The Rick Schwartz Domain Name and Traffic Blog: RicksBlog.com – Home of The Domain King®

Morning Folks!!

You can only ask questions and let folks answer them as they see fit. They get the rewards if it works and they suffer the consequences when it does not.

The minute I saw the answers by Daniel Negari to the questions posed, I knew his troubles had just begun and was about to get much worse. He just dug a deeper hole. My job was to let things unfold in a natural way and they did. There was little for me to say but to step aside and watch the implosion and the fallout as his non-answers would be picked apart by you the reader in the comment section and would cause the fury that would erupt as it did. My job was not to force the issue. But I could see everything that was about to unfold as it did the moment I read the answers. My very first thought was "The walls of Jericho are about to fall."

Mike Berkens has been writing about and discovered many of the goings on including:  "NSI is responsible for over 80,000 of the 96,246 registrations. If you netted out the NSI registrations .XYZ would have somewhere around 16,000 registrations which would have placed it around number 12 on the list.”

Others like Konstantinos Zournas have exposed this from the get go and he calculates they would be in 34th place not first.

I think folks like Ron Jackson, that has been covering Negari and .xyz for a while, feel duped.

Many others had their say as well and opinions are VERY strong.

I only posed one follow-up question and it went like this: "My only question is did you know about the network solutions deal in any way shape or form?" And I got the standard NDA answer.

I think the NDA violation would have been less damaging than the fallout already suffered by both these companies. 

I thought Negari would have come here and fielded the questions and concerns. I think not doing so only hurt his cause further inside the domaining community and made the firestorm much worse and will last much longer. I have been in this business a very long time and I don't think I have ever seen this level of anger by so many different corners of the industry. They feel as if a hoax as been perpetrated on them and the anger has grown each day that it has continued.

And when it comes to Network Solutions, they have done damage akin to Moniker years ago. I think they both need to DESTROY the NDA and come set the record straight. I think the one with most exposure is Network Solutions and where is ICANN?? No NDA is worth pissing away your reputation for.

I just hope when the next gTLD tries to pull something cute, the outrage is just as great. Friend or foe. RIGHT???

Now you KNOW what HYPE looks like in the RAW form but don't think for a minute that others are lily-white. Please! The shenanigans are way over the top. My advice, stop the bullshit and run clean businesses before you are ALL linked by the belly button. So stop the clawbacks and make sure you speak out loud the next time that happens.  It did not affect me personally but I think the practice is absolutely disgusting and I will continue to bring it up.

I guess it will be a few more days before they really get to 1 million registrations.

Lastly, NO DOMAINER has ANY OBLIGATION to support ANY new gTLD whatsoever, so don't buy into that nonsense. On the other hand the gTLD's have an obligation to treat domainers a lot better than they have.  They need us not the other way around.

Coming Next: The Rick Schwartz Equation

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

First of all, I have no idea how I got in the middle of a firestorm that has nothing to do with me. But here we are. Folks will use my selected words to bend things one way or another and sometimes not bend at all.  It's almost comical. Almost all my blog posts are opinion based. Very few are news based.

But putting that aside.....

I had a near 2 hour phone call late yesterday with Daniel Negari. He gave a heartfelt apology to some words he regrets he wrote to/about me. I was surprised at the words given Daniel was on my chatboard years ago (he was a teenager at the time) and we never had any issues so I accepted his apology.

Daniel Negari has been under fire for days for a host of issues from his remarks to me on TheDomains.com, his arrogant selling technique and and the firestorm over the domain giveaway by Network Solutions. TheDomains.com, OnlineDomain.com, DomainIncite, and blogs everywhere includng DNJournal have many of the details and commentary. Most of these folks have multiple stories on the issue from a variety of sources and the comments and speculation only add more fuel. Some justified, some not. I think you will find all those links in these stories so just follow the bouncing ball if you need to get up to speed.

True passion by Negari is just getting ahead of reality. imo

So what happened with the Network Solutions giveaway of some 30,000 .xyz as a freebie? Who did what? My conversation was designed to answer those questions and sort out the events. You, the readers will be the judge. As always, answers may spawn new questions and I hope Daniel will come here and address them if they do. Here is the interview:

Q1 .XYZ was in the news this week when an email offer was discovered going to customers of one Registrar offering their customers a free .XYZ domain? Were you behind it?

First, I think it is important for everyone to understand the difference between a Registry and a Registrar, and the roles that each play.

A Domain Registry, like .xyz, .com, or .org is responsible for the operation of a particular domain extension. Think of it as manufacturer of a product.

A Domain Registrar is an organization that enables Registrants to register domain names. It is like a store where you go to buy a product - in this case its domain names.

The Registry Operator like .xyz, .com, or .org sets a fixed wholesale price for all Registrars.

Each Registrar (or store) then makes its own decision on the retail price it wants to charge for the different domain names (products) it offers.

We have over 200 registrars from all around the word in all languages offering .xyz domain names. I do not know the details of every promotion or marketing campaign that they are doing every day.

Here is what I do know:

Regardless of whether a registrar charges $100, $5, or gives the domains away for free, I get paid the ENTIRE wholesale price, which is the same price that every registrar pays.

Q2. Did you as a registry give away free domains?

No. The Registry Operator is unable to “give away” free domain names. I never even saw the email that the registrar sent to its customers until I discovered it on the blogs. As a Registry, I can only suggest an MSRP for a Registrar to display. However, a Registrar does not have to use that price.

Just like the price of .com, it is up to each Registrar to set the retail price of any domain registration.

Q3. Do you set the price that the registrar charges for a domain extension?

No, I do not set the price that a Registrar charges for a domain extension. That pricing is determined by the Registrar only.

Q4. Do you know the retail price that each of your registrars is charging for a .xyz registration?

No, I do not know the exact price that every Registrar is charging.

On all of our Registrar outreach materials we have suggested $9.99 retail pricing for .xyz domains, however, it is the up to the Registrar to determine the retail price that they offer to registrants ($14.99, $50, $9.99, etc…).

Q5. So what you’re saying is that a registry is like a manufacturer of a product. Let’s use Coke for example. So if Coke sells a 2 liter bottle to stores for a wholesale price of $.50, it is up to the store to set the price that they want?

That’s correct.

So if a store purchased a bottle of Coke for $.50 they can charge $1 or $5, $50 or sell it on a buy it get one free basis or give a bottle away for free.

As the registry of .XYZ like the manufacturer of Coke, I am paid my full wholesale price regardless of what the store or retailer sells it for

Here is another example. A gas station may purchase a bottle of Coke for the $.50 wholesale cost. Then when a customer fills up a full tank of gas, the gas station will give the customer the bottle of Coke for free. The maker of the bottle of Coke cannot control how the gas station owner prices the bottle of Coke. Again, in this example, xyz is like the manufacturer of the bottle of Coke.

Q6. In your first blog, you mention that .xyz is your “Gift to the World”. To many domainers this came off as arrogant. What were your intentions with this phrase?

I admit I am not the best writer, and sometimes I am not able to express my feelings on paper. By no means was I trying to sound arrogant, and I understand how some readers may have read into this. My goal with .xyz was to allow anyone, around the world, to purchase an affordable and generic domain name for any purpose. By opening up the .xyz namespace with no restrictions, no variable pricing, and a small amount of reserved domains (about 1,000-2,000), I feel that .xyz is the first new gTLD to allow for mass appeal and a worldwide audience.

That is what I mean by our “Gift to the World”.

End--------------------

You can draw your own conclusions as it is not for me to say one way or the other. These were the questions posed and his answers. Nothing more, nothing less.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

It has been YEARS since a new monetization program has come out, but the industry may be shaken to the core and I want to be on record before that event unfolds. An END-USER designed a system over the past 10 years for in-house use and found himself right on the doorstep of the domain  industry.

You see, GetitFido.com is NOT a one trick pony. Or in this case, DOG!

Most companies have one or 2 things they can offer you. They have EIGHT ways as listed below and some are really important. You are about to get very excited about what you do again and Neil Sackmary is the guy I believe that is going to change how you view your domain assets.

1. They offer "Pay for Product" since 2005 but have only used it privately. Why? Because they are END USERS that have found out secrets withut depending on Google and are coming into the domain industry via the BACK DOOR to share it.

2. They have PPC since 2007. But have only used it privately as per above.

3. They have L.O.Y.D. Which is Left of Your Domain. That means they can SELL your subdomains on the fly. THIS IS HUGE!! Especially interesting for gTLD's and Neil Sackmary will reveal what he revealed to me. FANTASTIC!! Works especially well with Geo gTLD's. Instant CASH!!

Sell subdomains for 99 CENTS and make millions. gTLD guys are opening this door and some gTLD's could find some gold if they understand this revenue stream that Neil will share. The guy has VISION!!! Something missing in the landscape right now as everyone is chasing every shiny object there is.

4.  They have S.P.O.B.O. which is really interesting. You put a price on your domain or any item. Let's say $1000. But there is also a button for "Make an offer". If they make an offer and the offer is within the preset parameters you create, it will EXECUTE the sale in real-time.

5, 6, 7, 8, . Even more tools to make you money that I am still wrapping my head around.

The first users here will come EXCLUSIVELY from T.R.A.F.F.I.C.. and it may be a while before it filters down. Neil started these programs as an end-user for himself 10 years ago. What he is offering has the potential to change the landscape of the entire industry. An industry that has been dormant since 2007 is about to come ROARING back. He will excite you and that will transform what we all do.

And yeah, a LOT of folks in the industry have a right to be VERY concerned. They are coming to eat the lunch of many companies that have been getting fat off of domainers. Now it is time for domainers to get fat again.

And you might want to ask WHY he did all this? Well he did not want to be DEPENDENT on Google!!!!!! Something I have been preaching for a long time and here is a very successful end-user that figured it out himself and found himself being the lead sponsor in his "Coming out party".

I have been on the phone to Neil for many hours this past week and I am telling you he is gonna Rock the House and some folks are going to love him and others are going to have NIGHTMARES!!!

Prepare to make money again WITH your domains not SELLING your domains. That is going to shake things up right there!

Read that again!!!

Prepare to make money again WITH your domains not SELLING your domains.

I think the post show buzz will verify everything I have said here.

TRAFFIC an EXPENSE?? Really??? Only if you go just to party and not keeping your eye on the ball.

T.R.A.F.F.I.C. means B.U.S.I.N.E.S.S. and GetitFido.com just PROVES where OUR FOCUS ALWAYS IS!!

Trailblazing and creating new opportunities that translates into MORE MONEY! We keep our eye on the ball by being 3 steps ahead of the future and not chasing after it.

btw, did I tell you about their "Traffic Splitter"?

Rick Schwartz

P.S.

The TRAFFIC agenda will be done TODAY as I populate the very last panel below which will be a VERY frank discussion about the gTLD's. Both sides. Not for shrinking violets. ;-)

2:45PM-3:45PM  You heard their pitch. Now what? Michael Cyger of DomainSherpa.com will moderate this provocative panel. We all have friends involved with the new gTLD's and we don't want to say anything negative, but our top-tier group of outspoken domainers will get past that and logically handicap the rollout of all the gTLD's. Plus, they'll discuss which ones have the most likely chance of wide adaptation and increasing values. How long that will take. Then go a step beyond and measure it against traditional extensions and the time vs return and risk vs reward ratios. Not all gTLD's are created equal. Some think these gtld's will be on fire yet others think they will fizzle out. We can only look at it from both sides and then wait for the future to reveal the ultimate answers.

Good Morning,

Grab a cup of coffee. This will take about 10 minutes of your time.

Michael Castello

CEO/President

Castello Cities Internet Network, Inc.

http://www.ccin.com

michael@ccin.com
> Forgive me if I am long-winded here. I have some ideas that I want to share with you. Rick, Howard and I think alike and agree in how we see the Internet and domain names.

>

> I've been involved with the ICANN Business Constituency for many years and, like you, was against the new gTLDs when first proposed. I could go on with reasons why I felt they were not needed and how ICANN has proceeded in approving them, but we now need to take a fresh look for our industry at large.

>

> The new gTLDs are here, and I have resigned myself to them while seeing a silver-lining, which I believe is going to be very helpful to our industry.

>

> In my opinion, domain names are the key to individual freedom and survival for the future Internet. For a small entry fee, domain name ownership gives an individual the ability to own his or her place in the virtual world.

>

> When I was a recording artist, the one thing that would make or break my musical success was distribution. The ability to move music to the consumer was controlled by just a few companies. The Internet is likewise a global distribution network that everyone now has access to. Anyone can move an idea or product to any and all parts of the world. It is incredibly powerful and it allows single individuals to compete on a grand scale previously dominated by large telcos and corporations. It is my opinion that powerful Internet companies like Google, Facebook, Apple, and other "umbrella" corporations, have slowly shifted the perceptions of regular Internet users in regards to direct navigation in order to make domain names less crucial.

>

>

> The URL(Address Bar) is something we all own but is also held captive by those that produce browsers. In 1994, the natural impulse for me was to use the Address Bar to navigate wherever I wanted to. I found colleges were online, and I could simply type Columbia.edu in the Address Bar and their website would pop up in front of me. What power, what freedom, to steer my magic carpet ride wherever I wanted. It was still barren land and it needed individuals with a vision to help build it.

>

> Knowing that replicating the real word into the virtual world would take time, I saw the impatience of the public and businesses which resulted in the Dot Com Bubble. Since then, search engines have become very powerful because a user could always find a web page result while a web address did not always resolve to a working website.

>

> After twenty years, almost every brand or keyword now has a viable, trusted website. The problem is that Google and Facebook have become the main way people navigate to these brands. The people of the virtual world bought into services provided by these walled gardens, giving Google, Facebook, and now the U.S. government, much more control of our navigation and information. I see a monopoly that in the past would have been regulated or broken up. I see what appears to be an alliance between the government and these companies that is benefiting them and in turn, controlling the web community. I believe this upends the scales of democracy.

>

> What I've noticed:

>

> For many years, Apple's Safari browser directly defaulted to the dot com when someone typed a keyword into its address bar. Now, after Steve Jobs has passed on, Apple no longer directs keywords to dot com, and those same keywords redirect to search results and advertisers. Steve Jobs understood the opportunity that domain names offered everyone. At one point in the past few years, Google nearly removed the address bar entirely in their Chrome browser in favor of their search bar. They even asked ICANN to consider resolving DNS to just "keywords" (which would have rendered gTLDs unnecessary!). Thankfully, ICANN turned them down, saying it would break the DNS(Domain Name System). Instead, Google moved its search bar right next to the address bar, and ultimately took control of the Address Bar. Google was changing the way people used the Internet. Much like CompuServe and Prodigy in the 80s, the Internet is reverting to a series of "intranets" that are owned by large corporations. Individual freedoms and inherent rights are being trampled on. Where are the leaders "for the people" in the virtual world to bring balance? What now are WE to do?

>

> Domain names empower people. We could say domain names ARE people; they are that important. Everyone should have the opportunity to own a domain name and be unfettered in how they use it. Peer-to-peer (P2P) is liberty, but domain names now need protection from those entities which are diminishing their influence. The domain industry and the ICA(Internet Commerce Association) have a unique opportunity to take this plight and forge a positive result.

>

> Along with all of the ccTLDs, the new gTLDs make the domain name pyramid much bigger, which gives the domain industry a greater virtual signature. Everyone who promotes the domain industry is an "asset. The new gTLD registries will likely spend millions of dollars to make the public aware of the importance of domain names. They will be doing the heavy lifting, and the more the public talks about domain names, the better the balance between individual users and powerful corporations. We can coalesce to work together.

>

> I've suggested to the board of ICA an agreement to the "Understanding of Personal Empowerment" that I believe companies like Apple, Google and Facebook could agree with. It is in their best interests to show that they are helping domain names (i.e. individuals) and not trying to reduce their influence. Power from domain names IS power to the people. The timing is right for the domain industry and the ICA to work together to preserve direct navigation.

>

> If we can't agree on this protection, then I believe ICA should lobby Congress to put in place regulations that will protect domain name owners. We need numbers; those numbers are also voters. In the future, everyone will need a domain name or virtual place of residence. What we do now will help the future users of the Internet find greater mobility and advancement.

>

> Best wishes,

> Michael Castello
Rick Schwartz

Howard Neu

Morning Folks!!

Want answers? Always look at both sides and do it often. We talk about new gTLD's like this is something new. It ain't. Nobody is putting any fingers in a dyke. I love what is coming. I am looking forward to it. But one must know the difference between getting on a winning horse and getting run over by a stampede. We are witnessing what will be a stampede. A stampede is uncontrolled and comes in a fury and can destroy anything in its path including other horses in the stampede that get trampled to death.

I look for answers not pronouncements but the conditions indicate certain things that are completely inevitable. So 1000 horses don't mean anything but danger until things thin out. That is why so many are in a wait and see mode. Caution is key unless you have unlimited funds to put at risk and tie up indefinitely. I certainly don't.

It's not like there won't be plenty of inventory. And it will all come to strings and adaptation. Google and Search are the least important parts of the equation the way I see the universe. It means nothing if you are not a destination with content going forward.

In a stampede, the last horse is also the safest horse.

You at least have to answer the question of how many will survive the stampede? If you say all will, then I just don't think that is being realistic. How many and which ones will be woven into the fabric of the internet and how many will get trampled and have no meaning? I just don't know how an extension with maybe 1000 or less meaningful combination strings survives or gets any oxygen or traction in the scheme of things. So I look to those that could have wide adaptation.

Arguably auction.xyz is one of the very best of that extension. It sold for $310. So can it be sold for $500?Maybe. Probably. But I would first have to put the keyword "Auction" in front of all the other gtld's and at least ask myself is that the strongest and best match? I don't know the answer. Auction.Horses is actually a better choice. Auction.cars. I mean IF we go down this road. But if you correctly brand yourself as the "lands end" in xyz, it is possible. But the odds are against it because of the dollars that would have to spend to brand.

And still, when I re-read the paragraph and look at all the dots it is a bit confusing. End of sentence missing a space? May be years before the common folks even realize it is a url. But this is just in a controlled classroom discussion. It all changes when it hits the air of masses. The stampede is coming and I remember talking of other stampedes back in 1997 and 1998 when folks were deciding whether to go online or not. That was an easy stampede to predict and we are living the outcome as the world is now online. But this stampede has nothing in common other than the stampede itself.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

Let me state right now that the most over used term of the last couple of years is "Start-up". If I were a comedian, I could make a living off of the routine. Everyone uses the word "Startup" like that is their wonder drug to cure-all business woes. Startups? Really? Even tho 80% will fail before we even start the discussion. Let's hang our hats on that baby.

Let's say we all have some "Start ups" lingering around. What's the definition of a true startup and what is the definition of I have no job so let me hide behind the keyword startup? Yeah, that's it. I can become part of the startup franchise. Part of the club. I no longer have to call myself a consultant because that is a code word for some as in between jobs. My apologies to real consultants and startups.

But wouldn't we have to admit some of that is a pure bag of smoke?

So I believe that the single most over used word today is "Startup".

Then I think of all the gTLD's that have their hopes pinned on these startups. Startups with an 80% failure rate. Hardly a book of success. So can that 20% (and i think it is actually much higher given the nature of what I described above) support these new gTLD's?

But first you would logically have to ask the question of how many startups will use a new gTLD? What percentage? we have 900 different extensions all using this same answer as their way to success. But we know it is not 100%. The hurdles would include their local country codes as well as .com and all other existing extensions assuming they need one and don't just decide to use a Facebook page or other free alternative since I hear 3rd world countries are the other savior. But free is very powerful when you have nothing.

And speaking of nothing, many if not most of these shiny new premium gTLD's come with an outrageously high premium price for those poor startups they are so worried about and trying to help. So the double talk can only get louder and louder and will be multiplied by more and more voices. But don't confuse that for anything other than what it is.

So our job is to stick to numbers, facts, history and news. Their job is to present solid and meaningful arguments that support their position. (They have done a remarkable job so far) Not good. remarkable and I have many remarks to go.

We all want to make more money. But just like fish in the sea, I think it is important to distinguish between food and a lure. And if you don't know what that means little fishies, then swallow whatever shit you like. I won't get in your way. I will just alert you to not trip over the existing dead or meaningless carcases spread over the road.

So my prediction is in the next years, "Start-up" will be labeled the #1 most overused word.  I am sure many make a living off of startups. Some love startups. I guess except the ones that lost their shirts with startups. lol. Many of us have been there too.

So is a startup a non business? Usually you open a business that after your initial startup COSTS are paid you are making a profit. Today the startup may never even intend to make a business. Easier to sell investors on the blue sky concept than it is to actually sell customers on their products.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!

It's simple, I look to the customer for all my answers.  The consumer is driving this train and the consumer decides when to stop. He decides to pull the wallet out or not. You can give the consumer snow skis for free but if he does not ski and does not want them and has no room for them, you won't be able to give it to him for free.

So I don't have all the answers, the consumer and the future does. The audience does. In this case you are both. And you are readers of RicksBlog.com and many of you are attendees at TRAFFIC and we are all domain investors for the most part. The answers come in one puzzle piece at a time.

So my questions are geared to answer the question at hand and in some cases answer a second question without ever asking it as the entire result draws an interesting picture for me in my mind. I'll do my best to share how I interpret the numbers. The numbers that count and are meaningful. Together we have come a very long way in filling in that puzzle and the answers below may give you a couple more that helps fill in the gaps.

Before we get to the main questions I asked some questions that could have gone either way and I am proud that you feel the way you do. Thank you.

Rick's Posts about gTLD's have been Fair and has brought up good points or Unfair and has brought up invalid points

I have worked hard to look at this from all angles. I know the noise will become overwhelming. I feel really good that after much invested time in this you see how objective I have tried to be and at the same time not allowing the obvious bullshit stand and go unanswered.

So 94% of you get it and understand my motives. Thank you!! 8 of you or 6% don't. So this is where i get to start filling in the gaps from some of the questions you will see below and it explains who might have a vested interest. That 6% or 8 people will be a variable you can use in some of the questions below.

You can start with this one:

Has Ricksblog.com been Beneficial to you?

There are my 8 friends again. But 95% of you say yes and anytime you run 95%, you are running good.

Just keep those 8 in mind as you read the results and perhaps revise with that in mind.

So the first question was very general and we had the most response. More than 300 of you chimed in.

How many gTLD's will you Buy Into?

From the actual voting I can draw two conclusions. First 71% said "None". It ran 77% all day. But the numbers changed a bit at night and I have an assumption on that. I think of full-time domainers that 77% number represent this group. However as it got later and later and later, the .whatevers gained ground. My assumption is that those with jobs and or are not yet full-time domainers, weekend warriors, are more apt to go toward the lure of the past trying to duplicate it. Again, that is my assumption. It does not mean I am right, it means I will use that basis for drawing certain conclusions until further info comes in that either proves or disproves it.

What would you give as an overall rating of the new gTLD extensions

So nobody, not one, thinks they are excellent. Well not until Sunday. It took 4 days to find one person to say yes.

Very few thought they were better than expected. Matter of fact it ran at  ZERO for the entire first day of this poll.

However a 2/3 majority of 66% thought they were worse than expected or pure pigeon shit. Now when you add the 13.5% for "I don't know" (it was 27% for I don't know so I split the vote for 13.5% for each side) the 66% goes to 79.5%.

These numbers have been very consistent throughout. 75% - 85% of domainers see little value and little reason to invest in or believe that values will go up.  At least 15%-25% that do. Of those the largest group of gTLD optimists seems to be those that came later into the business and those of course with a vested interest. If you were to exclude those with a "Vested interest" then I think you would see the numbers on each question would move another few points in favor of those that are more skeptical or give them no mind at all.

gTLD's are off to a good start, a bad start, I don't care

85% believe they are off to a bad start or don't even care. So who are the 15% that think they are off to a good start?And how many have a vested interest? It's not 0%. So that has to be factored in on all results.

Do you think gTLD's will Increase demand and value for dot-com or Lower demand and value for dot-com?

Now what is interesting here is we have that same 15% here. That greater that 0% is likely something to keep watching.

The next question is pure dollars and Cents.

If you are Planning to Invest in gTLD's, How much Money will be earmarked?

66% (113 of ya) said not a dime. Only 19 people, representing 11% of respondents were over $5000. And my friends of "8" could be the over $100k crowd?

The next question had the least responses.

If you are buying gTLD's I am buying to: Flip Immediately, Hold for 1 year and see what happens, Hold for 2 years and see what happens, Hold for 5 years and see what happens, Hold for 10 years and see what happens. Now let me finally give a tip of the hat for the "8".  Hold on for 10 years. That is probably the right approach.  Or flip immediately.

So let's see what happened so we can see what happens. I have 6 or 7 years into .mobi. Nothing happening there. Even tho they had the stage all to themselves and a great blue sky story to go with it. But that is what you do when you have extra funds. You invest. I mean gamble. I mean invest. Confused? So is the poll and everyone else. But oh save the day, in 3 years it will be CRYSTAL CLEAR.

I bought into .co, but as an investment, not my best pick. I bought into .xxx. I think we are at the 3 year test there. Let's see what's happening? I would gladly sell all my .xxx for 50% off. 75 off? They are prime. 1 word. Any takers?? I can use the tax loss before the 31st which will be my only tangible financial gain. I continue to dabble in several others. Can't say I have ever received an offer. Not even on my keyword.nets. So I would say the vast majority of those 70% in the middle, ME INCLUDED, will lose nearly 100% of their investments less the tax deduction.

How much of the TRAFFIC Agenda Should be Devoted to gTLD's? 

This is where I really use the data to determine the proper balance for what I personally do. So here is what I can extrapolate from the data above.  Here is how I would homogenize this info. Would I spend an entire day of TRAFFIC in gTLD's? No. Is one session enough? No. But I think about 85% would support 2 at this point in time and depending on the conditions in May, maybe 3 or 1.  And as you will see by the next result, focusing on gTLD's is tricky.

The more time TRAFFIC Devotes to gTLD's the more or less likely I will come to T.R.A.F.F.I.C.

Again, there is a clear majority. But the minority is significant and there is a happy balance. So to get to 90%, I think 2-3 is the sweet spot.

But this next question gave more input and may be a bit surprising for some. I think the numbers speak for themselves at 91%.

Will the main reason you will attend a trade show in 2014 be to meet the gTLD Registries?

So who are the 9? The "8" plus 1?

How many gTLD's will be successful?

You can see domain investors are open-minded. 75% believe they will enjoy some degree of success. The only mixed signal is 75% are also consistently skeptical. But also 8 of the 14 that are more than 50 or 100 likely have a vested interest. Just my assumption. But I look at the numbers with that factored in and not. But it certainly has significant impact on the outcome.

Are Bloggers views slanted because of gTLD advertisers?

This was the hardest question I asked. Was not sure I would even use it. Did not want to have my fellow bloggers mad at me. On the other hand I wanted to show and warn my fellow bloggers that they risk their own credibility if they are perceived as carrying the water for these folks. I even wrote an entire blog post about it but have chosen not to publish it. But as you will see below, I may be on to something. 95% see my point. 5% don't. Where are my other 2 friends? So this is nearly unanimous feeling out there. I don't think it can be ignored. I am not pointing the finger at anyone. However, I do suggest you ask your own readers. It may be the most important thing you do for your blog. Maybe not. But I do see something some should be concerned about.

Our job is to remain as objective as possible but let no propaganda serve as fact. North still has to be north and should not be bent to suit. Facts are a stubborn thing so the next poll makes me personally feel good and vindicated in what I have been doing. Trying to be as logical as I can which lead me to ask the question about how many would be successful. Pretty wide agreement there. Most are gonna be flops or at least meaningless in the eco system. 90% believe it will be from 0-50 successes. That interprets to some 900 failures. So the way my primitive mind works, the first thing you do is eliminate the 900 that are going nowhere so you might be able to focus on the 50 that some deem as having a potential. Now when you have 50 on the table it is much less confusing. Just remember that 900 little Titanics won't be helping the 50 that might still be floating. There will have to have been some damage done in the process. Some drag.

From the 50 you might want to put that in a few buckets and segregate them further by size and strength and brandability and all the rest. So eventually your bucket should have 0-10 extensions worthy of chasing. 90-1 odds. But you will have help. Might be right, might be wrong.

The concensus so far is .web has the most potential. It would be hard to put another .whatever in front. Anyone?? Let's figure out the 10 right here. There is so much room, that it hardly gives your secret plans away. Will any .whatever beat .web and who is #2?

Why .Web?

3 letters. 3 letters that mean and spell something. Seems like a perfect fit for those looking for a true alternative. But if you pick the biggest winner out of the 900, do you really have to go further or will you be consumed right here? How many of my readers have unlimited funds? I know I don't. If it is clear to me that .web is going to be the best of the worst, and I wanted to get into it, why would I choose another extension?

But maybe .shop, .blog, .App will become niches of some value. Maybe not great value. Some value. I have not studied the list at all. Just quickly browsed with few popping out at all.

I got a bit off track but the entire purpose of this is to figure it out and I am trying to do my process transparently so you understand how my insanity works. :-)

Which leads me to the path to follow or not:

In 2014 Rick Should: Continue to write about gTLD's, Stop writing about gTLD's, or Keep holding their feet to the fire?

88% of you think I should continue to post my thoughts on gTLD's. I then factor in that half of the 8 want me to stop. The other half may understand that my focus in this helps them. So that would bring it to just over 90%. And of the remaining, some just don't want me to waste my time and theirs on something they deem irrelevant. So I see that in this as well. But that group also understand more than any other why I have done this. Devoted well over a year on it. Methodically, objectively and sometimes emotionally. But from every angle that I could conceive all in the hunt to find answers unknown.

And what sticks in my mind the most is the few words that Lonnie Borck said that had the most impact in the gTLD debate. "They all have to sell something."  Their job is to convince you to buy into their vision. If you don't they lose. And there is nothing wrong with that.

My job is not to like or dislike the results of any poll question. It's to draw conclusions. Draw direction Understand my audience better. Take a pulse. Not discount any including the 8. Factor it all in and come to conclusions and then match them with reality as it begins to unfold.

One thing I can tell by the voting pattern is that veteran full time domainers are the most skeptical. Those that are not full time or are weekend warriors are the most likely to buy into the new extensions. And even with all the chatter, when it came to asking how much money folks would pull out, make sure to divide by 900.

I am disappointed that so much of the conversation has been hijacked by the outrageous claims some gTLDS are making and ALL gTLD's have to live with. None are playing from a defined sheet of music and the crossfire is likely to be brutal. The intersections deadly. The crashes unavoidable. My job as always is to see things first and see them before they become fact. When you do that your risk goes way down and that is how you turn the corner from a gamble to an investment.

And to T.R.A.F.F.I.C. sponsors and partners that are depending on gTLD's in 2014 and beyond:

My job is to ask the tough questions, state what I see as the real answers and level with my readers and attendees. If that pisses you off to the level of not coming to TRAFFIC, that only hurts your efforts. As I have said, "We have nothing to sell but help facilitate your ability to sell and do business."

But that does not buy or sway my opinions in any way, shape or form. I can't be bought. You can certainly come and argue your merits and show us where I am going wrong. But selling is something you will find out needs to be done in a way that brings in skeptics like me. Ya know why? You can start with the FACT that nearly 100% of the outside the domaining world audience might be somewhat if not fully skeptical. If you can't overcome me, you can't overcome them.

If you are selling something and you run away from those asking the hardest questions, then you ain't selling at all. Your job is to overcome obstacles not run and hide from them. You can laugh at shop owners on Las Olas but that's your customer. Deal with it. Stop laughing at them. You can think the vast majority of domainers are wrong, but you won't sway a single dollar or gain an ounce of credibility with outrageous claims that just might strangle your efforts.

This is like watching a train with 900 cars and no real railways under them. None are connected, but all have a certain degree of association and a mis-step by one or more can derail one or more. I would not throw caution out the window.

On record for the record. In a few years, we can all look back and see. Obviously these results are not scientific but they give an excellent pulse of things. Thanks for being part of it.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

When you have to resort to obvious bullshit, you know these guys are in DEEP trouble. See their expenses are on going for a year now and they are taking in no money other than restless investors. And what is worse, when they open for business, many will still not take in any money. Then the investors will go ape shit.

They could have read my blog and your comments first to save them their dollars, but since they didn't......

Now it is really starting to look silly when these guys have to resort to "Dot com is Dead" and "Dot com is your Father's Extension" and even "We are running out of dot-com". This is such CRAP that nobody reading this should allow them to get away with it. PERIOD! Friend or Foe. Facts are facts and they have no connections with personality. This is a business discussion among serious domain investors looking for REAL answers.

It does not help them, it does not help us. And it sure is pissing a lot of folks I know off. Folks that were going to buy into gTLD's and now are thinking twice because they see the bullshit and the weakness of their false arguments. They see they have little else. They see my points can not be just overlooked and ignored, swept under the rug and there are so many of them and 99% are unanswered because they can't be answered. So what else can they really do?

Look, I am happy to have all the dollars and attention coming to domaining and have said it for a very long time. But if you want to resort to this BULLSHIT, I too can MAKE SHIT UP. And my shit is much better than your shit. Just give me a few days and I will give you an example that you might not like. But since we are going down this road, ALL IS FAIR. RIGHT??

And like I have said before, you all own each other. The missteps will cost all of you not just one of you. Why? Because you have positioned yourselves that way. That is what bad marketing can do. Short term gain traded for long-term loss.

I don't have to go down there because I have facts and history and empirical evidence on my side and the best you guys got is "Dot com is dead" as you try to run your empire on .com ? And then you don't think you look silly? Weak? Ridiculous? Desperate?

Well you do! And while you may all be singing the same tune now, that tune has the power and ability to sink all of you including the top 10. One TITANIC of a mess.

Let me show you how.

I think you should ALL AT VERY LEAST announce the date you plan to ABANDON your DOT COM FRANCHISE and HEADQUARTERS and move them to your own new gTLD. Tell us when in 2014 you will be doing that.

When will that be happening? See I can make you all look like FOOLS when you go down this road. So when will you be doing that? Please announce the date this week. I am sure readers and investors want to know that answer. We all do. When??  I will ask that EACH and EVERY time I EVER hear that bullshit. And each time you will either have to make up more bullshit or risk looking foolish. Again and again and again.

See, you are all full of shit. Sorry. You set your own trap and I just replaced your bait with mine so PLEASE don't be angry with me.

.Horse is dead. .Ceo is dead. .Camera is dead. I may not be able to pick the top 10 yet, but there is no missing a DEAD HORSE in the middle of the industry stinking things up.

I will focus on the DEAD gTLD's from now on. Each time I will pull another extension that is DOA baby! I have enough material for years!!

And when they die on the vine, When they ROT right in front of us, When they get aborted, I will show you just how dead dot-com really is. So maybe try to raise your game guys. I keep telling you this dog won't hunt. You can try to fool the end-user, fool the investor but to try to fool this industry of investors? Each group will figure it out in pretty short order. Selling is about your benefits. When you have to resort to nonsense, that VOIDS your benefits. Drowns it right out. Especially when those benefits are hard to find to begin with.

So now you have a poll. My poll. A poll of one.

Want to be "Polled"?

The comment box is the way we poll this!

And for the gTLD guys, again, don't forget to announce the date you will be moving off your dot-com. Many folks will be asking that until you actually make the move. Probably at every opportunity they get. I am sure you can't wait for the day so we hope to make it sooner! :-) See what it tastes like to swallow your own BS?

WARNING: CLUSTERF*CK IN PROGRESS!! PROCEED WITH CAUTION.

Rick Schwartz

Morning Folks!!

With hundreds of new extensions coming out the noise will be very loud. Too loud for me to even respond as we soon will be overwhelmed with hype, ads, press releases and a host of things that will make your head spin. Some will be very good and creative, many will be pretty lame as evidenced HERE!

And this is the stuff I am talking about as one gTLD stumble can hurt more than just that particular extension. This video is so lame it has the POWER to hurt more than just them. The message I got, if you want to be a faker or a wannabee then .CEO will make you a make-believe big shot. Sorry, that hurt the extension. It marginalized the seriousness and effectiveness. It was a disaster. But I am sure they are all high-fiving each other over there while the rest of us shake our heads.

So I guess I just inadvertently reviewed .CEO. Won't make friends there. But I am never going to sellout what I believe from what folks want to hear. They all get to prove me wrong. That is what selling is about. 100 people come into a room and think just like me. THEIR JOB IS To PERSUADE! The problem is many will get angry instead of using the art of persuasion and they automatically LOSE!

The 100 are not their enemy. They need to be convinced. But you must convince with FACT. The minute you use BULLSHIT or make things up to convince, game over. Better load another 100 in the room and try again because that room has been tainted. So if you do the same thing, you get the same result. Do you think that makes it harder or easier for the next guy? Want to be the last guy to pitch the audience? They may have your head on a stake by then.

This illustrates how each new extension OWNS the bullshit and the lies of the others gtld folks. Sorry, may not be fair, but it is what it is. If you have not factored that into your equation. OH WELL!!

700-1000 extensions each must sell. But it is not our job to buy what each sells. Even if they are our friends. This is not Girl Scout Cookie buying. This is deciding where to put our investment dollars to be safe and to grow. My job is to focus on the winners. But even winners are runner-ups. Not to .com but to a category called "Other". They will ALL reside in "Other" and will share it with HUNDREDS of "Others" for what could be decades before the FIRST one breaks out other than .web which will probably be the FIRST to break out and our job s to pick winners.

I don't have any .web interest. I have no reservations on .web domains. I have never spoken to anyone at .web. I have no plans to register any .web domains. I am simply handicapping the race. And if folks get pissed at my handicapping, so be it. I only want to focus on the winners. The top 3. The top 10. The top DOG!

Of course I could become a 6 or 7 figure whore for one of them. lol. But at least I would come here and say so. I would not hide it.

My job/your job as an investor is to figure out the 1, 2 or 3 that MIGHT break through and break out of "Other".

It IS about picking the winners. The THREE extensions out of 1000 that will lead the pack. Why would anyone GAMBLE with the other 997? The return keeps getting exponentially SMALLER, not larger. The top 3 might already be gambles. Why would anyone want to make the odds of success smaller and smaller and smaller? Value is proportionate to size of audience among several other factors. No audience, no value, no nothing.

I look at the price disparity between a .com domain and .whatever domain as it is today and with the exact same keyword. It's a 100-1 ratio in case after case. Same work. Sometimes the same level of investment when you learn to focus on FIRST.

Sometimes I really don't think folks understand numbers because they have to lie about them so often. They have to inflate them to have credibility. Make them up as they go along. That's blowing smoke up people's ass. Everyone reading this should get their bullshit meter inspected before the noise makes it impossible to calibrate.

So hundreds hawking these extensions will be of no interest. They can hawk. Some will buy. All will learn.

I ONLY want to focus on the top 3. Then we can debate if they will ever be meaningful. But the 997 that don't finish, first, second or third, may or may not have registry level success and that does not translate to investor success. Far from it.

It translates into great risk. Who wants to buy my .xxx today at 50% of what I paid? I already dropped most of them. Each year I have more information and I drop more. That is on EVERY extension.

So, clearly as a domain handicapper at this point .web has the best chance to win the race. There is not even a close second. I see this as the ONLY viable extension that MAY breakout of "Other".

There may be room for a .club in the eco-system. But that may not qualify it for investment level. So .club may enjoy a "Registry success" but that does not automatically translate to an investor success. There will be some. But limited. VERY limited.

.App has a place and since .App is commercial and social I see that as possibly a better investment than .web. But it is still early in the race. And the chance of it getting out of "other" is remote.

.Blog again may have a place in the eco-system. Investment wise, not as good as .App the way I see the world. But of wider interest than .app.

If I see another extension come out of the gates I will come and state it. But as they are each announced, I don't have the time to focus on anything else other than perhaps the top 3 or the top 10. So far, I am just at 3.

First they all need to catch up to .mobi.

Second, I think they have some obstacles in the form of .Me, .Co, .TV, .Info and even .US because each will get a second look. I see these competing for those top 10 slots besides the other top 7 new gTLD's.

Rick Schwartz