Author: Wayne Ford

Look out! The new domains are coming! "Dot-biz is going to be
the next coming of dot-com," I recently read in an article in
the Denver Post. The buzz has begun. Seven new top-level domains
have been approved by ICANN, the organization that governs
domains, and could be available as early as spring of this year.
The new domains approved are .biz, .info, .aero, .coop, .musuem,
.pro, and .name. Pre-registration sites like,
PreRegisterYourDomains.com, already have begun taking
applications claiming "3 million domain names will be registered
in the first five minutes." That same Denver Post article later
says ''If predictions from analysts hold true - that dot-biz will
rival the popularity of dot-com - startups will no longer have
to settle for second-tier domain names.'' Hogwash! - To put it
gently. Dot-com will always be the supreme ruler of all domain
names. Here''s why:

Word Association. Ask anyone the first three words that come to
mind when you say ''Internet'' and one will almost always be
''dot-com'' along with ''web'' or ''surfing.'' Dot-com is forever
chiseled into our brain directly associated with the Internet.

''Old habits die hard.'' The new domains will confuse the average
everyday web surfer. With so many suffixes it will be harder to
find the information they are looking for. Out of frustration
they will, most likely, resort to the old standby, dot-com.

Marketing. Big businesses like IBM and Microsoft have already
spent billions promoting their dot-coms'' in print, and media
advertising. Is Microsoft going to switch to promoting
Microsoft.biz instead of Microsoft.com? This is highly unlikely.

Brand Protection. The same people who own the corresponding
dot-com will most likely buy up most of the dot-biz (said to be
restricted to business only) and dot-info (open to anyone) to
protect their valuable brand. Someone with fishland.com is not
going to want someone else to own fishland.biz and
fishland.info. The real winners here are the lawyers, who should
be kept busy for years with trademark infringement suits.

Meaning. None of the new top level domains meanings are as
elegant or as classy as the dot-com, which can mean
''communication'' or ''commercial''. Dot-biz obviously stands for
''business,'' but it sounds slangy and it also happens to mean
sh** in the United Kingdom. ''Information'', the meaning of
dot-info, would be perfect if it was restricted to sites with a
high concentration of information about a certain topic, but
it''s not. This domain is unrestricted, and can be registered by
anyone. Surfers will quickly lose trust that all dot-info sites
actually contain quality information. Dot-pro and Dot-name will
be effective but on a limited level. To register a dot-pro you
must ''prove'' you are a professional on the topic in the domain
name. Dot-name will be for individuals name only (good luck to
all the John Smiths out there.)

Appeal. Sure the new TLD''s, especially dot-biz, will make it
easier for smaller companies to get a web address that fits
their business. But will it be as appealing as a dot-com? Those
businesses that have a dot-biz domain may seem to be in a
different class than the dot-com and it may be harder for them
to compete. It may be worth it for them to invest more money in
a dot-com domain that be ''stuck'' with a dot-biz. Even with the
recent doom of a few dot-com companies, there are many that are
still going strong and they continue to breathe life into the
dot-com world. The only new TLD applicant that might have been
able to rival the dot-com for appeal was dot-web. Unfortunately
the application for dot-web was not approved by ICANN.

Bottom Line- Dot-com is established and respected. It has the
distinction of being one of the first domain names of the new
Internet frontier and the most sought after. The new domains
will make it easier to get a home on the web and will have their
place in the city of Internet. But Dot-com will always be the
beautiful white mansion up on the hill with the brand new
Ferrari out front.




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