Domain Predictions for 2009

What do you think will happen in the domain market next year?

This year has turned out quite differently than what most people expected, with unexpectedly hard financial times, and most domains dropping in value. What do you see happening in 2009?

My prediction - we'll see more of the same. Domains will get harder and harder to sell, both to domainers and end users. Buying a domain just isn't a priority in a recession. So, I think that domainers are going to have to get more creative to earn money. I don't doubt that they will - probably through more domain development, perhaps methods of turnkey development that will work on a large number of websites.

Also, I think that to a certain extent, .in domains will buck a lot of the downward trend. I think that .in domains will continue to thrive - we'll see at least 5 five-figure .in sales in 2009, and regular four-figure .in sales.

I dunno.. i think .com are always preferable over .in

and recession has a greater impact on the western zone which means cheaper .coms

People might argue that the indians will have more disposable income than the west and thus higher sales but at the end of the day, fact remains that .com are preferable.

I see indians buying more and more generic .com sales.

IMHO I think that if you are talking about end users buying domain names for REAL businesses then most will not be able to afford the higher prices that are being asked for .com's and if their business in only targeted at the local markets then it makes much more sense for them to go for .co.in & .in.

Say for exampled your were a business owner that supplied fountains to the local and national market. If you had the cash or could afford to borrow the money to buy fountains.com and you are competing in a global market place then great, it would be a sound business investment to do so.

But most small to medium size businesses will not invest the money on a .com if they can get fountains.in (which I own by the way LOL) for a tenth of the price or less than they would have to fork out for the .com

I have been selling my domains to businesses just like the scenario above and many already own the .com equivalent and are buying up the ccTLD's for the local markets.

I have been travelling around the world with my family for the past 6 months and I have been paying very close attention to how businesses in the countries we visit have been marketing their products & services in papers, magazines, billboards, buses and trains etc and I can tell you for sure that the ccTLD in the 9 countries that I have visited so far is used much more than .com

If you are not going after a global market then why pay the premium for the .com it just does not make good business sense especially if your home market uses its ccTLD just as much if not more.

Just take a look at Domain Name Journal - The Industry News Magazine at DNJournal.com at the ccTLD sales of late and some of the stars are ccTLD's (and yes I know India is yet to shine) but give it time and I believe it will do so.

Just look at the internet user stats for India and a blind man can see that India is in its infancy in terms of number of users for its population. I made a post about it today on my blog at World Internet User Stats | OzDomainer.com

The internet is a numbers game and I think the Indian numbers game is in its first innings, hang on because its just getting started.

good observations @ oz

I cannot disagree to your logic

Ed, I agree with what you say, but I think people buy .in for patriotic reasons too and not just financial reasons. And eventually, it will be accepted as the norm.

I lived in the UK from 1998-2000 and back then, .com was dominant. Whenever I go back, I'm shocked that everything is .co.uk. Most businesses there now automatically go for the .co.uk unless they have international aspirations.

I've been seeing the same transformation over the years in Canada. Over time, .ca is used more and more. Now, when I watch TV, most ads display a .ca domain. Even two years ago that wasn't the case.

It's just a matter of time before the same transformation takes place in India too. The fact that .in and .co.in domains get type in traffic shows that the mindset is already there.

And once the transformation happens, the international companies will start buying Indian domain equivalents even though they have the .com.

Yes great points Jeff,

I have to say also that the .com is and has always been loved by the Americans and they adopted it as there very own from the start and rightly so but so many of them seem to have the blinkers on in regards to anything outside .com, net, org etc

It is a big world out there and ccTLD's make up a huge portion of domain names and are only going to get stronger over time.

When big domainers like Rick Latona say they wish they had paid more attention to ccTLD's and are now making it a major focus of their's it is time to get in the game or go home because this time for Indian domains WILL be looked back on by people saying "If only" just like the late 90's and early 2000's for the .com domains.

If people think that we are full of it then so be it, I am not a fence sitter and will have no regrets about following my gut regardless of the outcome.

Regards

Ed
OzDomainer

I agree completely Ed. I'm not just saying this, I'm putting my money where my mouth is

Good point re Rick Latona. He's pretty sharp, and I wouldn't care to bet against him.

Great predictions and discussions guys. I completely agree with OD. Times have changed and professionals need to focus many things just than .com registrations. Lots of new variations are flooding market at regular intervals.

there will be a time when no matter what name you require..will not be available in the .COM extension..this will push the sales of other extensions..also, ccTLDs have a high potential when it comes to targeting the specific country consumers (for a business).. .COM I am afraid will just do well in the secondary domain market..