What’s Next?: .Me at 250,000
250,000 .me domain names have been registered. Here’s what it means.
250,000 .me domain names have been registered since its relaunch earlier this year. I draw two conclusions from this.
First, it shows the power a registrar has in pushing a domain. .Me is run by a partnership between Afilias and GoDaddy. GoDaddy has aggressively pushed the domain and dissed others at the same time. (Bob Parsons stopped using BobParsons.tv and switched to BobParsons.me). This is particularly relevant in light of a current discussion of reducing registry/registrar separation.
Second, it shows there are many people who still hope for instant riches from domain names and see fresh releases as their shot at the glory. A number of .me domains sold for high prices at auctions during and following the launch. Some of these were purchased by “experienced” domainers. But many others were web site owners with a handful of domains. I read many blog posts by people who wrote that GoDaddy account reps contacted them to see which domains they wanted to get in the landrush. These people bought a number of domains, even though they don’t have much experience in domain selling. I suspect they’ll be disappointed with the results.
