The Fate of Video.us
July 17th, 2008DomainWeek.com reported today that Video.us which had been sold for $18,000 within the past year was re-auctioned off today at noon. It closed for $12,000. $6,000 less then it had just less than a year ago.
What does this mean in regards to the .us ccTLD? It doesnt look strong. With the economy still in recession and .com the clear king of the internet, .us has become the poor mans TLD. Its ususally a last resort behind the general TLDs and unless we see some major development, I believe its value will primarily be linked to resellers flipping back and fourth.
Justin
Hi Justin,
This name was deleted from the registry a few days ago due to nexus/whois violations and then caught by a company called Galcomm. It was then auctioned by Galcomm at their NamesCatch auction site. TDNAM was not involved, and the person who paid $18,500 earlier this year simply lost the name and was not involved in this new auction.
Comment by Ryan MacDonald — July 17, 2008 @ 4:11 pm
Ryan,
Thank you so much for the clarification. I will updat the posting with this information.
Justin
Comment by admin — July 17, 2008 @ 4:15 pm
“unless we see some major development, I believe its value will primarily be linked to resellers flipping back and fourth.”
Justin,
It’s just a matter of time.
I live in NYC.
There are many neighborhoods here where you wouldn’t have walked around in before and now
you can’t afford to rent an apartment there.
Just two days ago I saw on cable tv a commercial for Airwick.
That’s a room deodorizer product for anyone who doesn’t know.
The domain used on the commercial:
Airwick.us
This is mainstream usage.
I have seen others.
But this is the most recent example.
Going forward .COM pricing will be even more out of the reach of most people/companies.
At some point those needing a domain name will realize that it’s better (and cheaper) to have
a one or two word .US domain than a four or five word .COM.
Then it will snowball from there…and the Aftermarket prices will rise also.
Just IMHO, of course.
Patrick
Comment by Patrick McDermott — July 17, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
Patrick,
New York is an interesting example. With the New TLD’s coming out - I believe everyone is anticipating a .nyc - I am curious to see how that works out.
However, perception and consumer recognition exists with .com where it does not with .us. We have not embraced our ccTLD like others (.de .co.uk, ect). I believe Americans feel that .com is our TLD and frankly thats why the demand is for that and not .us
But, its time that will give us the final answer.
Justin
Comment by admin — July 17, 2008 @ 5:40 pm