Until reading an article in Cnet yesterday, I had no idea that .Day was a domain name extension. Apparently, it is an extension being operated by Google, and the idea is that people or groups will buy .Day domain names to promote meaningful days. The WWF, for instance, could buy Wildlife.Day to celebrate Wildlife Day.
Here’s a short video posted to the Google Developers account on YouTube promoting .Day domain names:
Aside from a dozen or so non .com domain names I registered over the years, I have been strictly a .com domain investor. On my NameJet and GoDaddy auction filters, .com is the only extension checked. There may be value elsewhere, but .com domain names are the focus of my business, and I do not see that changing.
I am not opposed to purchasing non .com domain names. It would be foolish to cast off everything else particularly as times are changing. I did not feel like spending my money on alternative extensions when there are so many from which to choose. I felt like it would be very difficult to pick winners, and I don’t want to keep spending money renewing losers, particularly when some have much higher renewal costs.
Over the years, I have mentioned my willingness to buy non .com domain names when I see the potential to make money. I have wanted to see mainstream companies using a particular extension, and I have wanted to see companies willing to spend money acquiring non .com domain names. After all, when I invest in a domain name, I want to be confident an end user buyer will pay a premium over what I paid. I don’t want to see end users buying them simply because they are cheap and available. This would indicate that making money as an investor would be challenging.
Another major corporate rebrand was announced today. This time, the news involved the publicly traded financial services company, Square. The company unveiled a new parent brand name today called Block, which encompasses Square, CashApp, Tidal, and another newly created cryptocurrency brand called Spiral:
We’re changing our company name so we can give the full @Square brand to our Seller business. So now we need a name to tie @Square, @CashApp, @TIDAL, and @TBD54566975 together into one. That name is “Block.” Why? https://t.co/vVSKNnMUU3
— Square (@Square) December 1, 2021
A promoted tweet from Audi showed up on my Twitter timeline today, and the url stood out to me. In the tweet, Audi referenced Progress.Audi. Not only is Audi promoting a domain name using its .Audi extension, but the automaker is also using Progress.Audi for a standalone website:
The freedom to imagine a new way forward. Buckle up, a new era is coming. #FutureIsAnAttitude #AudiSkysphereConcept
— Audi USA (@Audi) August 3, 2021
Donuts, which owns and operates hundreds of alternative domain name extensions, promotes some of the domain names seen “in the wild” that utilize its TLDs. I have not yet seen the company promote this marketing campaign that was shared by someone on Twitter and retweeted by Doron Vermaat:
It’s not often…you see a .Life domain in the wild. https://t.co/uZim5cYp57
— Doron Vermaat (@doronvermaat) July 14, 2021
