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Show HN: Endless Domains – Domain suggestion tool for new gTLDs

7 points by dperfect 12y ago

dsl 12y ago
This is a perfect example of how useless most of these new gTLDs are. The majority of them (for example .camera) were created to capture address bar traffic (someone typing camera directly in and effectively bypassing Google search to become the #1 result). Since the ICANN decision to disallow dotless domains, there are only a few dozen "good" domains under .camera, so we are left with lots and lots of TLDs that will have very sparse usage and not be revenue positive for the owners.
- stevekemp 12y ago
  I think the biggest problem is the high-value domains are all reserved. e.g. "black.coffee" cannot be registered, nor can "gym.trainer", "fitness.trainer". Despite the apparently limitless options too many "obvious" and "good" domains aren't available.
- ggreenbe 12y ago
  I guess it depends on the user. For me, the .gallery domain was incredible as my site, MinecraftGallery.com can now use Minecraft.Gallery
- yp_all 12y ago
  Why did they disallow dotless domains? Honest qyestion. As an alternative, one could write and distribute a "free" web browser with a search box that looks like an address bar where the search goes to a particular search engine that sells ads. One might call it "omnibox" or something like that. Or one could even add code to the browser so that a dotless domain typed into the address bar automatically submits the string typed to a particular search engine and sends the user to the website that is the first search result. It seems like these alternatives are not enough to capture all address bar traffic... because some companies that employ the above alteratives (you know who) still applied for new gTLDs that appear to be valuable only as dotless domains. In other words, it seems like companies want to use all three strategies to capture address bar traffic: 1. A dotless domain typed in the address bar redirects to first search result of a particular search engine. 2. A dotless domain typed in a search box, that could be (and is) mistaken for an address bar, searches a particular search engine instead of causing a DNS lookup. 3. A dotless domain typed in the address bar of a browser that does not do 1. or 2. (e.g., an alternative to the major "modern" browsers) performs a DNS lookup where search engine/browser/ad sales company is the registrar for the dotless domain looked up. That is, they paid off ICANN ($185,000+) to have sole control of what some call a "public resource" (domain address space). There are other strategies that can also capture strings typed into the address bar, such as the NXDOMAIN redirect nonsense, but I'll stop here.
dperfect 12y ago
This is one of my recent side projects. I'd love to get some feedback here.
- xytop 12y ago
  I dont understand how domains appear.. So I entered a word `resume` - no relevant domains popped up..
  - dperfect 12y ago
    > No relevant domains popped up The algorithm sometimes finds very distant relationships to the word you give it. It depends somewhat on the word and whether or not more closely-related words are available. Since "resume" may be seen as both the noun and the verb, related words may be quite distant. To be quite honest, I was tired of other domain suggestion tools using only the exact word(s) I give, so some degree of distant word relationships is intentional (I considered making it completely random, but I like the idea of choosing a "seed" word as a starting point).
    - dsl 12y ago
      "taxes" cement.email decrease.singles collect.pics ...I guess they kinda make sense??
- rob_mccann 12y ago
  Doesnt seem to work on chrome for Android. As soon as I type a letter, the text area seems to lose focus and the on screen keyboard disappears. Nothing appears in the search box.
  - dperfect 12y ago
    Thanks for the report - I'll check it out.
- james_pm 12y ago
  Really nice and thanks for including Hover in the results. Since you know the domain is available, you can skip the search on our site and take the user right to the cart if you want. https://www.hover.com/shop/domain.com https://www.hover.com/shop/domain.com (replace that with the actual domain, obviously).

7 points by dperfect 12y ago

dsl 12y ago

This is a perfect example of how useless most of these new gTLDs are. The majority of them (for example .camera) were created to capture address bar traffic (someone typing camera directly in and effectively bypassing Google search to become the #1 result). Since the ICANN decision to disallow dotless domains, there are only a few dozen "good" domains under .camera, so we are left with lots and lots of TLDs that will have very sparse usage and not be revenue positive for the owners.

stevekemp 12y ago
I think the biggest problem is the high-value domains are all reserved. e.g. "black.coffee" cannot be registered, nor can "gym.trainer", "fitness.trainer". Despite the apparently limitless options too many "obvious" and "good" domains aren't available.
ggreenbe 12y ago
I guess it depends on the user. For me, the .gallery domain was incredible as my site, MinecraftGallery.com can now use Minecraft.Gallery
yp_all 12y ago
Why did they disallow dotless domains? Honest qyestion. As an alternative, one could write and distribute a "free" web browser with a search box that looks like an address bar where the search goes to a particular search engine that sells ads. One might call it "omnibox" or something like that. Or one could even add code to the browser so that a dotless domain typed into the address bar automatically submits the string typed to a particular search engine and sends the user to the website that is the first search result. It seems like these alternatives are not enough to capture all address bar traffic... because some companies that employ the above alteratives (you know who) still applied for new gTLDs that appear to be valuable only as dotless domains. In other words, it seems like companies want to use all three strategies to capture address bar traffic: 1. A dotless domain typed in the address bar redirects to first search result of a particular search engine. 2. A dotless domain typed in a search box, that could be (and is) mistaken for an address bar, searches a particular search engine instead of causing a DNS lookup. 3. A dotless domain typed in the address bar of a browser that does not do 1. or 2. (e.g., an alternative to the major "modern" browsers) performs a DNS lookup where search engine/browser/ad sales company is the registrar for the dotless domain looked up. That is, they paid off ICANN ($185,000+) to have sole control of what some call a "public resource" (domain address space). There are other strategies that can also capture strings typed into the address bar, such as the NXDOMAIN redirect nonsense, but I'll stop here.

dperfect 12y ago

This is one of my recent side projects. I'd love to get some feedback here.

xytop 12y ago
I dont understand how domains appear.. So I entered a word `resume` - no relevant domains popped up..
- dperfect 12y ago
  > No relevant domains popped up The algorithm sometimes finds very distant relationships to the word you give it. It depends somewhat on the word and whether or not more closely-related words are available. Since "resume" may be seen as both the noun and the verb, related words may be quite distant. To be quite honest, I was tired of other domain suggestion tools using only the exact word(s) I give, so some degree of distant word relationships is intentional (I considered making it completely random, but I like the idea of choosing a "seed" word as a starting point).
  - dsl 12y ago
    "taxes" cement.email decrease.singles collect.pics ...I guess they kinda make sense??
rob_mccann 12y ago
Doesnt seem to work on chrome for Android. As soon as I type a letter, the text area seems to lose focus and the on screen keyboard disappears. Nothing appears in the search box.
- dperfect 12y ago
  Thanks for the report - I'll check it out.
james_pm 12y ago
Really nice and thanks for including Hover in the results. Since you know the domain is available, you can skip the search on our site and take the user right to the cart if you want. https://www.hover.com/shop/domain.com https://www.hover.com/shop/domain.com (replace that with the actual domain, obviously).