The dust is finally settling after the debacle yesterday. Hopefully, some people got lucky and snagged some ultra-premiums. While I'm no big-time domainer, i figured i'd post my thoughts on the future of .me
Just want to see what other people think.
Negatives
New TLD - I think with any new TLD, there is always risk. Who knows where the country will end up in the next few years, or if the TLD even gets popular. But i'd rather invest a couple hundred or thousand in a 2 year investment then spending it on launching a new PPC campaign (assuming funds are scarce.)
Hoarding the good domains - The registry hoarded some of the good domains, and I think they're going to auction eventually. Not entirely sure of the process, but I think if they really wanted to build the .me brand, they would have let those loose and let people develop the domains instead of spending the money to actually get the domain. Parking provides no value to the consumer, and if all the premiums are parked, then the TLD as a whole suffers.
Positives
Very Early - It's still very early in the registration process, and some sweet domains can still be found. It's kind of like a mini .com rush.
Memorable and Catchy - The great thing about the .me extension is that needs no explanation. The average person is not going to know or care that it is the country code for Montenegro. .WS, another country TLD, was supposed to replace .com, but it fell flat on its face. (supposed to mean .ws = web-site apparently). It was the next big thing, but nothing really happened with it. With the right domain before the .me, shit it might even be easier to remember then the .com. It means something in different languages too. Compare the 4 syllables in .ws to the single syllable of .com, .net, .me.....
Personal - With all this talk about social media yadda yadda, everything is getting more "personal." .me gives you the opportunity to gear your website (if you're developing) towards something social. Social can mean viral. And when .me websites get popular through that kind of publicity, everyone with an investment in the TLD benefits.
Brandable - This kind of has to do with all of the points above, but if you did snag ultra-premiums they are very brandable. I'd rather invest in something like Uploads.me (which I unfortunately did not get) despite any negative outlook on .me, because that's far more brandable then www.uploadingyourfiles.com or something like that. Face it, .com's are mostly tied up, and unless you have the resources to buy that .com premium or spend the time coming up with something unique, then investing in the less competitive .me market is probably a good choice.
SEO - This is pure speculation, but I think with the high price of registering a .me domain, it'll get the same treatment from Google as a .com or .net would. .info's and .cn's are shit on by Google (speculation) because of their very low-cost which allows all you fucks to spam the shit out of them.
All in all, I think there's a good future for .me. It's about time another TLD stepped up. It may not be as big as .com or .net, but it is so early in the TLD's history no one knows what the future holds. For all we know, it really could be the next big thing. Then again, it can fall flat on its face like .ws
Just want to see what other people think.
Negatives
New TLD - I think with any new TLD, there is always risk. Who knows where the country will end up in the next few years, or if the TLD even gets popular. But i'd rather invest a couple hundred or thousand in a 2 year investment then spending it on launching a new PPC campaign (assuming funds are scarce.)
Hoarding the good domains - The registry hoarded some of the good domains, and I think they're going to auction eventually. Not entirely sure of the process, but I think if they really wanted to build the .me brand, they would have let those loose and let people develop the domains instead of spending the money to actually get the domain. Parking provides no value to the consumer, and if all the premiums are parked, then the TLD as a whole suffers.
Positives
Very Early - It's still very early in the registration process, and some sweet domains can still be found. It's kind of like a mini .com rush.
Memorable and Catchy - The great thing about the .me extension is that needs no explanation. The average person is not going to know or care that it is the country code for Montenegro. .WS, another country TLD, was supposed to replace .com, but it fell flat on its face. (supposed to mean .ws = web-site apparently). It was the next big thing, but nothing really happened with it. With the right domain before the .me, shit it might even be easier to remember then the .com. It means something in different languages too. Compare the 4 syllables in .ws to the single syllable of .com, .net, .me.....
Personal - With all this talk about social media yadda yadda, everything is getting more "personal." .me gives you the opportunity to gear your website (if you're developing) towards something social. Social can mean viral. And when .me websites get popular through that kind of publicity, everyone with an investment in the TLD benefits.
Brandable - This kind of has to do with all of the points above, but if you did snag ultra-premiums they are very brandable. I'd rather invest in something like Uploads.me (which I unfortunately did not get) despite any negative outlook on .me, because that's far more brandable then www.uploadingyourfiles.com or something like that. Face it, .com's are mostly tied up, and unless you have the resources to buy that .com premium or spend the time coming up with something unique, then investing in the less competitive .me market is probably a good choice.
SEO - This is pure speculation, but I think with the high price of registering a .me domain, it'll get the same treatment from Google as a .com or .net would. .info's and .cn's are shit on by Google (speculation) because of their very low-cost which allows all you fucks to spam the shit out of them.
All in all, I think there's a good future for .me. It's about time another TLD stepped up. It may not be as big as .com or .net, but it is so early in the TLD's history no one knows what the future holds. For all we know, it really could be the next big thing. Then again, it can fall flat on its face like .ws
