stuntdubl - 2:30 am on Feb 25, 2010 (gmt 0)

Can a .Org Web address "effectively function" for a market such as Poker. . .org? Blackjack . . .org?

One word - absolutely.

Here's why - most domains have a few main values 1. typein traffic (often a myth aside from TOP tier .coms) 2. brandability (you can't build a brand without a lot of traffic, development, and $$$) 3. Value to search rankings (ding ding ding!)

.orgs ARE severely undervalued right now, and you obviously seeing them doing well in the serps. .net's are in the same boat imo. They both serve as a GREAT opportunity for bootstrappers, and make anchor text targeted for link acquisition which has a multitude of benefits. Other tld's don't enjoy the same benefits and have a much higher "trust hurdle"

Caveat is that I'm biased and really love .net and .orgs for their current prices to buy and develop into solid websites that will hold defensible rankings for building legitimate brands. Unless you're planning OTHER marketing channels - these alternatives make a lot of sense for the money. Until you max out the value of search marketing, which most folks won't ever do, you can use a .net/.org for a long long time until having to worry about the "branding detriments".