6 ms·

We shouldn't be surprised. The whole TLD debacle has been a bit cash grab, which hasn't been beneficial to anyone but a few. Take the subsequent acquired domain

We shouldn't be surprised. The whole TLD debacle has been a bit cash grab, which hasn't been beneficial to anyone but a few. Take the subsequent acquired domain of ".dev" by Google for instance, which then reserved it for internal usage only.

packetlost 7y ago
.dev is available for public registration... I have one.
- aaronchall 7y ago
  Ditto.
- echelon 7y ago
  "vanity" domains are $200/yr or more Including "{firstname}.dev" Nonsense. If Google's worried about domain squatters, it controls the TLD rules and can come up with a less moneygrab strategy. Perhaps require a Github account and limit to one domain per customer? FCFS is fairer than extortion.
  - Buttons840 7y ago
    I paid $12 for my .dev domain. I bought it from Google.
    - TheFiend7 7y ago
      Domain names are not one time purchases? Secondly are you referring to monthly or yearly? They sometimes do flash deals which might be why you got it for one year at that price (assuming you paid that yearly). But the discounts usually don't last forever.
      - Buttons840 7y ago
        It was for one year. I just checked and it is set for auto renewal in November and will cost another $12 for another year. It is a 6 letter domain.
        top_kekeroni_m8 7y ago
        Button.dev? ;)
      - zenexer 7y ago
        You’re probably thinking of premium domains. Most ngTLDs charge more for high-value names to mitigate squatting—and to take a larger piece of the pie.
  - kick 7y ago
    require a GitHub account You do know that there are devs that prefer other code hosting platforms, right? GitHub is a proprietary service that's generally terrible for developers.
    - echelon 7y ago
      > GitHub is a proprietary service that's generally terrible for developers. In what way? I find it incredibly awesome.
  - berdon 7y ago
    As other commenters have said, they're $12/yr.
    - echelon 7y ago
      Not all of them. https://support.google.com/domains/answer/6010092#registry https://support.google.com/domains/answer/6010092#registry I just checked my Google Domains account, and my .dev domain renews for "$180 plus tax". The pricing is entirely opaque and you can't find it listed anywhere, but I did find a comment from HN last year that listed several examples: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19201073 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19201073 Some names cost even more than the $200 I initially cited!
  - JohnFen 7y ago
    > require a Github account That requirement would exclude most developers, including myself.
- techsupporter 7y ago
  Ah, how quickly the Internet forgets. .dev wasn’t going to be open for the rest of us originally; Google bought it as an internal name to keep private but relented a few years later. > The web ad giant is keeping these domains "completely closed for the sole use of Google," as its paperwork filed[0] for .dev reads. > Why not also share the wealth of .dev with developers? Well, in a word: branding. Google's successful application for .dev reads: "The proposed gTLD will provide Google with direct association to the term 'dev', which is an abbreviation of the word 'development'. The mission of this gTLD, .dev, is to provide a dedicated domain space in which Google can enact second-level domains specific to its projects in development." https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/13/google_developer_gtld_domain_icann/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/13/google_developer_gt... 0 - https://gtldresult.icann.org/applicationstatus/applicationdetails/1339 https://gtldresult.icann.org/applicationstatus/applicationde...
  - ivalm 7y ago
    Sure, but google shouldn't be able to get a generic gTLD like this. Why is google's interest in owning "dev" more valuable than everyone else's?
    - techsupporter 7y ago
      Agreed; that's what GP was getting at and people were refuting the claim with "but I have registered a .dev domain." For three-ish years, Google was hoarding it and the Internet pushed back and Google relented for some unknown reason (I hope due to the pushback but I'm not counting on it).
jerf 7y ago
Well, I will say this about the TLD "debacle", when I recently went looking for a domain name made out of real words, but not in what you'd call the "A list" (i.e., not "drugs.com" or "money.com"), they have at least made it ineffectual now for squatters to squat on everything across all the useful TLDs. Someone wanted a couple $K for the .com variant but there were several other useful variants completely unregistered.
- JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
  Does anyone actually use or go to services on super-generic TLDs like that? I can't think of any billion-dollar businesses that exist at <genericword>.com. I can't imagine they're as valuable as people make them out to be, because businesses have brands that aren't generic words like "money" or "drugs". There's "amazon" but the business has nothing do with rainforests, so it's not like they're benefitting from traffic from people wishing to learn about the rainforest (much like we might imagine money.com would offer a financial service, or drugs.com pharmaceuticals).
  - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
    > Does anyone actually use or go to services on super-generic TLDs like that? Well, I occasionally read CNET, which has the domain "news.com". But, the fact that domain points to CNET rather than something more well-known (and general-interest) is itself great evidence of the unimportance of general domains. Also, CBS Interactive bought CNET more than a decade ago, and the news.com domain with it. CBS has kept the domain pointed to CNET rather than, say, having it point to cbsnews.com.
  - jannes 7y ago
    The only one that comes to mind is booking.com. facebook.com maybe as well although it has given the word a new meaning.
  - alasdair_ 7y ago
    I’m still waiting for the $45 million spent on color.com and colour.com to pay off...
  - 7y ago
alasdair_ 7y ago
I worked for a company that is not google, yet has its own .dev domain.
lancepioch 7y ago
Excluding CCTLD's, I don't think there should be private TLD's. Restrictions are fine (such as .museum for example).

packetlost 7y ago

.dev is available for public registration... I have one.

aaronchall 7y ago
Ditto.
echelon 7y ago
"vanity" domains are $200/yr or more Including "{firstname}.dev" Nonsense. If Google's worried about domain squatters, it controls the TLD rules and can come up with a less moneygrab strategy. Perhaps require a Github account and limit to one domain per customer? FCFS is fairer than extortion.
- Buttons840 7y ago
  I paid $12 for my .dev domain. I bought it from Google.
  - TheFiend7 7y ago
    Domain names are not one time purchases? Secondly are you referring to monthly or yearly? They sometimes do flash deals which might be why you got it for one year at that price (assuming you paid that yearly). But the discounts usually don't last forever.
    - Buttons840 7y ago
      It was for one year. I just checked and it is set for auto renewal in November and will cost another $12 for another year. It is a 6 letter domain.
      - top_kekeroni_m8 7y ago
        Button.dev? ;)
    - zenexer 7y ago
      You’re probably thinking of premium domains. Most ngTLDs charge more for high-value names to mitigate squatting—and to take a larger piece of the pie.
- kick 7y ago
  require a GitHub account You do know that there are devs that prefer other code hosting platforms, right? GitHub is a proprietary service that's generally terrible for developers.
  - echelon 7y ago
    > GitHub is a proprietary service that's generally terrible for developers. In what way? I find it incredibly awesome.
- berdon 7y ago
  As other commenters have said, they're $12/yr.
  - echelon 7y ago
    Not all of them. https://support.google.com/domains/answer/6010092#registry https://support.google.com/domains/answer/6010092#registry I just checked my Google Domains account, and my .dev domain renews for "$180 plus tax". The pricing is entirely opaque and you can't find it listed anywhere, but I did find a comment from HN last year that listed several examples: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19201073 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19201073 Some names cost even more than the $200 I initially cited!
- JohnFen 7y ago
  > require a Github account That requirement would exclude most developers, including myself.
techsupporter 7y ago
Ah, how quickly the Internet forgets. .dev wasn’t going to be open for the rest of us originally; Google bought it as an internal name to keep private but relented a few years later. > The web ad giant is keeping these domains "completely closed for the sole use of Google," as its paperwork filed[0] for .dev reads. > Why not also share the wealth of .dev with developers? Well, in a word: branding. Google's successful application for .dev reads: "The proposed gTLD will provide Google with direct association to the term 'dev', which is an abbreviation of the word 'development'. The mission of this gTLD, .dev, is to provide a dedicated domain space in which Google can enact second-level domains specific to its projects in development." https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/13/google_developer_gtld_domain_icann/ https://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/03/13/google_developer_gt... 0 - https://gtldresult.icann.org/applicationstatus/applicationdetails/1339 https://gtldresult.icann.org/applicationstatus/applicationde...
- ivalm 7y ago
  Sure, but google shouldn't be able to get a generic gTLD like this. Why is google's interest in owning "dev" more valuable than everyone else's?
  - techsupporter 7y ago
    Agreed; that's what GP was getting at and people were refuting the claim with "but I have registered a .dev domain." For three-ish years, Google was hoarding it and the Internet pushed back and Google relented for some unknown reason (I hope due to the pushback but I'm not counting on it).

jerf 7y ago

Well, I will say this about the TLD "debacle", when I recently went looking for a domain name made out of real words, but not in what you'd call the "A list" (i.e., not "drugs.com" or "money.com"), they have at least made it ineffectual now for squatters to squat on everything across all the useful TLDs. Someone wanted a couple $K for the .com variant but there were several other useful variants completely unregistered.

JMTQp8lwXL 7y ago
Does anyone actually use or go to services on super-generic TLDs like that? I can't think of any billion-dollar businesses that exist at <genericword>.com. I can't imagine they're as valuable as people make them out to be, because businesses have brands that aren't generic words like "money" or "drugs". There's "amazon" but the business has nothing do with rainforests, so it's not like they're benefitting from traffic from people wishing to learn about the rainforest (much like we might imagine money.com would offer a financial service, or drugs.com pharmaceuticals).
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  > Does anyone actually use or go to services on super-generic TLDs like that? Well, I occasionally read CNET, which has the domain "news.com". But, the fact that domain points to CNET rather than something more well-known (and general-interest) is itself great evidence of the unimportance of general domains. Also, CBS Interactive bought CNET more than a decade ago, and the news.com domain with it. CBS has kept the domain pointed to CNET rather than, say, having it point to cbsnews.com.
- jannes 7y ago
  The only one that comes to mind is booking.com. facebook.com maybe as well although it has given the word a new meaning.
- alasdair_ 7y ago
  I’m still waiting for the $45 million spent on color.com and colour.com to pay off...
- 7y ago

alasdair_ 7y ago

I worked for a company that is not google, yet has its own .dev domain.

lancepioch 7y ago

Excluding CCTLD's, I don't think there should be private TLD's. Restrictions are fine (such as .museum for example).