Thread: The proof that .IN is a global TLD

Originally Posted by the_poet

From what you wrote, you meant endusers whose business has something to do with India. I'm saying people living somewhere else in the world who have nothing to do with India may find .IN the perfect extension for their new Internet effort. IN needs both kinds of users.

"you meant endusers whose business has something to do with India"
Really? where did I hint that? I may have meant to say end users who already have a business elsewhere and are now looking to target India!

"I'm saying people living somewhere else in the world who have nothing to do with India may find .IN the perfect extension for their new Internet effort"

There are a few hundred tlds out there! People may find many more extensions perfect for their venture.

Originally Posted by mwzd

If you don't think it's global, you're missing a bet. And which one did you get? hosting or domains?

Neither. The buy was unreported and should it be resold, it will be likewise unreported.

Outside.in uses .in as a preposition, did you get that point? Now try this with your domain - hosting.in/USA or hosting.in/Germany or even hosting.in/Cloud and you'll begin to see what I'm trying to show there. I agree that one domain does not an extension make, here are some more references: .IN Developed .IN / .CO.IN Showcase - NamePros.com & Site Rank You can choose to ignore what you see, or you can open your eyes an absorb everyone's experience and then evaluate it for your own requirements, your call.

Again, cute theory- no evidence that anyone cares, or is about to start caring to any meaningful degree.

As far as developed .in sites, a lot of the stuff in that thread is domainer minisite garbage, or clearly targeting the India market. Very little speaks to your point. Yes, someone may use it as a cute hack, but that's just as irrelevant to the .in namespace as the sale of famo.us is to the .us namespace. Anecdotes.

That's because you're thinking of the past, not of the future. Kids going online after 2013 will be familiar with .word extensions, unlike our generation, which has been .com trained.

No, I'm not thinking of the past. We both agree that there is a great deal of 'change' to be had, but there's no evidence that any of it will follow the trajectory you're suggesting. That's the central point.

I'll give a very contemporary example of how 'domainer theory' can be irrelevant in the real world...

There are any number of extensions that align with US state abbreviations. .ca, .mn, .md, .la, etc, etc, etc... and no one really cared (there are some anecdotes, but no evidence).

When .co came about and marketed itself heavily to domainers, suddenly, it being used for "COLORADO!" became a standard refrain. So, what was different this time? Why was .co going to catch for Colorado when every other extension that represented the exact same thing hadn't yet mattered to anyone? The answer is, nothing changed. A typical case of dumb domainers making dumb 'theories' to justify their lighting money on fire.

Most people can be categorized into one of two groups.

Left Brainers; the analysts. They are all facts, all data and from that information, their decisions are made. Their strength is that they are tremendous at quantifying and making very lucid decisions based on the here and now, but their weakness is that they're usually awful at seeing what's up ahead. They're also not very creative.

Then, there are the right brainers.
These are the creative ones. The more intelligent right brainers can be very talented at drawing abstract conclusions, which is the skill-set required to make guesses into 'the future'. Their strength is just that- they tend to see outcomes (typical or a-typical) that the left-brainers aren't wired to process. Their weakness is that often times, their imaginations get out of control and they start to invest their beliefs in theories, without bothering to consider plausibility.

That's what we have here.

I've always said the left side of the dot is more important than the right, believe it or not. [ The Extension Agnostic | mwzd.com ] And if you're going to get a crappy keyword, even having the .com at the end won't help you.

It depends on what you're trying to do... If your objective is to splog or make minisites, then sure... I guess. If your objective is to resell, then no. If your objective is to build a meaningful enterprise then no, the extension is very important. Domainers posess no unique wisdom that the world of business- who considers ccTLDs and .com to be the irrevocable gold standard- does not posses. It's the vote of business that counts- not the vote of domainer-logic- and their vote is quite clear.

Yes, I'm saying it does. As also usage for subdirectory/subdomain hacking. GamesForGirls.com didn't go for $500k on because it looks pretty, there is a linguistic logic to it, as there is to all branding and .in just works a LOT better than .tw or .co.uk for international usage.

GamesForGirls.com went for $500K because Kara is a guy who understands significant development, the role domains play in marketing, the value of type-in traffic and actually turning a profit with an online enterprise. People like Bill operate free from the contamination of domainer psuedo-logic, which is a logic that loses considerably more money than it makes.

Actually, as of today the rest of the world has more money invested in .IN than Indians. Plus you can be sure the people spending $x,xxx or more on .in domains are mostly NOT based in India. Chew on that for a bit.

Yes. I've made a XXXX .in purchase and I'm not in India, I read something somewhere where German domainer ownership of the .in ccTLD is enormously disproportionate. This has nothing to do with Germans using .in domains in Germany (anecdotes aside). It has to do with Germans, like Americans, disproportionately active domain speculators.

Originally Posted by Dman

Again, cute theory- no evidence that anyone cares, or is about to start caring to any meaningful degree.

Fair enough, but our theories and the choices we make from them are what lead our investment focus. I personally invest in domains that can be used to create a brand around, irrespective of the extension.

Originally Posted by Dman

Very little speaks to your point.

As far as speaking to the point of foreign usage / development for .in domains I'm going to refer you back to the google language search links I listed in a previous post in this thread.

Originally Posted by Dman

No, I'm not thinking of the past. We both agree that there is a great deal of 'change' to be had, but there's no evidence that any of it will follow the trajectory you're suggesting. That's the central point.

The average 'domainer' interest was in .co.in over .in when I started out in 2007. Being ahead of the curve has actually helped me increase my roi exponentially to what it would have been as a follower. While I can't claim to be accurate all the time, the general direction I foresee based on my experience is usually what comes to pass and I usually go with my gut, hasn't let me down so far.

Originally Posted by Dman

That's what we have here.

If your theory is that I'm a right brainer, you're probably right. But that doesn't mean that its the sole orb I use for decision making, you might be surprised at the numbers I crunch before I make any buying decisions, it's not all 'hope' if that's what you're worried about.

Originally Posted by Dman

It depends on what you're trying to do... If your objective is to splog or make minisites, then sure... I guess. If your objective is to resell, then no. If your objective is to build a meaningful enterprise then no, the extension is very important. Domainers posess no unique wisdom that the world of business- who considers ccTLDs and .com to be the irrevocable gold standard- does not posses. It's the vote of business that counts- not the vote of domainer-logic- and their vote is quite clear.

Splogs, minisites are one step up from parked domains, both of which do little to contribute to the internet experience beyond maybe allowing people to find something they wouldn't even know to look for, which actually can be a considered a 'legitimate use' as well, after all, isn't that what google does?

And when you say 'meaningful development' I think you're targeting an ecosystem that the domain community services, the end users.

Just for the record, I'm primarily an advertising guy and understand only too well what a client wants. Domainer logic is not something I subscribe to, nor do I 'love' or 'hate' any extension. But I think the close minded approach to online branding that people have (.com or local ccTLD) is about ready for a sea change and as an investor I don't want to have to approach the buying process from the wrong end, that's when you'd probably see me selling.

Originally Posted by Dman

GamesForGirls.com went for $500K because Kara is a guy who understands significant development, the role domains play in marketing, the value of type-in traffic and actually turning a profit with an online enterprise. People like Bill operate free from the contamination of domainer psuedo-logic, which is a logic that loses considerably more money than it makes.

Let's be realistic here, 99% of online projects probably have $500k as their entire lifecycle valuation target, most wouldn't / couldn't / shouldn't be even considering a $500k layout just for the domain.

The 1% who do enterprise development and monetization can afford to spend that for the domain alone and justify it financially as well, but how many of us have domains that subscribe to this market. And those of us that do would probably sell way before 500k, what percentage of people have the guts to negotiate that high?

Originally Posted by Dman

Yes. I've made a XXXX .in purchase and I'm not in India, I read something somewhere where German domainer ownership of the .in ccTLD is enormously disproportionate. This has nothing to do with Germans using .in domains in Germany (anecdotes aside). It has to do with Germans, like Americans, disproportionately active domain speculators.

You can't seriously assume that there is an Indian market for a German site written in German?

I must thank you for your insights and perspectives, it's been an interesting conversation and one that I've thoroughly enjoyed as it helped exercise my grey cells, always invigorating.