My Official Stance On Investing in New gTLDs vs. COM

by Morgan on July 13, 2015

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the majority of my investments are and will continue to be .COM. I think I’ve repeated this almost weekly for the past year but still people seem to miss the boat because they know I’m also a fan of new gTLDs. How can this be? Easy, you can invest in .COM and still believe that new gTLDs will ALSO be good investments.

Over the weekend I announced a domain sale of mine and got the following response on Twitter:

It seems that there’s always confusion when I talk about how I see potential in new gTLDs so I thought I’d make my stance clear so as not to accidentally mislead anyone.

I still put the vast majority of my investment dollars into .COM, and .COM domains continue to be the TLD I focus on when it comes to buying and selling domain names. At the same time, I think that new gTLDs have incredible potential and I am proudly investing in these and happily selling non .COMs at the same time.

I would absolutely not suggest that anyone drop all their .COM domains and focus on new gTLDs. At the same time, I think not investing in new gTLDs will mean missing out on some great investment opportunities later down the road. I think five years from now still over 50% of my investments will be .COM, but I also think I’ll have more new gTLDs than I have today, and I’m also confident I’ll have some awesome new gTLD sales under my belt.

So expect to see me writing more about new gTLDs, it’s the beginning of something great and I’m behind them 100%. Just know that you can be a fan of new gTLDs and a fan of .COM. I’m not alone here, Frank Schilling, Michael Berkens and many other domain investors that are much more badass than me also see the opportunity, but like me they are also big fans of .COM at the same time.

What do you think? Do we have to pick sides or is it okay to believe that .COM is the best investment today but that new gTLDs could be great investments as well in the future? Comment and let your voice be heard!

{ 21 comments… add one }

Domenclature.com July 13, 2015, 10:11 pm

When you’re an investor, you can look at the quantitative and qualitative elements of an investment, but there’s a third aspect: What you feel in your gut.
Kevin O’Leary

I hear you, Linton. I expect you to understand too, extend the same courtesy to anyone who holds a contrary view to yours. I know you to be a great sport, kayaking and all; you paddle left, as well as right, for motion and balancing.

When you write quantitatively, or even qualitatively, we can let facts and figures speak for themselves; when you express what you feel in your gut, that’s fine too, just make it clear and we can accept it.

But never write to defend, or protect your friends, and untouchables. That I’m not used to seeing you do.

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Aaron Strong July 13, 2015, 11:33 pm

Domen – Glad to see your back. Regarding your quote of Kevin O’Leary, “When you’re an investor, you can look at the quantitative and qualitative elements of an investment, but there’s a third aspect: What you feel in your gut.”…………The third aspect, as Kevin mentions, is why many of us invest in New Gtld’s………

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John July 14, 2015, 1:43 am

“Do we have to pick sides?” Definitely not, the old “false dichotomy.” As with gems, stones and clumps of mud – with the new gTLDs there are gems, stones and clumps of mud. Perhaps even ones that a pigeon might produce, to harken back to the analogy of Mr. Schwartz, as in even less than mud. But gems are definitely gems, and as with real gems, gTLD gems are perhaps just as rare if not more so.

My question is, if they succeed in capturing the public consciousness, will they lead to people rediscovering what domain names even really are to begin with, how you use them to begin with (think address bar and what “address” even means, not search box, not even just links), and to people having some rekindled interest in them as a phenomenon and part of life at all they way it was in the early days of the Web and type-in traffic?

With such questions in mind, read what I posted just yesterday evening at DI which starts with me asking “Are domains dying?” July 13th, 2015 at 2:57 pm: domaininvesting . com/sunday-updates-and-thoughts-712/#comments

There unfortunately is also a substantial element of concern vis-a-vis involvement and investment of one’s time, money and resources in new gTLDs that has just been covered here: “Some New TLDs shoot the whole program in the foot” – domainnamewire . com/2015/07/12/some-new-tlds-shoot-the-whole-program-in-the-foot/

So personally I definitely like some of them, though not many, and would definitely like to see some positive changes as a result of their appearance on the world scene. In one sense, however, I would really just like to see a renaissance of sorts in addition to the newness of the new.

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Domenclature.com July 14, 2015, 2:10 am

Aaron Strong,

I accept that, and it’s proper. I have no issues with any investor, on anything gut feeling-wise, as that is intuitively personal; I only respond to ideas and theories, either to agree, or disagree, and why; measurable in True or False.

The only other times that you observe my opinion on these blogs, are on issues pertaining to the rules governing the relation between new gTLD Registrants, and Registries; I prefer, for Registries, if they Would, they Could Not, than if they Could, they Would Not. And only government regulations can guarantee that. ICANN pretty much left everything to the good graces of these Registries: pricing, claw-backs, you name it.

All the time that Linton, and other new gTLD optimists, have written about their gut feelings, I’ve remained unperturbed, as I should.

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Donster July 14, 2015, 5:09 am

Now that the new gtlds have one foot in the grave, do I detect some backpeddling by Mr. Morgan?

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- Morgan July 14, 2015, 7:57 pm
  
  @Donster – that’s like saying .COM domains had one foot in the grave back in 1999, no backpeddling, just saying the same thing I’ve been saying all along. I think there are great investment opportunities in new gTLDs, and you can invest in both new gTLDs and .COMs without breaking any rules 🙂
  
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Joe July 14, 2015, 11:52 am

The post I buy .Com, and invest without buying gTLD.

As you know buying gTLD after the auction http://www.wine.club

Before hitting the market these thousands of new extensions in your post writing this especially Daniel, with its extension .xyz few even think that at a time like now could pay six-five figures, $ 140K wine.club $ 50K luxury.estate etc.

In your post about Frank and Kostantinos latter invest $ 50K in gTLD domain names, I like others offer one to buy or invest because you have more to gain market money buys more reasonable and high sales.

I offer to Konstatinos gas.vision premium domain name.

Responding to a question that is “gas.vision” I reply, thanks for your reply, best for you.
This premium domain name two companies assess auction brokers between $ 100K. and $ 200K … I offer Kostan, the first figure

Failure to respond. best for you.

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RaTHeaD July 14, 2015, 2:19 pm

the EV on generic TLD’s is hugely negative. but tell that to the guy who just won the lotto.

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John July 14, 2015, 3:11 pm

Looks like my post last night still in “moderation”…

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John July 14, 2015, 10:22 pm

Well Morgan, are you going to approve my first post from last night to appear? Thought it was a worthwhile post if I can say so myself, and certainly no different from many that appear elsewhere. Was my first time here on your site too…

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- Morgan July 14, 2015, 10:30 pm
  
  @John – sorry for the delay, I typically only login to my blog once a day so it can take up to 24-hours for comments to be approved if you haven’t commented before. Thanks for your comment!
  
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John July 14, 2015, 10:24 pm

Oh interesting, your system is set up to still show me this up the page a bit now:

John July 14, 2015, 1:43 am

Your comment is awaiting moderation.
– See more at: http://morganlinton.com/my-official-stance-on-investing-in-new-gtlds-vs-com/comment-page-1/#comment-68978

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John July 15, 2015, 1:27 am

Thanks for your blog hospitality, Morgan! Glad I finally reached yours, too. Okay now, folks, kindly read what I posted up above at July 14, 2015, 1:43 am 🙂 🙂

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Xavier Lemay July 15, 2015, 9:32 am

Ngtlds are dying on vine.

There is some great tlds out there but the supplies are to high.

I would of invest in .wiki if it was the only extension to came out this year. Same with .Ninja and .Guru.

But now.. ngtlds looks more like a cash grabber when you think about .Sucks .Rich .Ceo .Luxury .Qpon (really?) .Review .Reviews .Pic .Pics .Picture .Pictures .Photo .Photos .Gallery..

We alerady have .com .net .info .co and .xyz is the only extension that can sit among other old tlds.

Build your site on Cutecats.xyz .co .com .net for $10 to $29 a year and be remembered.

I’m investing a BIT in the ngtlds but All premium keywords are almost all own buy Registries and they will sell them at the price of the true KeywordKeyword.com or even higher!

Registries are Domainers..

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Publicdomains.com July 15, 2015, 11:25 am

Ask Rick about “flowers.mobi” –> $100K just wasted. Even the best gtlds such as “real.state” or “newyork.city” are far in value from the .com in (realstate.com or newyork.com). The only winners are the registrars that “brain-wash” entry level inexperts to invest in their domains. Like buying 100 miles land from Las Vegas, advertising that the land is in Las Vegas. So, good luck also to those who launch their businesses 100 miles away from the action.

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Abdul Rehman Mayet July 15, 2015, 11:31 am

Great article especially as more and more new TLDS are being made available every day. I agree that .COM is your first call. However if a new TLD is appropriate then go for it. For example I have been promoting a doodle video software called Easy Sketch Pro. Just recently a schools edition has just been launched. So by acquiring the new TLD .SCHOOL to me makes perfect sense. The same goes for generic businesses like hairdressers, dentists, restaurants etc. Good to have a mix ☺

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Steve Rogge July 15, 2015, 11:40 am

Some companies just use new tlds to compliment their main .com site. For instance tmobile.com is their main site however tmobile.jobs is their job site.

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Oviah.com July 15, 2015, 12:13 pm

We know COM is and will likely always be the one to go for, people just need to realise that it is not a battle of one over the other. Each name has to be assessed on it’s own merits.

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Josip July 15, 2015, 12:56 pm

Just checking if my comment will be automatically approved or going to moderation as I am not sure if I commented here before or not.

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Josip July 15, 2015, 12:57 pm

Hi Morgan,

we were in touch through email while you used something like name@lintoninvestments.com, but I am not sure if you still use it so I am contacting you here. Please delete this comment after moderation as it is just a message to you, not a blog comment.

I don’t like new gTLDs, but I think they are good as an investment as some people are ready to pay big for them.

I own some new gTLDs and wanted to offer them to you, in case you are interested. I am ready to sell them much below the amount I believe they might fetch after 3-5 years.

Domains are:

Coach.directory

Exact search for “coach” is 1220000. For a comparison, exact search for “coaches” is 22200. There are a lot of coach directories so if you are willing to wait for them to contact you, or if you have time to contacted them and offer this domain to them, Coach.directory could be a great investment.
There are numberious subdomains possible with Coach.directory. Just some of them are:
ife.coach.directory,
business.coach.directory
certified.coach.directory
personal.coach.directory
divorce.coach.directory
leadership.coach.directory
executive.coach.directory
career.coach.directory
etc…

CoachDirectory.com is taken (just as many other extensions with this name), but Coaches.directory and even CoachDirectory.directory are taken too.

The other domain is Sex.directory.
“Sex” keyword is worth at least $1000 in any ccTLD, and much more in established gTLDs, including new gTLDs. In .directory “sex” keyword makes perfect sense. Possible subdomains are:
Teen.sex.directory
Amateur.sex.directory
Mature.sex.directory
Fetish.sex.directory
Japanese.sex.directory.
etc…

I believe this domain could be considered as truly premium new gTLD. Some domain with such a classification already sold for $xxxxxxx.

I would accept high $xxxx for Coach.directory + Sex.directory, or you are free to make your individual offer.

Please let me know if you are interested. Contact me on info@toxito.com. Thank you.

Best regards,
Josip Bolanca

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John August 26, 2015, 5:25 am

Hello Morgan. Since you first wrote this post there have obviously been some very interesting developments re: Google and .xyz etc. . That said I must agree that a person should have at least one or two GREAT new gTLD names or numerics ( we own 130.io and others) in a portfolio just in case that extension becomes a real hit. We were able to recently hand reg a .xyz one word name that the .com version has an Estibot valuation of over $1 million. People can say whatever they want but guess what-that matters.

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