In a story just out by ABCNews/Univision entitled “The Americas: 13 to Watch in 2013” sitting among people and topics like the President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto, Hugo Chavez and President Barack Obama, the .CO domain name registry came on at number 11 on the list:
“This year we saw some major changes in the Americas in regards to business, technology and politics. 2013 should be all the more interesting. Here are thirteen people and things to keep an eye on this year.”
11. .CO: This Colombian start-up is out to break the .com monopoly of domain names. .CO (pronounced “dot co”) is positioning itself as the hip domain option for startups and creatives.
“Since opening to the public in mid-2010, .CO has sold more than 1.3 million domain names and is poised to break the 2 million barrier in 2013. The domain market could change forever in April when up to 1,000 non-traditional internet domains (such as .mormon and .news) will be launched, and .CO expects the new domains to create more awareness about non-.com domains.”
I wonder what the total value of sales at .com websites will be as a result of companies advertising .co websites. Astronomical, I imagine.
Even after people get used to .co they are still going to wonder if a print ad they see is a typo and check out the .com. And even if they don’t think it’s a typo .co will remind them of .com.
If you’re going to use a non-dotcom URL, at least choose something distinctive…
Why is it that after every .Co story, there has to be someone hyping .Com? Give it up! .Co is doing well and will continue to do so. The extension can stand on it’s own without any mention of .Com.
I get a little tired of the .Com pundits. We get it. .Com is not going away. If you can get your .Com without paying some domainer a king’s ransom, do it. But people can (and are) creating successful businesses with other extensions. Meanwhile their .Com equivalent reverts to a parked page for all eternity.
I like the branding of .Co. I’ve used it exclusively at times, despite owning the .Net equivalents and being able to afford the .Coms. Shorter is better.
So much hate and love for .co/.com… we in Europe don’t understand the polemics.
.co is good domain for venture companies facing a shortage of .com , and who do not want use .us
It is more logic than something that means “commercial” originally.
.co not the perfect domain neither or something miraculous.