An
Alternative to the .COM Domain?
An Alternative to the .COM Domain?
Small countries such as Tonga, Turkmenistan and Niue are offering
an alternative to customers that have been squeezed out of the Internet
as .com domain names have been registered.
It is sometimes the unhappy task of a Domain registrar company,
such as Discount Domains to tell clients that their preferred names
in the .com domain are already registered or must be purchased from
a cyber-squatter for a large amount of money.
With the anticipated opening of new domains, such as .eu, the solution
is often a longer, harder to remember name and less search engine
friendly domain name.
The above countries allow users to register in their domain space.
Web hosting companies can suggest that their clients register their
sites in the .to (Tonga), .tm (Turkmenistan) or .nu (Niue) domains,
enabling them to get the shorter, catchier name that was taken in
the .com domain.
The obvious drawback is many companies prefer the more familiar
.com designation.
A possible further consideration is the political stability of
smaller countries, only recently part of the Soviet Union. Niue
meanwhile has been the most successful of the countries. The tiny
island nation is registering Internet Web sites under the .nu address
for US $25.
By January 2001, after only 18 months as an active TLD, .nu domain
usage has swelled, making .nu the sixteenth most popular domain
name in the world. The company that maintains the registry, .NU
Domain Ltd [http://www.nunames.nu], has registered 30,000 .nu domain
names, as of January 2001 on the Internet, with registrations of
.nu domain names more than doubling since then.
As .nu gains recognition, domain name registrars will have an effective
way to provide clients the personal, distinct domain names they
desire.
And what are the benefits for Niue? The island nation is getting
25 per cent of the gross after payment of commissions. The money
is being used by the Niue Internet Users' Society to provide residents
and the government with free Internet connections.
About the Author Clare Lawrence is CEO
of Discount Domains Ltd - A leading UK provider of Domain name registration
and Web Hosting services. Please feel free to re-publish this article
provided this reference box remains together with a hyperlink to
http://www.discountdomainsuk.com
Clare can also be contacted on Clare@discountdomainsuk.com.
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