Tag: Domain Names

The Big Google Loser Is Not Domain Names, But Yahoo!

Dan Gillmor claims that with the advent of Google, domain names are no longer important. I bet to differ.

He notes that whereas in the past he would have might have hunted around for the web site for Via Technologies, today he just types in the company’s name into Google to find its web site. The main lesson there, though, is not that domain names are still important, but rather that directories like Yahoo! are probably toast over the long run.

Does anybody use Yahoo! anymore? Obviously that’s a bit facetious, but I almost never visit Yahoo! Two years ago if I wanted to find a web site about 19th century slave revolts, I probably would have navigated through Yahoo’s directory. Today I’d just spend a few moments searching for “slave revolt 19th century” and similar such terms until I find a few sites, and then go from there. I don’t think I’ve searched for any topics on Yahoo in at least 6 or 7 months.

As for domain names, they are still important if only as easy-to-remember markers to bring visitors back. On the one hand, for example, my animalrights.net site certainly benefits from Google. On the other hand, I’m certain it receives a lot of return traffic simply because animalrights.net is very easy to remember. Similarly, I find it very nice that if anyone asks me for the address of personal web site, I can smile and tell them it is just simply Brian.Carnell.Com.

I know this works from personal experience. Three sites I visit regularly are Steven Denbeste’s site – Denbste.Nu, Fredrik Norman’s site – FredrikNorman.Com, and Glenn Reynolds’ InstaPundit.Com (which isn’t a name, but is very easy to remember and very descriptive of the site).

Gillmor says he’s letting his domain names lapse, but I’ve been registering cool ones. Seth Dillingham was nice enough to alert me to an awesome domain name that was available, and which I subsequently registered, DevilsAdvocate.Org, and I’ve had other people e-mail ideas for very cool domain names that are still available. Given how cheap domain names are, it’s still a good idea to grab one for your site rather than rely solely on Google for people to find your site.

New pseudo-TLDs

Newsbytes seems to think it’s debunking some of the claims made in recent stories about New.Net’s pseudo TLDs. In case you haven’t heard, New.Net is using a browser plug-in to make it appear as if it is offering new TLDs, so I could register carnell.shop, for example. In reality the domain name is really carnell.new.net, but the browser plug-in makes carnell.shop resolve to carnell.new.net.

Anyway, I thought the really interesting news was that Earthlink, Excite at Home and other large ISPs have reached agreements with New.Net to modify their DNS servers so that users of those ISPs don’t need the browser plug-in.

That’s always been the difficulty in getting alternatives to ICANN off the ground — what’s the point of registering whatever.web with AlterNic or whatever when every ISP out there is pointing to ICANN’s root servers. Hopefully New.Net can reach critical mass to really be adopted pretty much universally or else get enough of a foothold to force ICANN to clean up its act.

HarryPotterIsAWizard.Com

The Register has been reporting on Warner Brothers going after people who registered domain names with the words “Harry Potter” in them — for example, their lawyers intimidated some poor chap in the UK in to handing over www.harrypotterisawizard.co.uk.

I happen to think this is nonsense. In the real world there are a number of perfectly legitimate entities that use the words “Harry Potter” without authorization from the trademark holder, such as guides to Harry Potter collectibles. If someone wanted to assemble a book compiling various essays on the Harry Potter phenomenon and called it, “Harry Potter Is A Wizard,” Warner Brothers wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.

So, to make a long story short, I registered HarryPotterIsAWizard.Com — since The Register pointed out it was available — and plan on putting up a site at that address shortly to protest WB’s and other companies and individuals’ recent egregious domain name actions (such as the silly decision that gave Madonna.Com to the singer).

Phone Number Domain Names

ZDNet has a story about a company with a scheme to use phone numbers as web addresses rather than domain names.

Huh? I thought the point of domain names was to avoid using numbers. At this rate it won’t be long before a dot.com company comes along with a revolutionary idea — why not use IP addresses rather than domain names! Yeah, that’s the ticket.