With the launch of .APP I think the value of .COM domains ending in “app” will decrease

apps

Okay, I’ll start by making it very clear that this is only my opinion. Google is not a sponsor of my blog (although it would be pretty cool if they were!), nor am I someone that thinks .APP is a great investment as a Domainer. That being said, I have seen too many people over the last week say one of two things that I don’t agree with:

  1. Why would someone want <keyword>.app if <keyword>app.com is available to register
  2. If a domain owner has <keyword>app.com the price just went up with the release of .APP

Sorry but I just don’t buy the logic. The fact that so many <keyword>app.com domains have been available to register for so long (or are just sitting there with parked pages) IMO shows how little interest the general public has in them. Saying that you can just hand register it so why do you need the .APP doesn’t make much sense to me. If you’ve been able to hand register it for years, don’t you think that says something?

As for Domainers who have purchased portfolios of domains that end in “app” I think the logic that these domains have just gone up in value is very flawed. In fact, I think the exact opposite is going to happen, I think the price is going down. Let’s walk through a real world example:

Let’s suppose I’m a startup that is making a hiking app – I go and buy Hiking.app and shell out some extra money to get it early. First, let’s be honest, I was interested in the .APP extension because I’m building an app, so when it comes to rankings, I want to rank well in the Apple App store and Android App Store, that’s where the action is. Sure I could have bought HikingApp.com from whoever owns it, or hand registered it if it was available but that’s not why I bought the .APP domain, I wanted Hiking.app. The extension is without a doubt the best extension for an app.

I just don’t think that if I was that startup, building my hiking app, that I’d be that stressed about getting HikingApp.com…I’d honestly feel like I already had a better domain by getting Hiking.app. Now I would  say that I would be thrilled to get Hiking.com, that is without a doubt a much better name but when it comes to Hiking.app and HikingApp.com, I think companies will pick the .APP vs. the app.com all day long.

That’s my two cents, now I want to hear from you. Comment and let your voice be heard!

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton