM band to news and talk radio. The value of AM stations was decimated. Those that did not invest in FM counterparts were the ones who wound up on the sidelines.For another example look at TV. Again, just a couple of decades ago television had two distinct bands. The VHF stations (channels 2-13) were the haves. The UHF stations (channels 14-69) were the have-nots. The VHF people never gave UHF a second thought. They were viewed as worthless properties with weak signals that no one could see. They needed a separate antenna to be received, so obviously they would never be a factor in the TV business.
Along came Ted Turner’s UHF station in Atlanta, channel 17. Turner married it with cable and not only overcame the local reception problem, he married the station with cable to extend its reach nationwide! Other UHF properties joined the party and now the distinctions between UHF and VHF have just about disappeared. Even in the largest markets there is a good chance that a powerful network affiliate will be on a UHF channel, something that was unheard of just a few years ago. Again those who invested in UHF reaped large benefits. Those who did not were left out in the cold as changing technology altered the landscape again.
Will the same thing happen on the internet? Maybe, maybe not. But keep in mind that radio and TV were far larger mediums than the internet is today. The broadcast outlets where AM and VHF were once king reached over 98% of American households. The internet reaches only about 50% of households. If radio and TV could be turned upside down, the argument that a medium with half the penetration could not possibly see a change in user habits is obviously untrue.
Another way of looking at this is like real estate. During the .com era, all the beachfront property was bought out. Today, it sells for a huge premium. But there is PLENTY of land inland, or even in the mountains. The people wanting good domain names are going to have to more elsewhere. And there is no reason anyone should have to register ISellCoolThingsLikeToysAndGames.com when a domain such as buytoys.info is available (well, WAS available. I just registered it).
The beauty of .info domains is they work in your browser the same as .com. And we are starting to see some high profile sites launched at .info extensions. For example, the state of California has chosen a .info instead of an available .com for a new anti-pollution campaign. There is a billboard in Sacramento that says DontTrashCalifornia.info. And a consortium of 5 Los Angeles area counties also uses a .info to promote car pooling, RideMatch.info.
It is my prediction that the .info domain is the next wave of domain registration. As it is, all the good one word domains are already gone. However, there are PLENTY of excellent domains ready to be snapped up. If the .com you wanted is unavailable, try to get the .info you want before someone else does.
And you can register your .info domain names for $8.99/year at DomainAnything.com. For more info about .info, click here.
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
