Domain Extensions

 

Impact of the TLD in the valuation of an english domain name

Domain extensions were created to offer more uses of the same name and better categorize web sites.
For example when a site was an organization's site the better extension to use was .org.

But 2 main events have taken place to change the logical use of domain extensions:
  • Individuals and companies have started to purchase domains on mass for real use, generate parking revenue, or speculation.
  • SEO boom pushed site's owners to register domains based on keywords because it was a key to acheive better search engine rankings.
    As the number of available quality domains begin to dwindle, people began wanting to “play” the market or the working on SEO and thus began purchasing names without paying much attention to the extension.


    We wanted to find a general rule that allows to valuate the impact of the extension on an english domain name.
    We had in mind that no magic formula existed and like all formulas based on mathematical statistics, it has his exceptions.

    We decided that the best course of action to take would be to think logically;

    Let’s say I have a store selling widgets, I have red widgets, blue widgets, green widgets, ...
    Let's imagine the “in” fashion is red widgets.
    Then it's logical to assume I have less red widgets to sell because most have already been sold due to popular demand.
    On the other hand, my stock of the other coloured widgets is starting to seriously increase (and I am losing money accumulating so much unsold stock).
    So, if someone enters the store what I should do?
  • a - Say all the widgets have the same price.
  • b - Say that red widgets are more expensive.
  • c - Say that other coloured widgets are more expensive.
    Of course, most people would say the better response is b (if you read this and though a or c were better answers, you are probably better not entering the business world), as increasing the price of the red widgets is obviously beneficial to the company; people are willing to pay a higher price for a rarer item.
    On the other hand, to reduce stock and thus reduce losses, it is beneficial to raise the price of the item(s) that are less in demand.

    We came to the conclusion that if we were able to find the volume of domains for each extension, that were currently registered then we would be able to determine a rating for each extension

    But how to do this?

    The first idea that came to mind was to ask to registrars this information, however this would have been very time consuming as;
  • There are hundreds, if not thousands of domain registrars/resellers currently operational
  • Many registrars may not want to share the data with us
    We also decided that doing this would not give an accurate reflection of each extension (as mentioned above, due to the lack of quality names, many people bought domains on a large scale without caring about the extension)
    Also a significant percentage of these registered domains have not been used or are simply parked.

    Methodology

    So the idea became clear: the best way to find the global interest for a specific extension was simply to count the number of web sites already created on that specific extension, which is easy to apprehend from search engines.
    Parked domains are rarely indexed by search engines, so domain names in use should be listed: web sites.
    (parked domains, domains not online, ... will pollute the results)

    Below you will find the distribution of english indexed pages by Yahoo for each TLDs (August 2006).

    Generic TLDs

    TLD%Score TLD%Score TLD%Score TLD%Score TLD%Score
    aero 0.001% 0.002 arpa 0.000% 0.000 biz 0.140% 0.220 cat 0.000% 0.000 com 63.745% 100.000
    coop 0.005% 0.007 edu 5.861% 9.195 gov 2.101% 3.296 info 0.705% 1.106 int 0.132% 0.208
    jobs 0.000% 0.000 mil 0.122% 0.191 mobi 0.000% 0.000 museum 0.001% 0.001 name 0.009% 0.014
    net 4.923% 7.723 org 8.900% 13.962 pro 0.000% 0.000 travel 0.000% 0.000  


    Country Code TLDs

    TLD%Score TLD%Score TLD%Score TLD%Score TLD%Score
    ac 0.010% 0.016 ad 0.000% 0.000 ae 0.013% 0.021 af 0.000% 0.000 ag 0.001% 0.001
    ai 0.001% 0.002 al 0.000% 0.001 am 0.007% 0.012 an 0.000% 0.001 ao 0.000% 0.000
    aq 0.000% 0.000 ar 0.015% 0.024 as 0.002% 0.003 at 0.078% 0.123 au 1.588% 2.491
    aw 0.000% 0.000 ax 0.000% 0.000 az 0.002% 0.003 ba 0.002% 0.003 bb 0.001% 0.002
    bd 0.000% 0.001 be 0.142% 0.223 bf 0.000% 0.000 bg 0.011% 0.017 bh 0.002% 0.003
    bi 0.002% 0.003 bj 0.000% 0.000 bm 0.002% 0.002 bn 0.001% 0.002 bo 0.000% 0.000
    br 0.036% 0.057 bs 0.002% 0.003 bt 0.001% 0.001 bv 0.000% 0.000 bw 0.006% 0.009
    by 0.005% 0.008 bz 0.008% 0.012 ca 1.459% 2.289 cc 0.041% 0.065 cd 0.001% 0.001
    cf 0.000% 0.000 cg 0.000% 0.000 ch 0.119% 0.186 ci 0.000% 0.000 ck 0.000% 0.001
    cl 0.008% 0.012 cm 0.000% 0.000 cn 0.003% 0.004 co 0.002% 0.003 cr 0.003% 0.004
    cu 0.002% 0.004 cv 0.000% 0.000 cx 0.011% 0.018 cy 0.004% 0.006 cz 0.055% 0.087
    de 0.591% 0.927 dj 0.000% 0.000 dk 0.109% 0.171 dm 0.000% 0.000 do 0.000% 0.000
    dz 0.000% 0.000 ec 0.001% 0.001 ee 0.011% 0.017 eg 0.011% 0.017 er 0.000% 0.000
    es 0.061% 0.096 et 0.000% 0.000 eu 0.047% 0.073 fi 0.091% 0.143 fj 0.004% 0.006
    fk 0.000% 0.000 fm 0.042% 0.065 fo 0.000% 0.001 fr 0.119% 0.187 ga 0.000% 0.000
    gb 0.000% 0.000 gd 0.000% 0.000 ge 0.003% 0.005 gf 0.000% 0.000 gg 0.001% 0.002
    gh 0.001% 0.002 gi 0.001% 0.002 gl 0.000% 0.001 gm 0.001% 0.001 gn 0.000% 0.000
    gp 0.000% 0.000 gq 0.000% 0.000 gr 0.051% 0.081 gs 0.003% 0.004 gt 0.001% 0.002
    gu 0.000% 0.000 gw 0.000% 0.000 gy 0.000% 0.000 hk 0.003% 0.005 hm 0.001% 0.001
    hn 0.000% 0.000 hr 0.013% 0.020 ht 0.000% 0.000 hu 0.043% 0.068 id 0.010% 0.016
    ie 0.226% 0.355 il 0.064% 0.101 im 0.004% 0.006 in 0.061% 0.095 io 0.001% 0.002
    iq 0.000% 0.000 ir 0.009% 0.015 is 0.011% 0.018 it 0.159% 0.249 je 0.001% 0.002
    jm 0.004% 0.006 jo 0.003% 0.004 jp 0.006% 0.010 ke 0.003% 0.005 kg 0.000% 0.001
    kh 0.002% 0.003 ki 0.000% 0.000 km 0.000% 0.000 kn 0.000% 0.000 kr 0.000% 0.001
    kw 0.001% 0.001 ky 0.002% 0.003 kz 0.002% 0.003 la 0.002% 0.004 lb 0.012% 0.019
    lc 0.000% 0.000 li 0.003% 0.004 lk 0.012% 0.019 lr 0.000% 0.000 ls 0.000% 0.000
    lt 0.009% 0.015 lu 0.008% 0.012 lv 0.009% 0.014 ly 0.001% 0.001 ma 0.001% 0.002
    mc 0.000% 0.000 md 0.005% 0.008 mg 0.000% 0.000 mh 0.000% 0.000 mk 0.003% 0.005
    ml 0.000% 0.000 mm 0.001% 0.001 mn 0.001% 0.001 mo 0.001% 0.001 mp 0.000% 0.000
    mq 0.000% 0.000 mr 0.000% 0.000 ms 0.001% 0.002 mt 0.008% 0.013 mu 0.003% 0.005
    mv 0.001% 0.002 mw 0.000% 0.000 mx 0.009% 0.015 my 0.002% 0.003 mz 0.000% 0.000
    na 0.009% 0.014 nc 0.000% 0.001 ne 0.000% 0.000 nf 0.000% 0.000 ng 0.001% 0.001
    ni 0.000% 0.000 nl 0.280% 0.439 no 0.084% 0.132 np 0.005% 0.008 nr 0.000% 0.000
    nu 0.047% 0.074 nz 0.258% 0.405 om 0.000% 0.001 pa 0.000% 0.000 pe 0.001% 0.002
    pf 0.000% 0.000 pg 0.005% 0.008 ph 0.053% 0.084 pk 0.052% 0.082 pl 0.075% 0.118
    pm 0.000% 0.000 pn 0.000% 0.000 pr 0.000% 0.000 ps 0.002% 0.003 pt 0.011% 0.018
    pw 0.000% 0.000 py 0.000% 0.000 qa 0.001% 0.001 re 0.000% 0.000 ro 0.032% 0.050
    ru 0.148% 0.233 rw 0.000% 0.000 sa 0.005% 0.007 sb 0.000% 0.000 sc 0.001% 0.001
    sd 0.000% 0.000 se 0.158% 0.248 sg 0.002% 0.003 sh 0.000% 0.001 si 0.015% 0.023
    sj 0.000% 0.000 sk 0.033% 0.052 sl 0.000% 0.000 sm 0.000% 0.000 sn 0.000% 0.000
    so 0.000% 0.000 sr 0.000% 0.000 st 0.005% 0.008 su 0.006% 0.009 sv 0.000% 0.000
    sy 0.000% 0.000 sz 0.001% 0.002 tc 0.002% 0.003 td 0.000% 0.000 tf 0.000% 0.000
    tg 0.000% 0.000 th 0.018% 0.029 tj 0.000% 0.000 tk 0.005% 0.008 tl 0.000% 0.000
    tm 0.000% 0.000 tn 0.000% 0.000 to 0.093% 0.146 tp 0.000% 0.000 tr 0.031% 0.049
    tt 0.005% 0.008 tv 0.061% 0.095 tw 0.004% 0.007 tz 0.002% 0.004 ua 0.016% 0.026
    ug 0.006% 0.010 uk 4.562% 7.157 um 0.000% 0.000 us 1.427% 2.239 uy 0.001% 0.001
    uz 0.001% 0.001 va 0.000% 0.000 vc 0.000% 0.000 ve 0.001% 0.002 vg 0.000% 0.001
    vi 0.001% 0.001 vn 0.014% 0.021 vu 0.004% 0.006 wf 0.000% 0.000 ws 0.047% 0.074
    ye 0.000% 0.000 yt 0.000% 0.000 yu 0.011% 0.017 za 0.213% 0.335 zm 0.002% 0.003
    zw 0.003% 0.005        


    We understand that each TLD Score may not have a fixed value for its entirety as trends are changing and events may strongly influence the use of some extensions.
    This is why we will recalculate all the TLD Scores each quarter so they will reflect the current situation as much is possible.
    We feel updates at this frequency will be most beneficial to you, the reader, as it will counteract any domain market fluctuations.

    Search engine data, even if taken from Yahoo! may not have fresh data for all the extensions, thus it is strongly possible that the information we receive is perhaps 2 or 3 months old and cannot be perceived as present data, however it is important to remember that this is not in our hands as we are not the ones spidering the pages.
    These timeframes should allow us to be much more accurate in our evaluations and at anticipating possible changes, so we should have values that better match what is really happening today.

    Use of the TLD Score for the Domain Score calculation

    Our research has shown that once the name has been valuated the TLD value can simply be calculated using a simple multiplication;.
    Domain Value = Name Value * TLD Score / 100

    We see for example that 63.745% are .com while only 4.923% are .net pages.
    This also means the relative interest for the .net in comparison to the .com is (4.923 / 63.745) * 100 = 7.723%
    This value represents the TLD Score of the .net.

    The TLD Score outlines the interest of a TLD relatively to the .com:
    TLD Score = (TLD % / .com TLD %) * 100

    In other words when 100 people are interested in purchasing a domain name for use as an English site, approximately 8 are likely to select a .net for their site.
    So statistically the valuation of a .net domain should be 100 / TLD Score = 12.94 times lower than a .com for the same name

    Thanks

  • Bill Roy (.st domain expert)
    For to the constructive comments and criticisms.
    The predictive TLD Score is the result of our conversations.
  • Tom Dean (UK domainer)
    For having revised the english text.


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