Most people seem to think we have two fundamentally different positions when it comes to new gTLDs: on the one hand, those who are optimistic and on the other hand, those who are pessimistic.
Divergent, irreconcilable positions, right?
But if we try to see beneath the surface and actually look at what both sides have to say, we’ll realize that it is very likely that everyone’s right.
Let me explain.
On the one hand, the dot com guys say .com will always be king.
The thing is, most new gTLD guys agree. I honestly doubt any experienced domainers think that dot com can be dethroned. Some gTLDs will do well, no doubt about that but not even the most optimistic gTLD enthusiasts think that one of the new extensions can actually dethrone dot com.
On the other hand, the new gTLD guys say new extensions will become more and more popular.
Most dot com supporters actually agree. Even if individually, no gTLD will be in the same league as dot com, most people are convinced that as of a certain point, new gTLD registrations will collectively surpass dot com registrations.
At the end of the day, the deeper you dig, the more you realize that everyone’s right.
The dot com guys are right, dot com is king and that won’t change.
New gTLD guys are right, new extensions as a whole will gradually become more and more popular.
I’m sure the title sounded weird at first.
How can everyone be right?
Well, they just can I guess.
As I said on more than one occasion (and that’s why I will gradually analyze more and more opinions from both sides), both groups have valid arguments and I can’t help but notice that when it comes to the fundamental issues (the status of dot com as the market leader, the popularity of new gTLDs as a whole and so on), everyone’s right.
October 13th, 2013 at 3:18 pm
But what about the potential threat of .brand dethroning .com in the long run?
October 13th, 2013 at 4:28 pm
“The thing is, most new gTLD guys agree. I honestly doubt any experienced domainers think that dot com can be dethroned”. – DT
Let’s take a look at the difinition of king:
king
noun
1.
the male ruler of an independent state, esp. one who inherits the position by right of birth.
“King Henry VIII”
synonyms: ruler, sovereign, monarch, crowned head, Crown, emperor, prince, potentate, lord
a person or thing regarded as the finest or most important in its sphere or group.
2.
the most important chess piece, of which each player has one, which the opponent has to checkmate in order to win. The king can move in any direction, including diagonally, to any adjacent square that is not attacked by an opponent’s piece or pawn.
I believe all agree that .COM is indeed king of domain extensions. Where the debate lies is whether the domain environment is a zero-sum game, and secondly, what is the pay-off matrix?
In the chess example, the king has to be checkmated by opponent in order to win. The new GTLD people have to check mate real domains, not just the king, and change the culture, the habit, lingua franca (a language that is adopted as a common language between speakers whose native languages are different), provide money making opportunities for domainers, provide real benefits for registrants and consumers that will be otherwise unavailable via existing extensions, either by tangible increase in traffic, search, exposure, something palpable and so on.
These has to be determined before one can assert that both camps are right or wrong.
“In game theory and economic theory, a zero-sum game is a mathematical representation of a situation in which a participant’s gain (or loss) of utility is exactly balanced by the losses (or gains) of the utility of the other participant(s). If the total gains of the participants are added up, and the total losses are subtracted, they will sum to zero. Thus cutting a cake, where taking a larger piece reduces the amount of cake available for others, is a zero-sum game if all participants value each unit of cake equally”.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-sum_game
Choice 1 Choice 2
Choice 1 –A, A B, –B
Choice 2 C, –C –D, D
The payoff matrix facilitates elimination of dominated strategies, and so on…
October 13th, 2013 at 7:50 pm
Look at the number of. Com registrations vs other gtlds over the last five years.