Since .info and others are primarily picked up for keyword stuffing and as a second resort if the .com or .net is gone, the value is dramatically diluted.
Better discipline in using them, better targeting would help the users and the www drivers, but as it stands today the whole thing is a huge mess.
I would not bank on a lot of value increase in the short term, if you want to load your .info domains with value, drive them towards the right audience with targeted, valuable content, preferrably heavy information on specific topics for this type domain (e.g. "widgets.info - Information, reports and articles on an type widget under the sun...").
In time you will see increase of your own domain value, if more web developers act more disciplined or if tools were created to support better structure for those, I would guess overall value might increase at a similar pace.
I agree that the immediate value is very low, but .info sounds so good I think its almost a shame that more people aren't taking advantage of it. The real question is, will it ever recover? Enough to the point that people will *want* to build under it? That people will trust it as a good investment.
I was thinking about making a site about travel to a certain country. It could rake in a profit, especially from advertising, but if the advertisers don't trust me because I'm a .info, whats the point?
If .info was introduced at the time of .com .net and .org, I think it would be leaps and bounds above everythign else. And for now, I'm willing to wait for long haul, but if the time never comes, then what?
There was an interesting article I read from dnjournal the other day, that .info will eventually take off just like FM radio overtook AM.
Is this, or is it not wishful thinking?
I would not worry about lack of trust due to a .info domain, they are a global tld that gives the impression of a genuine desire to share information without a total focus on profit.
Im confident it will suceed (with end users) once a good marketing campaign is in place.
Mainly because my actual name is very specific to the content and secondly i think the .biz and .info will be easier for people to remember as i think a .biz is a bit more 'catchy' for my site than a .co.uk or .com, also being a bit more unique they may stand out of the crowd more. That is, until everyone catches on the the idea.
lets hope anyway....
flamesrock, why would "an obscure.com pay more dividends than a good .info" your content and focus is what will create the profit, not the domain, just choose one or both and do it.
[edited by: Hunter at 9:28 pm (utc) on April 7, 2004]
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