Are you a debater or a domainer ?

By: Raymond Hackney

One of the things since the new tlds have been announced is the debate between proponents and opponents of the new tlds.

On Namepros there have been many posts that just go round and round, I have read them all and I think there are good points brought out by many people. The thing I am confused about is what is the end game ? This post about a post on Ricksblog.com is one of many that is just .com rules vs 1000 new tlds will change that.

Are you a domain investor or someone just wanting to talk about the Internet ? I am pretty sure just pontificating about new tlds will not pay the bills. Whatever point of view you have, how does that translate into making money with domains ?

There are some people who post on forums that I believe are only pro new tlds because they own no good .coms. That is not everyone but it is a percentage, the jealousy in this tiny niche industry rivals Hollywood from what I have experienced over the last 16 years.

I have had people tell me point blank, "I hope the new tlds work so that the big .com domainers take it up the poop shoot" So there are a percentage who have no idea and maybe no belief in the new tlds, other than to stir the pot and to root for others to lose money.

There are those that do honestly believe more choice is good, that there will be plenty of intuitive combinations with keywords.

Then there are those with a vested interest, they own a registrar, bidding for a string and will run the registry, etc…

Of course there are those who own .coms that only want to see .com and smaller players get worried. There are many times I have received emals and many more posts on a forum, basically looking for a guarantee that .com will always be number 1.

For many this is being looked at rightly or wrongly as Rick Schwartz vs Frank Schilling. There is a thread on Namepros with that very title, its not hard to see that people with good .com portfolios are pro Rick and those who don't have great .coms are pro Frank.

The bigger issue imo is what are you going to do with your beliefs ? You have many options and will have a few more once we know who is going to run which extensions.

You can go after the new tlds, or you can invest in public companies that will benefit from the new tlds. On the flipside you can buy .coms from some weak or confused hands that will sell cheap because they are not sure how the new tlds will affect .com values.

I think you have to formulate a plan and stick to it, just debating with no course of action is probably time wasted that could be used for something else.