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Howard

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Sep 6, 2021, 1:38:00 PM9/6/21
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A few years ago a ton of new top level domains were introduced. I
remember there being a big debate about the issue, but it seems to me
that the debate has withered away.

This article pushes the idea that companies should take advantage of
them:

https://www.domain.com/blog/what-are-the-new-tlds/

(Ironically, it uses the top level domain .com instead of one of the new
ones.)

I don't recall any of the more descriptive ones ever being used or
included in advertising that mentions a website.

Does anyone regularly visit a site with .yoga .actor .baby or anything
else like that?

Does anyone know if there was a bidding war over new names with these
TLDs? For instance, did someone set up tomhanks.actor or gerber.baby and
then sell out for a mint, or maybe spark a lawsuit? Or are there a
bazillion of these that were bought for $25 and now sit unused?

Michael Trew

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Sep 7, 2021, 11:21:52 AM9/7/21
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No, it's darn rare that I've been on a site with one of those top level
domains. It's possible that people are sitting on them hoping that they
will become valuable.

I wouldn't say it's ironic; the site knows darn well that anybody who is
anybody has a .com TLD. I suppose they are hoping to change that, but I
bet their traffic would be half of what it is with a lesser known TLD.

Perhaps they have another TLD reserved for their site? Notice that
sites like YouTube have these to shorten URL's. For instance, type "
youtu.be " into your browser's URL bar and see what happens.

Bob

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Sep 7, 2021, 3:31:54 PM9/7/21
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Webcasters use the .fm and .tv

Questor

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Sep 8, 2021, 1:09:32 PM9/8/21
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When ICANN opened this can of worms it resulted in some issues that still
haven't been fully resolved, although as you've noted they've faded in
relevance.

There is the question of ownership, particularly in regard to generic names
like .movies, and domains with multiple claims -- who should own .smith?
There were also complaints about the high fees ICANN was charging anyone
who wanted to be a domain registrar. It was thought that everyday web users
would be confused by the expected explosion in new top-level domains.
Businesses were worried they would have to register versions of their .com
domain names in the new TLDs in order to protect their brand. There was also a
brouhaha over the .xxx domain and whether adult sites would willingly exile
themselves to it.

Shortly after the new TLDs went live, it was seen that some of the registrars
were more lax than ICANN about what was being hosted in their name space.
There was some suspicion cast on any URL that wasn't in .com, and whether it was
deserved or not, domains like .info and .biz developed a little bit of a bad
reputation.

I don't know about any bidding wars, but there was dispute over ownership of
some new TLDs. The registrar fees are $4000 a year, and coupled with ICANN
rules speculation in new TLDs is virtually nonexistent. Otherwise, the hubbub
over the TLD expansion has greatly subsided. They seem to have settled into
becoming a niche item.

As usual, Wikipedia has a list, and it is informative to skim through it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains

--
I lie awake -- I've gone to ground. I'm watching porn in my hotel dressing gown

hymie!

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Sep 8, 2021, 2:47:29 PM9/8/21
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In our last episode, the evil Dr. Lacto had captured our hero,
Bob <rob...@bestweb.net>, who said:
> Webcasters use the .fm and .tv

.fm and .tv are both "real" TLDs from Micronesia and Tuvalu.

--hymie! http://nasalinux.net/~hymie hy...@nasalinux.net

Howard

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Sep 8, 2021, 11:51:20 PM9/8/21
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hymie! <hy...@nasalinux.net> wrote:

> In our last episode, the evil Dr. Lacto had captured our hero,
> Bob <rob...@bestweb.net>, who said:
>> Webcasters use the .fm and .tv
>
> .fm and .tv are both "real" TLDs from Micronesia and Tuvalu.

There are a few other country codes that are used a lot for links in
Twitter -- bit.ly , nyt.ms and wapo.st off the top of my head.

I'm curious if twitter links are part of the reason why longer TLDs haven't
been popular.

Kerr-Mudd, John

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Sep 9, 2021, 12:56:57 PM9/9/21
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On Thu, 9 Sep 2021 03:51:18 -0000 (UTC)
Howard <how...@yaooho.com> wrote:

> hymie! <hy...@nasalinux.net> wrote:
>
> > In our last episode, the evil Dr. Lacto had captured our hero,
> > Bob <rob...@bestweb.net>, who said:
> >> Webcasters use the .fm and .tv
> >
> > .fm and .tv are both "real" TLDs from Micronesia and Tuvalu.
>
> There are a few other country codes that are used a lot for links in
> Twitter -- bit.ly , nyt.ms and wapo.st off the top of my head.
>
Some Companies, for reasons of their own, like to use a Columbian TLD.

> I'm curious if twitter links are part of the reason why longer TLDs
> haven't been popular.


--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.

hymie!

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Sep 9, 2021, 1:21:59 PM9/9/21
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In our last episode, the evil Dr. Lacto had captured our hero,
Kerr-Mudd, John <ad...@127.0.0.1>, who said:
> On Thu, 9 Sep 2021 03:51:18 -0000 (UTC)
> Howard <how...@yaooho.com> wrote:
>
>> hymie! <hy...@nasalinux.net> wrote:
>>
>> > In our last episode, the evil Dr. Lacto had captured our hero,
>> > Bob <rob...@bestweb.net>, who said:
>> >> Webcasters use the .fm and .tv
>> >
>> > .fm and .tv are both "real" TLDs from Micronesia and Tuvalu.
>>
>> There are a few other country codes that are used a lot for links in
>> Twitter -- bit.ly , nyt.ms and wapo.st off the top of my head.
>>
> Some Companies, for reasons of their own, like to use a Columbian TLD.

I would expect that any number of companies that call themselves something
like "PepsiCo" would like a URL such as pepsi.co

--hymie! http://nasalinux.net/~hymie hy...@nasalinux.net
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