I’ll simply add, as it relates to the article above, that “imitation is the greatest form of flattery”; so let the comparisons continue, and we will soon know if .Tel truly are the value and force we, who are developing within .Tel (teldex, prague.tel, praha.tel), think and believe.

It’s also up to Telnic as well; to continue rolling out “enhancements” and “tools” while remaining true to it’s core application. This is not easy in a world of “what have you done for me lately”.

example: a picture speaks a thousand words

I recall the history of advertising and would offer one simple, yet utilitarian “enhancement” for .Tel

Remember how most advertising began? As pictures.

The Locksmith had a ‘Key’ hanging outside his storefront, the dentist a ‘Tooth’, barber shop a ‘red and white rotating stick’, Fishmonger a ‘Fish’, etc… It would be helpful, especially Internationally, to have Telnic provided “Name Icons” in the headers of .Tel, and if unable to “Match” the name with a Name Icon, there could be a limited number of “Generic Icons” owners could chose from, or none at all.

Phone books have been doing it for years as well, and for similar reasons; increasing the ability and speed of communication.

This could also help Global Communications, by attaching ‘meaning’ for peoples of differing languages, to otherwise abstract words.

As an Expat myself, I can attest to the value of such simplified usages of communication

Steve

One last comment. There are a lot of people that bought land 400 years ago in an area that was labelled as ‘no where’. Today these areas are somewhere and have made these people rich.

When .com was released it was considered by most as ‘useless’. A space that would never be used. However today you can see that the people that invested in these domains have made quite a fortune in a short period of time.

For .TEL it won’t take long for us to realize whether it is a winner or a total flop. I’m predicting within two years we will mutually agree on this. Maximum 3 years since the development of the .tel directory will be very quick.

It all comes down to the usefullness of the extension and the speed at which development leads to acceptance.

No one should disagree that in the 4 months since Dot Tel was released it has definitely come a long way.

The thing is this. Why would you fill out a Google profile? There are people that will but the majority wouldn’t. It is no different than making a Facebook page.

However, I can give you a bunch of reasons I would want a .TEL domain name. If I want to give out my telephone number to someone and they don’t have a pen, all I have to do is give them my .TEL verbally which is easier to remember. What URL would you have to give for Google profiles and Facebook? Would these work verbally?

Secondly, if I could remember your URL and I were to access my phone could I single click on your telephone number? Would it require me to get a pen and paper? Does Facebook or Google Profiles store telephone numbers? How much would it cost to download Facebook and Google Profiles just to get a telephone number?

This is just a few problems of a hundred different reasons that make .TEL unique from these examples that were given.

I also see a lot of people talking in the tone that it is Google vs. Dot Tel when in reality I think Google needs Dot Tel and would like it to grow. A Dot Tel is a technology while a Google Profile is a website, both can compliment each other.

Google could easily change their algoritm to make sure that Google Profiles are above Dot Tel domain names but if they did this it wouldn’t be in their best interest. As the Dot Tel directory expands with more valuable information many people would decide to switch to a search engine that gives Dot Tel weight especially if they are using mobile phones. After all who wants to deal with speed issues and pay extra if Dot tel will offer a cheaper, quicker solution.

There is no evidence that Google is competing with Dot Tel to date. Dot Tel so far is doing extremely well on search engines receiving weight. Aside from .com and the country level domain names it is rank highest.

The reason I think Google is interested in Dot Tel, Google profiles and ideas like this is that it helps them with search results. Getting people to volunteer how things are connected is very important in driving more accurate results for searches.

Finally @Frankie Aladi, your comments about .CC and .WS. What is the utility value of these domain names? I have collected domain names for years but have never even looked at such domains because they don’t have a meaning. You can make a hell of a lot of money speculating on domain names but if the extension has no utility value/usefullness it will be ignored and will be worth nothing.

In the past I have made many investments which have paid off with domain names which included .com, country level tld’s, .asia, .eu and now .tel. While building up a portfolio for each domain extension in the early stages hearing people say that they wouldn’t be worth anything is common. I have proven people wrong in the past.

The domains .biz, .net, .info, .cc, .ws etc. were compeltely ignored by myself.

Dot Tel offers something totally unique which is completely useful especially in this day and age of mobile browsing. I haven’t had this much faith in a domain since .com was released and I’m predicting that by the end of the year we will see a tidal wave of development of these domains and the creation of a ton of applications and software revolving around this domain.

PeopleSearches.com

I Google myself, my company and the blog once a month or so to find if there is anything malicious out there or anyone is taking the material off the blog and using it as there own.

This is the first time I have ever been asked to fill out my profile on Google.

The product may have been around for a while, but it looks like to me they are being to promote it.

Once enough people fill out their profile and assuming that result appears first on Google, the game may change.

Only time will tell.

What is the difference between a Google profile and if I were to create a website for myself under a .com domain name? Nothing.

Both examples above and .TEL domains are like business cards but there is a huge difference with the .TEL example. .TEL is an entry point while Google profile or your personal .com website are content that your .tel points to.

If I have a cell phone accessing .TEL domain names is much quicker, cheaper and provides the basic information that users need 99% of the time. It is also provides single click access to dial or reach content pages (could be the Google Profile) if needed.

I don’t know anyone that has a Google Profile. Yet I know a lot of people and companies that are using Dot Tel domains as their single point access.

Keep in mind all Google Profiles are under one domain name http://www.Google.com/link.htm.

The true value in Dot Tel is the fact that it ties an entity and all of it’s communication routes under one searchable domain name. This has enormous value. The following page discusses some of these values:

http://www.webtrafficconsultants.com/tel-domain-name-advantages-list.htm

To say that Google Profile’s is going to kill Dot Tel would be like saying that Facebook is going to kill .com’s. Companies are creating profiles on Facebook why haven’t they abandoned their hosted .com domains and websites?

In regards to some of the previous comments about Google possibly showing Google Profile results over .TEL. If Google did this they would no longer produce the best results. In the competitive search engine market they are interested in producing the best results so they won’t.

I believe that inevitably all search engines will have to accept and give appropriate weight to .tel search engine results, especially if the user is searching using a cell phone. No one will use a search engine that will rack them a costly data bill when most of the time they are searching for basic entity contact information.

Aside from that most new businesses that are looking for a quick web profile will navigate to the cheapest, quickest and best solution to get online which is .TEL.

Will search engines ignore these people? If these people choose to create a Google Profile and advertise it how will people remember an extended URL? What if Google profiles isn’t around tomorrow, these people will lose their online profiles and their advertising will point to dead pages.

.Tel
.Mobi

Too sad that many people follow their leaders thinking that they have sufficient credentials to what they’re saying. Consequently they are left behind with nothing and hoping to register a name when the opportunity comes.

Even if you don’t believe in .tel or .mobi, it just doesn’t hurt to register a couple in each extension. I keep reading all the time about people that did not register domains in the 90′s because most of us did not believe in the internet future.

Guess what? Those that did not follow the thinking of that time had faith in .com/.org/.net kept registering domains and were able to make a living out of it.