Technology Review Asks if Fresh TLDs Will “End the Rent-Seeking of Domain Name Speculators”

Unsound analysis of what fresh TLDs will do to the value of .com.

Christopher Mims has just penned a fresh article for MIT’s Technology Review asking “Will Fresh Top Level Domains End the Rent-Seeking of Domain Name Speculators?”

Let’s take a look at some of Mims’ reasons for why fresh top level domain names might reduce the amount domainers can charge for .com domains:

Existing top level domains — .com, .org, etc. — have become crowded.

You can make the argument that .com is crowded, despite the massive number of fresh domains registered every month. But if .com is crowded at 95 million domains, then how is .org crowded at 9 million domains? That means there are 86 million .org domains available that are “worthy” enough to be registered in .com, yet they aren’t registered in .org.

Ever wonder why your favorite Internet service appears to have been named by a toddler with a cold (twitter.com) or a politician fond of spewing folksy word salad (foursquare.com)? Aside from the enhanced trademarkability of weird names, it’s mostly down to the fact that all the good domains — the ones composed of words you might find in the dictionary — have by now been purchased by people who don’t plan on doing anything with them beyond filling them with advertising.

Yes, many of these domains are born by scarcity of .com. But these are bad examples since they show that .com is notable. Twitter and Foursquare didn’t choose their names since the .com’s were available. They weren’t available. They ended up acquiring these domains from the previous owners.

These firms could always register a “better” domain in .net or .org. They chose not to. So why would having more options increase their chances of choosing something other than .com?

You’d think that typing “insoles” into your browser’s URL bar would take you to a site that might help you find them, but instead you land on a page with a bunch of links.

And where do those links take you? Pages regarding insoles. So insoles.com helps you find insoles.

But what if you’re just starting a business? Prepare to negotiate with domainers who will charge you a handsome price for whatever site you seek. And you thought the Internet was supposed to be a democratizing force.

Again, if more TLD choice means you don’t have to negotiate with a domainer, then these firms could just as easily pick an available .net, .org, .biz, or .info domain name.

Let’s also not pretend that fresh TLD registries will offer you common keyword domain names for the typical $10 registration fee.

I get the point that Mims is trying to make: more TLD choice will reduce an “artificial scarcity” of .com domain names. But if you’re going to make this argument you need to address recent history of TLD releases such as .biz and .info.