I was recently at the Googleplex in Mountain View, and so was Lady Gaga.. I know why I came but I’m constantly amazed by the parade of famous and not-so-famous who put on their Sunday best to kneel at the altar which is Google – a forward thinking company that has most of us either spellbound, scared, or shades of each.
Looking at the 5 foot something Gaga got me thinking about her superstar stature and her predecessor Madonna. Madonna is the Gaga of my generation.. She was first, she made BIG music – she made BIGGG bank.. And then she stopped. Well she stopped aggressively touring and retired to “living her life” because she had nothing left to prove. I feel that. I’m the domain-businesses version of Madonna – or, as somebody recently told me “Cher” – constantly reinventing myself.. Anyway – this isn’t about me (for once).
This is about Google. Because as much as Lady Gaga is the new Madonna.. Facebook (of late) has become to Google what Gaga has to Madonna.. the newer (not necessarily) better version of the old diva.
You can hardly pick up a periodical or fire up the iPad without hearing about Facebook ‘crushing-it ‘– ”It” being everything. Some of that sparkling veneer has gotten peeled away by the less than hockeystick trajectory of their IPO — but that’s just a moment. Facebook is getting ALLLL the press. Google is doing stuff and making things happen, but they seem to be in a popularity funk of late — out Googled in the media by Facebook.
Well my friends. I’m a pragmatist. I recognize that companies (even those as big and important as Google or FB) come and go. Nothing lasts forever. There are just a handful of companies from the 1960 DJIA that still exist today. That cautionary tale spoken, I am telling you with an entirely straight face that Google has just done something that assures them an eternal Cher-like comeback of their own. They acquired 50 generic TLDS.
The poorly kept industry rumor is that they were contemplating 1000 strings and reeled back their ambitions. They shouldn’t have – but even with a bold reach for 50 generics, they are in a terrific position.
Google is really a company with one dominant product line known by 2 names: … Adwords and Adsense.
Adsense is the audience side. Go to google-maps.. it’s all about the eyeballs. There is targeted audience in them thar maps. Android? It’s about the eyeballs baby. Get a phone in everyone’s hand and control those eyeballs via the platform. Google-Search is the Mother of all audience plays. Control the audience and the advertisers will follow.
On the other side, the legion of millions of credit cards plugged into the Adwords side – that side dutifully buying the traffic – that side which preportedly makes Google the largest forex/currency exchange operation the World has ever known… That little side has not had as much attention or investment.
Google is trying to grow it by appealing to Small and Medium sized businesses. As big as Google is, most of their potential customers just aren’t online yet. How many flower-shops and beuticians and corner stores don’t even have a website? Google are beating the bushes like mad to get those small publishers to get online and backfill the existing Adwords base.. They have teams of people doing very public outreach on the matter. This is incredibly smart but painstaking and difficult work. Domain names are like a Fulcrum loosening that load.
All small advertisers need a website. The advertisers largest hurdle is getting a web presence. Finding a suitable presence is convoluted though. How do you reach those people who’s websites are run by Verisign and Godaddy? So difficult and uncooperative are the management interfaces in-between that folks often give up! I frequently mention my nephew Rylan who’s dot net name was reserved on the day of his birth ten years ago (the com was gone). He recently entered the double digits by asking his Uncle Frank, to set up his domain in Google Apps, so he could mate his domain to GMAIL. Well what a freaking nightmare that was! When I recounted the acrimony to all who cared to listen, folks universally nodded in agreement. Only it’s not Google’s fault. They don’t own the REGISTRY and REGISTRAR. How can Google verify ownership and assist in setting MX records when they don’t control the name? How will they police fraud?
Enter a bunch of generic GTLDs!! Why mess with .COM when you can offer a free .SHOP or .LOL address in it’s place?!? Generic — innocuous – desirable — intuitive! ~ It hits all the marks!! Google will be able to offer a variety of semantically meaningful string choices at low or no cost in exchange for $15 of adwords spend.. The result will be like breaking a log-jam of demand.
I can see the future in my mind’s eye. You’ll go to Gmail.. you’ll pick the extension you desire from the pull down of Google (Charleston Road) registries, and small / medium businesses who are too smart to take and promote the DotGMAIL on their business cards will pick a dot-GENERIC.. Likely an entirely FREE dot-GENERIC string offered by Google; and slowly turn difficult to manage, existing extensions into the iPhone generation’s RIM.
There is nothing wrong with this of course. Google has brilliantly done exactly what any smart business would have. I give a profound high-five to the Googler who had the bravado to step-up and move on new generic Gtlds in such a big way. The domain name industry needed exactly THIS type of disintermediation and it is THIS which will elevate Google to the rafters and positively crush those who don’t counter it, in the years ahead.
We have witnessed nothing short of the itunes store being born. The potential for positive domain centric disintermediation is so great. I simply can not over state it. I see a rising tide lifting all boats, even (remarkably) Verisigns. We have entered the domain name era where billions worldwide who otherwise would not have had the technical efficacy to “run” domain names of their own, will now embrace a URL of their own – maybe even two or three. All thanks to the tools Google will build to support its products.
Before this new TLD announcement, the Facebook buzz could have lulled one into thinking that GOOGLE had lost it’s edge. Well FB blew it. So did Godaddy for that matter.. They should have gone wayyyyyy longer in new-TLDS.. You could argue that I blew it too btw.. I should have gone longer. Well the last hurdle hasn’t passed yet.. There are lots of applicants out there with more swagger and applications than plan or money – who may yet see the bottom of the bus. Most shocking of all though was FB. Too distracted by their IPO to enter this TLD round at all, they risk losing massive competitive advantage to the competitor they took for granted.
Oh and a footnote.. In 1996 I went to Comdex and I sat front row at Bill Gates keynote. He told a joke about somebody panhandling him for money in the Pike Place Market in Seattle. When he declined to acquiesce the panhandler appealed to Gates: “But I have my own URL”!!? To which Gates said, he handed the vagrant $5. Raucious applause followed. I remember the joke because I didn’t know what a URL was at the time.. There was no Google to Google it at.
The man who told that joke could have gone wayyyy longer on the generics.. because I do not think an SMB (the bread and butter of paid search fuel) will build their world on a .HOTMAIL or .BING sub-brand when GMAIL will be offering the wonderfully generic .WEB, and for free if they’re smart.
Amazon also went long but they weren’t at the ICANN meeting to chat with so I can only assume they intend to keep their generics. Shame they missed .AUCTION. Ditto with eBay btw.
In 10 years lady Gaga may have .GAGA and operate the Lady.GAGA site, but for now she can take comfort that her pilgrimage to the Googleplex was not to worship a false prophet. Google is the real deal baby.. Back up the truck on their stock as this is the single most brilliant play of the new .GTLD round. A play which will do everything ICANN intended.. It will foster competition, provide consumer choice and make the Web a more interesting place with lots of cool places to visit. Pitty their competitors who read this post but still don’t get the magnitude of their move in this space.
Frank,
Thanks for the insight in to the new TLDs and how google is firing on all cylinders (gTLD wise).
Having seen google cut domainers incomes almost 80 % over last few years, I am not very sure if it is a good thing if google gets even stronger and have more control over our destinies.
I rather prefer more competition in the adspace from the likes of FB, AMZN, etc etc.
What are your views on impact on domainers if google gets even more dominant in internet space?
Thanks.
Great article.
Very solid points.
Hell Frank,
You have to be quick to get ad space on your Blog, Congrats! I go a long way back and have watched you from Cyberspace for many years now. You certainly are a phenomonon, A gift from Creation I might say.
I have watched the birth of a nascent market place with assets of unparalleled value. Some call them Domain Names I call them “Virtual Business Foundations” fitting and more representative of the beast.
Do you realize you and others in our Industry are going to birth Thousands, and eventually millions of new Businesses, ultimately culminating in the planets most prolific Business expansion in recoreded history? I am blessed to be both witness and participant. What a RUSH !
Thank You for Being Who You Are.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
Great insight on this. A wild card for me is apple, they are not going for any of the extensions. Are they going come out with something disruptive,iphone etc? This company may have 200-300 billion in cash in 2 years scary.
A few things concern me. I would rather pay for the name and keep my analytics, email, and site information to myself. I don’t believe in giving that info to a company for free, not referring to any company in particular.
But that is myself, for most people this seems like it would be easy to sign up on and that is what people like. When it’s free that is when it really costs ya. But for the average joe, I am sure these new extensions will work well and be very user friendly.
Donny
Thanks for this very insightful perspective. Can’t say I’m a big supporter of the need for new gtlds, but your well laid out post shows why Google should/would/will be. With the costs and hurdles, being what they are for new gtlds, and with G’s deeeeep pockets and ability to ‘give away’ domains, it’s easy to see also that Google will have many years of marketing and much branding established ahead of their new gtlds counterparts, and of course a ‘big’ lead in the SMB /advertiser market share. As wonderfully advantageous these great generic gtld’s will be to Google and their ambitions, one can’t help ponder how wonderful it will be overall, when they (G) finally achieve their ‘ambitions’.
Still.., gonna make sure reverse is working in my truck!
I’ve been scratching my head a bit on some of this recently. Wasn’t quite seeing the play or the big picture yet. Thanks for clearing away some of the fog on this!
How do you see this affecting the mid and high end .com sales and the secondary marketplace in the short and medium term?
I’ve recently been starting to see some push back on prices with comments like (loosely) “No thanks – I’m going to wait for one of the new extensions from Google” and similar replies.
Could this be the beginning signs of a larger trend to come??
***FS*** I think in the long run this will elevate all names. .com value will not evaporate any more than 800 number did in an 888 877 866 855 world.. BUT it will provide a metering or valve-like top to the value. And over time it will marginalize weaker strings like .info .biz .mobi etc
Hello Frank,
I have read back through yuor total text concept, on this present event moment, and find no holes in it. Yuo are “Dead Balls On” thank you for the vision.
Gratefully, Jeff Schneider (Contact Group) (Metal Tiger)
and they will make the .com even more popular by the confusion,
It seems to me because the hair salons, nail shops, dry cleaners, etc…. will be using these cheap or free extensions moreso, the extensions themselves will be seen as cheap neighborhoods with poorly designed, boring sites, or ones with more malicious activity going on in them like .info has become with their cheap/free model. A bad image perception might become an obstacle to TLD adoption by big business.
I agree that this is good for the existing market in several ways:
-It will make everyone consider domains and think about their importance. -There will be pressure on existing gTLD renewal prices to hold or drop eventually.
-More companies will want to own various extensions, which means more sales
-A lot of us will make money off of traffic leakage to .com domains . A lot of that domain investor money will go right back into the market in various forms.
-More investors will show up with more cash. The investor market size will expand a whole lot.
-As more people get sites up they will want traffic. Traffic is finite. More demand with the same amount of traffic available means that prices will go through the roof for domains with direct navigation, especially as Google continues to hog results above the fold and may eventually charge for every commercial search spot on page one search results.
It’s my belief a perfect storm is brewing for domain investors that own great domain portfolios. This is the best the future of the industry has looked since about 2003.
Great post Frank, you have me looking at gTLDs in a whole new light. If Google does make something like .WEB free this will absolutely change the dynamic of the Internet and the domain space.
Adwords and Adsense is everything to Google and you are spot on that many small businesses haven’t made the leap online yet.
I think it’s hard for many of us that use the web integrally in our daily lives. We forget that the Internet is itself still young and mass adoption is still happening. We are definitely at a point where just about every small business knows they need a website, if they can do this for free with a .WEB address from Google and some Adwords credit this could give them the push they need.
As usual, absolutely solid post. My only complaint is that you don’t post daily, I know you’re busy but I for one would read it religiously
You can always ask right!
I respect your pragmatic enthusiasm, Frank. Personally, I believe that one day, not too long from now, the Cyberspace reality will kick in. No more URLs, no more gTLD/TLD/ccTLD madness. Just “jack in” and navigate the “ice” like William Gibson described it in 1984 and ‘Neuromancer’. I highly recommend the book, even if one is not a fan of the subsequent Matrix movies that missed the point.
Google Goes GaGa
http://youtu.be/hNa_-1d_0tA
Frank,
What have you been smoking, man?
The reason Facebook was a noshow isn’t because they were “preoccupied”, it’s because they paid $6.5M for FB.com from the farm bureau. That is infinity better than owning a gtld; and, you of all people, should know that.
Sounds like you were trying to hedge your bets by buying into this chaos, but I suggest you take a few minutes and re-read your own literature to be reminded why .com is now and will always be the king of the tld’s. If for no other reason, the leakage factor to the .com counterpart will be astounding — especially in a few years after .com has taken even deeper root.
I wish you well with your new venture, but honestly think you seriously erred by even giving consideration to the silly gtld’s. They will be just a flash in the cyber pan and no different than the numerous other tld failures that already litter the information highway.
***FS*** .COM has taken root a long time ago. I think that this is it’s high-water mark. Every major brand will have it’s own TLD in a decade. .com is great today because the brands reinforce it. It remains to be seen if that will continue in a .ANYTHING world. I think this has the potential to be a defining moment online, not a flash in the pan. .COM will indeed always be the king of TLDs, in an SLD world – but it will be marginalized on the whole by every new string that gets delegated. FB made a huge mistake missing generic TLDS. Not everyone will want .FACE when they get around to applying for it.
This article was basically I am going after a lot of new tlds and so is Google. Propaganda at its finest.
If you are big on new tlds great, but please don’t make this post more than it really is.
It is so hysterical how you used to pan other tlds beside .com and now have flipped.
And by the way the namespace is exhausted because you helped to exhaust it owning as many names as you do and asking outrageous pricing.
***FS*** The supply of oil is getting to the point of exhaustion, I don’t blame you for driving your suburban and helping deplete it.. it just is what it is. I bought names – can’t apologize for that – own just a small handful in the grand-scheme. I can assure you this has NOTHING to do with propaganda. I have “Flipped” my view because this is different. We don’t live with 24 sh*tty .com alternatives anymore. There are going to be thousands of great ones. And all those people will be pushing in this direction. You can’t fight the tide.
I’m with Deano on this one !
“The cream will always rise to the top, and that cream is .com”
i think that’s what you said.
***FS*** When I first said that .com prices were $6.00 and there were 24 tlds — today we’ve got 1900 tld apps, com is $7.35 and climbing 7% every 4 of seven years. .com will be near $50 in 2050.. I think .com risks marginalizing itself as it ratchets up prices. I like .com a lot less in a World of $50 registrations and .WEB — which will likely be free. We have reached the high-water mark for .com.
I also agree with Deano above and think Frank is el wrongo.
Age old debate . . . .
RICK SCHWARTZ vs. SCHILLING
My $$$$ is on the Domain King.
***FS*** I think com is going to be king SLD but it’ll get marginalized over time.. JMO of course.
you’re so wrong Frank
I’m interested to know at which point you will accept you are wrong
please give a timeline to some of these guesses, so we know
just on one point, you say in this last comment you like .com far less in a world of $50 registrations
indeed you are looking ahead 38 years lol, when inflation may mean that doesn’t even buy a loaf of bread and 4 pints of milk
I see this as a great hedge to someone who owns 400,000 .com domains!
however the more people that apply for gtlds, the more diluted they get
.com will be the main point of trust along with respected cctlds, I see no change
phishers can fake .com email addresses and so they will be able to fake .brand email addresses with their spam
a lot of misguided company reps with too much money have applied for most of these applications, most will not be used. those with the most money or ones who have drunk the most kool aid will win the auctions
google like the other search engines can and do set their algorithms to serve themselves
you’ve done well Frank, very well
I can’t help but feel this is the moment you have pissed away $60 million and increasing on wages
time will tell
I don’t ever see you knowing what it is like not to have enough cash for a pint of milk in the future so no worries there, but a mistake none the less.
***FS*** I appreciate your comment.
There is much to play out yet. Two stalls is a market place and good luck to all the new TLD’s, especialy Google.com & Amazion.com these are reletively new brand names. I am interested to see if the worlds communication media brands keep the “com” as an elite brand partner or go CNN.CNN (in reality simply CNN)
The important part is: “Those that control the Reference Frame, Control the Reality” Everything we do (judgments) is based on the reference frame. An example is Apple who (currently) have the Reference Frame for phones / pads / TV (& the TV is not even available) The local SMB’s will take up the free domain and website paid 4 by the hosting, create competition pay higher for the stalls near the entrance. This will not make any difference to the “com” IF the reference frame controlled.
@ Martin
tbh I don’t see it as one v other
Frank and Rick are the 2 wellknown domainers I admire the most as they actually tell it like they see it
they give their honest viewpoint
they both own pure generic desirable .com’s
they won’t ever go wrong in that department
Rick tried a few different scenarios that didn’t work and put hands up, .co and .mobi
Frank has some cctlds , like .de and .co.uk but never strayed or championed any others
I can’t help feel maybe Frank sees the traffic he gets in the hundreds of million annually could be channelled better and those visitors may either want to buy the url they typed or have even a free option on one of his strings
when he has built up a huge membership and email harvest he will be in aposition to maybe build some network that could grow , offering a massive sellout one day, without touching his .coms
afterall we see startups sell in 8 and 9 figure sums all the time
Frank could theoretically sell off one string in this range one day and recoup all his investment so theoretically he may do very well indeed
trick is for 99.99% of domainers they should stick to what they know and no tocuh any of this with a bargepole
top end quality .coms will always do well and may very well do even better due to all this carry on
just my humble opinion
Frank
I’m sure you know but GaGa list also a brand of watches so a .gaga may not go to the lady
http://www.gagamilano.com/en
***FS*** Thats a great point and sort of shows the a chiles heel of new tlds… Maybe GAGA.MUSIC for her.
That said, I think in the long run, most of the big brands will find a way to move up a level
@FS
Can you clarify what you mean by “high water mark” in your comment above?
***FS*** I think the debate around dot com being the center of the universe (as it is today) will soon change. I think this round of new TLDs will bring subsequent rounds and change things for the value of dot com in as-yet unforeseen ways. Prices may inch up from here but they will not go up as fast on a percentage as new TLD-slds will. This is like the moment FM radio came out and all the am stations pooh-poohed it.
FS@ Most of the big brands have found the “way to moved up a level” just controlling the reference frame : )
Frank nice post, not sure agree with all but certainly some. In one of the comments you replied there will not be 24 sh*tty extensions but lots of great ones.
Frank if they were not already around, info,biz,travel,name,jobs,pro would all be considered great and have a lot of buzz. .Tattoo is better than .travel ?
***FS*** You you make a great point but the totality of thousands of great targeted strings (with .Web as the generic cherry on top) is going to be significantly greater in impact than any new tad roll-out in the past. This time is different. There are 1500 decent strings!
When I first read your post I wasn’t sure it was possible, but the more I think about it, it could be a strong possibility.
People don’t mind using free email services from Google, MSN, etc. They are quick and easy and reliable, and attached to messenger programs and other services.
If companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon, etc start giving away free domains on these new gtld’s, where you can make a free blog, webpage, etc and attach a free email to it, it could catch on. These companies have a wide reach and if they publicize their new gtld’s heavily, the public would quickly come to know and accept them.
The problem the existing gtld’s like .info and .biz had was they never got the huge promotion like .com in the early days. Google and such companies can give these new gtld’s that kind of promotion.
Why wouldn’t Google give away free domains that cost them $5/year or less, in order to get $10 to $20 plus in advertising clicks in return (through the attached email or webpage advertising)?
The question is, will this kind of service put a small dent in existing extensions like .com, or will it be taken up heavily by the public and businesses and turn into a game changer?
***FS*** Your thoughts run exactly akin to mine Rob.. We may both be wrong, but everyone should “plan” for the eventuality that we’re right.
Thanks for the great post Frank, and all the more for your responses to the comments as well.
I’ve been thinking for awhile about how the tech incumbents are duking it out to see who will “own the web”.
Facebook’s strategy is to create a copy of the web, optimized for the social experience (sharing/commenting/liking) within the walled garden of facebook.com/*. They “own the web” as the total time-on-site of their user base continues to rise. This includes engagement within FB mobile and apps built on FB’s platform. Hyper-growth stories like Zynga then Instagram continue to push more developers onto the platform, and the ease in which fan pages are established ensures there’s no shortage of content to engage with.
Apple’s strategy is to move all content into apps. The closed Appstore ecosystem let’s Apple exercise a global tax on engagement and content. Each time a brand, publication or SaaS provides deploys a native iOS app, Apple owns a bit more of the web. The fact the mobile web cannot compete with native apps, both on speed and capabilities (eg. camera, ability to upload a file) makes it an easy choice for developers and brand managers — build native apps or risk your image building a second-rate experience. The web, in this case, simply becomes a series of pipes and protocols to rely data from app to server.
Microsoft’s approach to owning the web? TBD
Now Google’s strategy is apparent. What’s nice is that it’s much closer to web’s roots, namely being “open”. Google “owns the web” by having first dibs on ad-serving and the marketing budget of the world of SMBs out there. Reinforced by Google’s own tools. Free is tough to beat. The biggest challenge I see with GOOG’s approach is the toolset needed to realize it. Google Apps solves productivity tools for SMBs without much effort, but there’s still a looooong way to go for their WYSIWYG site editing tools in my opinion. All told, I’m the least “scared” of Google’s approach from an open web perspective.
It’s definitely going to be an interesting few years ahead of us. I hope that when the dust clears there is no single winner, but that the competition keeps options open and ensures content & SMBs don’t get locked up into any one walled garden.
Seems Google’s also got the .med extension too.
http://gtldresult.icann.org/application-result/applicationstatus/applicationdetails/1330;jsessionid=256FE12EFAE4794CC24A94522FE4CDC3
Too bad this article, like many, will cover up the fact that once an entity generates great traffic on their own, the mighty G will come along and de index them in favor of publishers and AdWords clients (IMO). As a result, the entity must admit to something they haven’t done to get reinstated. Their generics are then vanished from the search engine. The G will ignore requests to reinstate the generic that can compete against unappealing sites in the space.
Have you noticed Google crawling at night? Then, the traffic switch is flipped off. Should you pay for Adwords on a space you control? Feel that another entity is using your content to rank above you? Better yet, will you be censored for speaking the truth about people who sell overpriced sites? They can acquire all these extensions. Who cares. Indexing poor coupon sites to compliment clients just goes to show that outdated content is favorable due to partnership and favoritism.
Squash the little guy that knows his to use Google data to get traffic without having to spend a dime on SEO, AdWords and link building schemes. What is in it for you? Are the big G getting you better indexed now?
Many domain names the elite sell have not coughed up any traffic. One domain, in particular, that we sold for cheap (a statement that Berkens makes often), has climbed from 0 to 30k to 110k in traffic since March. We are not in a position to get your prices. Because of operating on the ground, we won’t be able to compete as G and you do. But our site is now the new face of a company. Most passed up on this site many times. Just goes to show many don’t understand a good name. The 110k visits in May prove the end-user knows. They got a far better domains than what the elite domainers serve up that end up as parked crumbs.
Anyhow, you deserve your success. Just saying that you have to look at both viewpoints to see the truth. Can people reach success ethically? Everything in this comment is IMO, though exact stats and traffic monitoring can prove otherwise. Thanks.
***FS*** Google doesn’t mix it’s algorithmic search and its products. If you’re a good blogger it doesn’t matter if you’re on their platform or theirs.. you will get indexed the same way. Google’s algo hates our parked pages, just like it hates yours. There are no favorites.
The only thing I would add to my earlier post is that people or companies that go big, or want to ‘feel’ big, will still probably want their .com, even if they start off with a gtld. That mentality will take a long time to change, if ever. Using a free domain or free email doesn’t always look professional, but there is a huge base out there that doesn’t care about that (like the average Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram user). Most people are used to getting a free email, free blog page, free Twitter page, etc and are willing to put up with some advertising to get it.
Good content, products and services make a good domain name great. I don’t see how these new extensions are going to provide better competition. Top domainers suggest that web appeal is still limited. End-users are finally catching onto the domain name movement.
If domainers have a real good eye, then how can new domainers locate many gems? One domainer will reject an entire portfolio, but then that same portfolio keeps producing golden eggs. A domain company rejects the portfolio, and they could have made a bundle. I believe innovation and great ideas hold more traction than extensions and so-called great premium domains.
On the opposite side, good domain names are only as great as the content featured on them. Poor execution results on poor performance. I’m sure you enjoy watching movies. Haven’t you noticed decent movies making a bundle? Good movies flop. Poor marketing can influence a product and service. Good writing is thus compromised because of poor directing.
Bad word of mouth due to a bad movie ending affect the upcoming box office results. Actors choose good and bad roles. Compare the Kirsh actor to Tatum. It is obvious who is having a great year as opposed to
a disaster. Choosing the right roles can launch a career. Selecting the wrong roles can adversely impact a career.
Whereas you claim Google is making better decisions, IMO, they still want to compete against Facebook. The allure of Facebook probably frustrates Google.
You more that Google is a forward thinker. Look back to their Adsense.com decision making to reject the site because we already own the dot net. This statement comes from Google management. We have the dot net of a program that will make us billions and our publishers rich. Eventually, Google acquires the domain. However, their dinosaur thinking them had to be adjusted with acquiring many companies to amass a 100+ business
Empire. Why compete against the competition? Instead, acquire the competition to close future entrants. Utilize Porter’s Five Forces to power future growth.
Many domainers watch you make big sales. They see your stock market presence dwarf their small investment companies. They’re appealing domains never see the light yours do daily. Whenever a wise person speaks, the majority discredit them through criticizing them. Maybe pointing to their domain portfolio, or questioning advice. Even so, these domainers have little knowledge of the reach. They judge to get a laugh.
There will be another competitive company that will compete against Google and Facebook. Everything great does not last forever. Soon enough, the tides will turn in favor of the competition. You’ve seen it with end-users taking domains rather than negotiate fair deals. People want a shortcut to success. They don’t want to work hard.
I see that work hard. You enjoy success. Your Madonna example makes sense. She still makes passive income from royalties. I believe her annual earnings have even reached $70 million in years she doesn’t perform as much. She doesn’t need to do as much because she already paved the road for Lady Gaga and the future artists. Michael Jackson did the same.
Creating all these extensions still doesn’t change the fact that dot com is the best. It is the appealing extension. It is the domain name dream. Many uneducated web entities will ask whether a dot net will forward to the dot com. That is validation they prefer the best. Google.com will never change. It is their best domain. Thanks.
***FS*** Dot com will always be king just like 800 is still better than 888 even though you only need one key on the keypad for 888, but a good series of APPS to get domain names in the hands of customers and get them traffic from a media property like google, that is definitely going to make inroads over time. I’m calling a high water mark here. This is an in flexion point. Everything else you said IMO is exactly correct. We agree.
This post has started very good discussion and different view points.
Now, here is another view:
I think likes of google and amazon are trying to get these new gTLDs because they are scared of what will happen to their revenues if someone else get them.
I also don’t think that google will provide all the gTLDs as free to people. Perhaps they may just keep them off other people’s hands so that google.com always stays as the main search engine i.e. the center of our start on the web.
Google has historically tried to leverage one single domain name i.e. it’s brand i.e. Google.com
Why would they jeopardize their bran by using 100s of other gTLDs?
Using all these gTLDs will highly dilute google.com brand as we know.
Amazon has already said theirs’ will be closed gTLDs….they won’t sell to public.
I won’t be surprised if google does the same.
It keep the gTLDs away their competitors.
***FS*** This isn’t about their brand. Their brand is strong and will not go away, but many SMB’s won’t build their world on a .GOOGLE or .AMAZON name. It looks hokey and unprofessional to be an independent business married to Google or Amazon.. like passing a business card with an AOL email.. It just screams amateur hour. Google knows this. They have a product called Google APPs that allows you to plug any name you want into GMAIL.. They control everything through GMAIL but the brand looks independent and professional. Managing other extensions is difficult and painstaking because Google doesn’t own the registry. In this new world, they WILL own the registry and it will give them incredible latitude to push, promote and further registrations. This is not just about keep-away IMO
Hi im Mario and I own Marios Pizza in Miami. Couldnt get .com so think ill get mariospizza.miami…or was it MariosPizza.Restaurant? No No Im sorry I meant Marios.Pizza Oh wait maybe…
Which way did he go, which way did he go?
WHATEVER.whatever but I cant see this as any threat to .com nor org or net for that matter as it is already past any confusion stage.
Dont forget to visit us online at mariospizza.restaurant
Ok Mariospizza.restaurant.com
OOPS but hey congrats to restaurant.com and the many others. Marios or any relation to was simply for example purposes and not intentional real life.
***FS*** I get it .. you make the same point that got me buying dot coms. Trouble is these new strings – well many are going to be free. It hasn’t happened yet.. The World is still the same today.. It’s going to happen. Plan accordingly.
@Fank,
I’m effective in building movie sites up quick. I don’t like to gloat, but I feel that I serve up quality information to inform people. My reference to de indexing occurred on WhyPark.
For example, you own coin investing dot com. You rank on page #1. Then, Panda updates push you further back. You can write good content, but Google may view your content as the same rotating articles featured on the platform. If another website credits your work, the lack of time stamping on custom articles give precedence to the website giving credit. As you already know, the former WP (now Domain Apps) and Google worked together to serve up ads.
I noticed many searches once arriving to address unfair indexing and de ranking due to using that specific platform. Blog sites on another platform can get ranked rather easily. However, the generics used on WP sites in areas with good appeal got de indexed and de ranked. These domains are a tough sale if an end-user attempts to verify the indexing.
We can use Google as a SEO tool to rank in space. Good writing and knowledge in the space can lead to quality traffic. There is a difference between quality and non quality traffic. Quality traffic results in click-thru for products and services related to their exact match searches and or phrases. However, non quality traffic does not produce any click-thrus and people leave too quickly.
I still believe for con is the best. Your top sales demonstrate this notion. IBM has a long history in computing. They once controlled the computing supplies associated with feeding these time machines. Future entrants entered the computing space. IBM then competed in the personal computer space.
Apple also entered the market in the 70s and took off in the 80s. They revolutionized their company after Jobs’ NEXT gave Apple their operating system. The true growth took place with the “i” products released in 2001 and to now. The stock value has increased tenfold. Reinventing an extension can lead to future growth. Adjusting to web demands keep online companies competitive in their space.
I noticed that your DNS system classifies domain value on a few number factors. A domainer such as Berkens will suggest that stats have no real value in 2011. Why would a company want to inject advertising dollars into promoting a domain with poor stats that unlikely deliver type-ins and searches when they can acquire a premium domain they can build rather quickly?
Google searches are accurate. Their traffic maps are accurate. If they say your traffic will arrive from the UK and Brazil, you can see this in the traffic data. I give Google credit that their data is quality. You can use this quality to become competitive. The Internet empowers us to reach our goals. Thanks!
Don’t depend on iphone to aid you with writing comments. Two words changed to change the focus.
I still believe dot com is the best. Your top sales demonstrate this notion. IBM has a long history in computing. They once controlled the computing supplies associated with feeding these time machines. Future entrants entered the computing space. IBM then competed in the personal computer space. Reinventing matters.
***FS*** You are looking at the light from a dead star. Yes sales are great right now. There are no other TLDs of merit right now.. just 1000+ applications for names.. when those are out and in the root and for sale the world will be a different place. I am betting on that. You have a runway. Then the World changes.
Frank,
When you speak, or write I listen to your words very, very carefully. Your in the top 3 of people I listen to very carefully and respect.
I will have to say having read your old posts years back, .com views, direct navigation and everything is just rubbish. You did mention couple ones you did like and in gtld area.
I am profitable and trying get to the top of the mountain. I just recently spent a lot of money in .com purchases and this kinda reminded me of your RumCakes.Com speech as an example when you were in Seattle. Now that example kinda is contradicting to what your saying today and a big 360 degree turn as well. If Im questioning some, imagine what other part time domainers are thinking as well. When the king speaks, writes I read his words very carefully and respect Rick just as much as you. So in regards to Martins remark, it is kinda like Rick vs Schilling some. I am happy I spent some cash into the dot com space. My gut felt comfortable. My gut tells me it was a wise thing to do.
This does truly sound like a big hedge Frank. I get that part and the great thing about domaining, your in full control in whatever move you make, make the best call for you and the amount of back end research you have.
Travel leakage will also be a huge concern and the .com owners thank everyone for that.
I can only imagine sold .com type in traffic domains and generic values will only go up. But I will be looking at certain .geo domains, .web, .eco, .nyc, .shop as well as a “mini hedge”.
Ricks post and his views are spot on imo. Again different views and hard to read at times what the leaders are doing and the community all looks up to the leaders in the domain space.
We got tons of time to ponder this and trying get to the top of the mountain. I do like how vc capital is coming into the new extensions and more awareness with domains in general. Your google remarks make perfect sense and the mom and pop as well. I am also curious with your ties to google, enom and your platform. You can call both ceos and have a meeting in Vegas next week if you wanted too. Cross promote each other. Internet Traffic customers. Ehow. Google. Hmm..
Thanks in post Frank. Wish you the very best and success! Time will tell see how this will work and shake out. Some winners, Some wont make it.
Regards,
Jeff
***FS*** Thank you Jeff. Here’s what’s different this time: 1900 strings. 5000 or 10000 more will come in round 2 once the companies of the world see these new strings in action. All those brand-holders will push this ball forward. That is a profoundly different backdrop than when I spoke about rum cakes in Seattle in 2005. There is a Sea-change upon us. It is not here yet but it is coming sure as the tsunami waves go out before they come in. I am not sure how it will work out but you should be aware of it and handle your business accordingly. Dot Com names will not go away but look at RIM and it’s blackberry product in an iPhone world. Change can be sudden. FREE domain names in good strings offered by an A-grade provider like google, could dramatically alter the most popular domain name hierarchy .. much quicker than in the past.
I think Frank has 60 million reasons to hope gTLDs will make an impact someday.
I liken this to the dotcom boom and bust of the late 90′s and early 00′s when thousands of dotcom startups tried to be the next ebay or amazon. Ten years later and there are only a handful of brands that survived and thrive: ebay, amazon, google, facebook, etc. gTLDs will end up like the quote Frank likes to use, history doesn’t repeat but sometimes it rhymes.
***FS*** You may have something there Tony. We’ll all see I suppose.
I find only one point to disagree with, Mr. Schilling; but it is a major issue. Yes, “Google has brilliantly done exactly what any smart business would have”; and your projections of how they can use these gTLDs to their advantage are very astute. But you made another statement: “There is nothing wrong with this, of course.” And my objection is to the “of course”.
Google’s action can be viewed as smart capitalist behavior that is entirely ethical. But there is room for legitimate concern. Big companies can easily become so large that they damage the market, and monopolies usually end up harming consumers/customers/citizens. True, Google has competitors, and they might vanish decades from now. But in the meantime, they dominate a large sector of the internet.
Google (and Facebook) are already enormous companies. But Google isn’t just some company manufacturing vacuum cleaners. No, Google controls something much more vital — probably THE most vital thing, more permanently vital than oil. In practice, Google controls access and information. Both Google and Facebook act as very powerful brokers between audiences of the world’s population and various kinds of publishers trying to reach them. Whether Google abuses this influence today is not really the issue. The point is that they can. Google could, if it wanted to, act as a choke point, suppressing certain kinds of information and viewpoints while promoting others. Facebook isn’t a search engine, but it has a similar ability to push an agenda on its clients and suppress communication. One doesn’t need to be a conspiracy theorist to anticipate this, since it has happened throughout the world’s history whenever power has been so concentrated. Propaganda dazzles, and dissent is swept into a corner.
But these companies have the right to feature whatever they choose! True, in a sense. After all, that is the essence of free speech for individuals. Meanwhile, people are not forced to use Google or log in to Facebook. Also true, but realistically they will. The alternatives simply aren’t as good. Such a large portion of the worldwide information market is dependent on these 2 companies that it is almost as if they control the oil supply, or the food supply, or the air supply. Will competitors to Google and Facebook come along? Some day probably. But right now it is fair to ask one question:
Is Google’s size anticompetitive? Is Google’s dominant involvement in multiple areas of the internet such an obstacle to innovation that few dare to try? How would another search engine advertise itself these days — through an AdWords campaign? In all likelihood, the only checks and balances to a Google internet monopoly are the other giants — Microsoft and Facebook. Who else controls enough of us customers to promote a new search engine? No university has the funding to take on Google. It would seem that access to information will be at the mercy of some extremely large company, one way or another. The average citizen/consumer WILL go through the audience brokers — Google and Facebook — because they already DO.
For these reasons, I personally find Google’s continued expansion alarming. To be sure, domainers are concerned about downturns in parking revenue as a result of updates to Google’s ranking algorithm. But there is much more at stake than income.
Am I saying dogmatically that Google’s investment in gTLDs is somehow unethical? No, I am not. But I am suggesting that too much power over information and access is already concentrated in the hands of Google and Facebook. The internet can be a great public good, a guarantor of free speech. But it can also become more like 1950s TV, if people are trained to watch only 2 or 3 channels — the Google/Blogger/Yahoo/.web channel or the Facebook channel. Big worldwide companies have big effects on the world. It’s only fair to evaluate them.
People are free to disagree with me or call me an alarmist. That’s precisely the discussion I want to encourage. What I am suggesting is that we should take a long hard look at the “of course” tossed off so casually at the end of the following sentence:
“There is nothing wrong with this, of course.”
Thanks to Frank Schilling for a very interesting post.
–Joseph Peterson
[Correction: I meant to say “Google/Blogger/Youtube/.web”]
Hello Frank,
This stuff about Schilling VS Schwartz is laughable don’t you think? Well now Schneider gets into the mix and says. John Nashs (Governing Dynamics) proves that competitors actually play off each others strengths. What is said on the front of the stage is far different than what is agreed upon off the stage.
I think most of your concept here is very solid. I also think that once our Secondary market kicks into a solid Bull Move, you can expect 4X multiples on your top of pyramid .COMS and 10X multiples on your Garden variety .COMS.
Reason = As the velocity of money Channels into the secondary Market,as it will, This velocity will churn larger premiums for ALL .COMS. We are talking about Massive cash infusions here. 6/28/12
Why is .web expected to be so great when .net has had it’s level of success. I believe they make equal sense and .net is easier to say.
Google just gave me a free mobile version of my site since 19% of traffic is coming from mobile and as a publisher they want that revenue back.
***FS*** Don’t think about the extension in a vacuum — Think about the utility that a company with a massive installed user base like Google or Microsoft or the Chinese for that matter or India.. Think about the amount of disruption that a great platform layered on top of a great generic alternative name string can bring.
The perfect case of supply and demand. The more supply you have on the market, in this case additional tlds, the less pricing command you have for the .com. Thousands of extensions leads buyers to different avenues and unwilling to pay the premium pricing. We don’t see the price depreciation right now, but 10 years from now with another 10-20k valid extensions will lead to buyers going elsewhere instead of paying that, “end-user” price.
I’d have to agree with you on your, “We’ve received the high water-mark,” statement.
As a point of comparison to your prediction of a “free” .WEB namespace, Dot VN launched IDNs under the .vn TLD last year. The 2nd level IDNs were free to register for the citizens. They got 200K regs in the first year. 216 I think. You can check the internet penetration and disposable income stats in Vietnam to put things in perspective.
The idea of free domains can be commercially viable, if only for the free emails. I remember a great interview (wired or techcrunch or ars technica) with Usama Fayyad , ex CTO(?) of yahoo where he said that making email ads targeted earned the company a few extra 100 millions over a few years.
I am writing the above but personally I am ambivalent about the whole new gTLD thing. I think/wish it will all fail but at the same time wish I had had the money to apply for a few strings of my own.
***FS*** If you have a domain name today .. I think you will have your own TLD, somewhere down the road tomorrow.
Hi Frank,
Thanks for the great post. I have seen much of the internet evolve in the same way you have and foresee the same future. It is a numbers game and involves dilution.
However,
Much of online activity is about “competition” and website building. Domains are nothing without websites and vice versa. With so many extensions coming, domaining will become a thing of the past, except for a select few such as yourself. With billions upon billions of domain possibilities coming, there will still only be relatively few that every get built on. And why? A combination of things. Google has evolved toward making creative, original content its number one priority. That means if you want to have a successful site and domain you better have original content, in some way. Replication,duplication and spinning will be totally passe and any hint of copying will be caught by Google’s spiders. Therefore people will have to put brainwork into anything they produce on the web, if they want to be successful and get good rankings. This will be a small number of people, indeed, as most people copy more than create.
Having huge domain portfolios will make no sense as most people will buy domains in order to point to their main creative work ie main website. And how many truly “creative” sites can one person make? Not many. This is the Google team’s new principle and it is a good one, IMO. A lot of domainers have made the registrars very rich by underestimating the time it takes to make a noteworthy creation. Since Google will no longer be rewarding websites without creative content, it will also put a premium on the time to rank highly for a given term and website. That’s why .com has such a huge start against everyone else. Even through Google’s changes, filtering the good from the bad, .com is still the constant with all the best rankings, save a few exceptions. With Google’s new quality content rules, it’s difficult to see .web ranking high right out of the gate compared to a out-of-the-gate .com circa 2005. We are looking at a 4-5 year wait here.
You made your money from a very shrewd foresight with .com and I see you know when things are changing and to act accordingly. Registrars are where the “guaranteed” money lies. Mathematically you should have your investment back within a couple years and then pure profit. Now you have the best of both worlds – the greatest .com portfolio and your own registrars aka money-printers.
Kudos to you!
***FS*** I appreciate your comment.. but I think there will room for others to prosper. Google may give away free .web names for example, but they will not remain free on resale in the secondary market. If GOOG is smart (and I think they are) they will permit vibrant secondary market trading of SLDs in their gTLDs — you need secondary market people to evangelize your space.. speculators like ramora on a shark are a very healthy part of the ecosystem. You can’t get rich or become successful in a vacuum. When other people prosper you create an economy and that is a bigger better outcome for the governor of that economy. Anyway – just some additional freeform thoughts there.
Just a few questions for you Frank, since you are involved now in the gtld applications.
What will you do with the gtlds your group is awarded, become a registrar and sell the registrations, give away free and make money through ads, or …?
When will the gtlds be awarded to those who applied for them?
How come you didn’t apply for .web, you’ve said before this could be a strong extension, so was surprised you didn’t!
***FS*** Great question Rob. The earliest these names will get delegated is some time in 2013. We have different plans and pricing for our assorted TLDS and those are public in Question 18 and the other public portions of our applications. We always planned to offer everything in a land rush – without premium auctions, on a first-come, first-served basis, with a not for profit sunrise. You just don’t do that if you aren’t passionate about the very long-term and far sighted success of your extensions. So if you wanted to register domain names in our new TLDS you would get some good ones at registration price on opening day. We have a plan for metered access so it would be a challenge to game us and sweep the good ones up. Our prices are fixed and only indexed to inflation after 5 years.. But in light of the Google applications, I can see many applicants throwing their playbook out the window. I could absolutely see a world where we had to pay 20 or 30 million dollars for a clutch of desirable strings and then be forced to give away second level registrations for 5 years until a plan revealed itself, using the profits from our other businesses and from niche higher value strings to subsidize the fixed-costs and ICANN fees from those free offerings. Everything is in play. We may partner with a larger strategic – with another media co – but we have the cash and ongoing cash-flow from other operations to go it alone. I think we’re the only applicant other than the big extremely wealthy publicly traded ones with that luxury.
“speculators like ramora on a shark are a very healthy part of the ecosystem.”
That’s quite an odd analogy. Yes, ramora are a necessary part of NATURE and the ecosystem. The problem is economies are Inventions, not natural eco-systems. The speculators, “the ramora” are the big losers because speculation is not an investment. No one has a crystal ball, if you know what I mean. In this case the “shark”, the registrar, stands to make all the money leaving 2% of speculators with profit, not much more. Becoming a registrar is nothing more than an administrative coup…if you have enough money you can afford to print it a la buying the domain registrar way.
Even if you only get 25000 registrations in one of your new TLDs at $10 a pop, what you spent on ICANN fees will be paid off in two years. The attractive aftermarket of that one TLD will produce about 250 domains that could sell for nice prices and 2 people will own those. Do those two people make a healthy aftermarket? Not even close. The registrar makes all the money and the poor speculators left to speculate. There are very few “speculative” domains out there that will turn into profit. There are many more “investments”. LLL.com is a good investment, for example, but these have higher price tags that investors with deep pockets will buy, not “domainers” per se.
There is no smoke screen here. The people who are benefiting the most by a VERY wide margin in both direct and aftermarkets are the registrars. By a VERY, VERY wide margin. If the normal speculator did a little bit of research, I think he or she would see this fact and quit the speculation. I am a web developer but have dabbled in speculation so I can tell you from experience. Although I have profitted more than most I still descry the practice of speculation. Investment is a much better practice for health and home.
Not to discredit you or any other TLD applicant, but this is the fact. .co is a sublime example. A few people have the best ones, a few others decided to create on them (the smartest move) and others choose to speculate (the largest part). The speculators lose every time, big time. The website creators win because they obviously have enough cash to make a start up out of a not-so well-known extension and create a brand. A handful od investors win because they could afford the most premium keywrods.
The aftermarket for .com is different by sheer volume and ubiquity. The new TLDs don’t stand a chance for a thriving aftermarket. I have never seen so much money put into advertising as was put into .co. 3 years of it straight, in fact. They have garnered a mediocre amount of success. Most new TLDs will not even be able to do this thus most will not foster a thriving aftermarket.
As always, speculator beware.
In any case, good luck to you. You have great foresight. That is clear.
***FS*** Firstly, we’ll have to disagree. Economies are indeed natural ecosystems made up by people, which are creatures of nature. I lump speculator’s and investors into the same bucket here.. Speculator is just a more jealous, cynical word to describe an investor.. The speculator is typically viewed to have a less sincere, more flagrant regard for the investment in question but truthfully, both want the same thing – a measure of return. The investor wears the tie, the speculator wears the tattoo. the latter probably didn’t go to Harvard. I have known lots of both in the domain industry and can assure you that neither are losers in the financial sense. The registrars are much poorer than the investors they serve, unless they hold names back from market for themselves, in which case, they are the investor. No amount of shooing investors away will make a name-space healthier or more vibrant. It’s the opposite actually. Those namespaces which welcome investment and make their name space investable are the namespaces which thrive to the envy of others. This is a chicken/egg argument and I may not be able to prove it to you but my ten years observing and participating in the domain space convince me they are the gospel truth.
OK I will get dammed for it but cannot resist: “the gospel truth” : ) that’s 3/4 of the world who already disagree !! including me. FS you are an outstanding technical analyst & entrepreneur who bought the tee shirt. Rick Schwartz is a natural born salesman the one who can sell a bible to agnostic (me) IMO RS can tap into the un-rational responses A. Sapiens make, my money is on the RS model.
***FS*** I understand.. I am not the burning-bush and I don’t always get it 100% right, but these are my opinions but I am putting my money where my mouth is.
Very interesting article.
But my understanding about the Google indexing practice is still very confusing with the introduction of New GLD’s
Most importantly the concept of landing on google’s first page (pages).
As you know we are living in a sub-domain environment also. My question is (to ask it simply): How is Google going to index and display searches after search query, when I can make these following subdomains available.
Assuming domain is MUCH.COM
http://WWW.SHOP.GOOGLE.AMAZON.ADULT.BMW.MUCH.COM
It is valid, isn’t it?
I would appreciate an insight.
***FS*** Don’t count on Google giving you an algorithmic index advantage based on names in their TLDs unless they have content that users want. I am absolutely sure speculative SEO types will register names hoping for a pop but Googles strict “church and state” separation between algorithmic and paid search is what got it here. This is less about search and more about getting Small and Medium businesses online. This is taking over and doing a better job where GoDaddy and Network Solutions left off.
“Economies are indeed natural ecosystems made up by people, which are creatures of nature. I lump speculator’s and investors into the same bucket here.. Speculator is just a more jealous, cynical word to describe an investor.”
Sorry Frank but speculators and investors are not the same. A speculator is like one who sits and “hopes” watching the stock ticker that he or she might have chosen the right way. An investor has a long-term plan with effective reasoning behind what they do and executed for the long-term. I’ve traded in futures for 15 years and I can tell you I see the same thing in the domain space. You have speculators and investors. I can speculate that yabadabadoo.com “might” be worth something in 5 years, but I “know” Wan.com will most definitely have value. I would prefer to invest in the one that is not a crap-shoot. You have the luxury of having thousands of high quality .com. That fact alone absolutely distances you from the common speculator or investor.
I will try and not get into an anthropological discussion, but consider that many places in the world do not have an “economy” per se. They make rudimentary trades in order for the survival of their tribe. This fact alone convinces me that Western “economy” is a very practical,sophisticated invention rather than an “intrinsic” eco-system. If it were absolutely inherent to nature, the same “system” would be everywhere, which is obviously is not. Both you and I live in sophisticated, innovated “systems” that have been highly cultivated over many centuries. But rest assured all peoples on the earth do not think this way and nor are they compelled by nature to do so.
With your “ramora” example, I think that is basically advocating parasitism I really don’t see how that benefits you but obviously you know this space very well so I don’t have much to say in that vein.
***FS*** “I’ve traded in futures for 15 years and I can tell you I see the same thing in the domain space.” I appreciate your philosophy because it runs akin to my own, and I’m sure you go home after a long day of dutiful work to tuck your kids in as I would.. but I can tell you that I’ve been introduced as both a “speculator” and “investor” by different people in different venues – depending on what served the introductees purpose. Last time I checked, I’m the same person. Look up the label ‘Domainer’ in Wikipedia and you’ll see it doesn’t exist, replaced with the label “Speculator” by those with an agenda. And don’t tell me that the coke-addled Goldman guy who shortchanged the waitress at Scores – woke after his three day binder to return to the trading desk and “invested”. The financial crisis and fringe players close to the line between black and white (on both sides of that line) prove that word “Speculator” and “Investor” are just labels of convenience – adopted by people with an agenda. Perhaps I’m becoming the cynic but I think everyone who reads this will feel the truth between the lines.
“The financial crisis and fringe players close to the line between black and white (on both sides of that line) prove that word “Speculator” and “Investor” are just labels of convenience – adopted by people with an agenda. Perhaps I’m becoming the cynic but I think everyone who reads this will feel the truth between the lines.”
All in all, yeah, pretty cynical. But nonetheless, an interesting perspective. Thanks.
This is probably one of the most honest gut check posts I ever read on the second level names. When I first read it I was worried about second level name values in established CCtlds and .com as you surely were too Frank, but now I get it. It doesn’t matter what Google does. All names will benefit from this but Google is the one that will really benefit at the expense of their competitors. Nobody has the same infrastructures as does Google. Totally brilliant post FS. I wonder if Google has figured this out for themselves but if they haven’t this is their Rosetta stone roadmap. Now I understand why people say you are rock-star. Thank ou for continuing to write about this stuff and please post more.
***FS*** I appreciate all the comments and thanks sincerely. That’s how I see it. Traveling in Europe right now, post Prague. Lots of spam comments on this thread so apologies for accidental deletions of sincere comments.