It probably helped that every Github Pages site started going to username.github.io. I'd imagine a variety of repositories became harder to find, which'd be noticeable at Google HQ.
It means that Google will treat it as a worldwide website, as opposed to being country-specific. This means that .io domains are more likely to show up in US search results, and will no longer be given priority in "the British Indian Ocean Territory"[1]
In other words, I'm not sure this is a good thing or sets a good precedent. I understand the rationale as they're just reacting to what the industry is doing (I'm looking at you GH) but I imagine we'll see more of this in the future.
I say all this as a (legitimate) .io domain holder.
Somewhere there is a bailiwick just waiting for the crafting community to jump all over it.
I believe it's also a good preparation for the domain extensions that'll be releasing out in the wild later this year. There's hundreds in contention. It could heavily factor into Google's "Did you mean domain.com?" handling where they assume you searched incorrectly for an alternate gTLD, cTLD, or ccTLD in some cases.
I've got to think that they'll see a pretty big influx of .io registrations today & over the next few days, I'm sure they're thrilled.
I also have the same reservations too, though -- although I applaud the reaction & speed, a big part of me wonders if it's really best suited for decisions like this.
What happens when some other TLD needs to be re-categorized the same? Where does it stop?
Is there any precedent to Google removing a domain from their 'gccTLD' list?
That'd be more scary / have a bigger potential impact on people I'd assume -- although I suppose they could just 'tweak' the TLD to not rank quite as high without doing as much publicly like this perhaps...
Just recently these names were still available while checking names for a project: feature.io, using.io, edges.io, advan.io, gains.io, plain.io, dest.io and nippy.io. I haven't checked if they were still available as of today so YMMV.
I meant that I have a domain name that I'm using for a legitimate service that I purchased knowing that it wasn't a gccTLD. My "legitimate" comment was specifically related to the influx of squatters we're about to see in this space.
.io prices are coming down rather quickly. Gandi.net sells them for $40 apiece, and I wouldn't be surprised if it became available for half of that with some sort of promotion. I'm waiting to grab one when that happens.
I think prices for .com/.net should go up too. Too many domain squatters and advertising-only domains. If it was $50 a year, some good names might become available for real businesses.
Or just regular registration. I have near 100 that I registered with good intention. Then I get distracted and later I'll look at my list and be amazed at the quality of the names I have. Nothing that I could sell for much, but that would be great memorable names for a service or company. They're so cheap that it's no big deal (at least in bite size chunks), but the truth is I'm locking it up for an entrepreneur with the time and motivation.
Also, I can't think of any .ms sites yet that is listed there. Even a google seasrch of site:.ms doesn't seem to show up anything that sticks out... maybe a few music related sites using it as the 'music' tld?
This is pretty cool, I have been a huge fan of .io domain names for a long time. I even tried (unsuccessfully) to sell a, checked daily, list of the available three letter domain names for $19. There are currently 40 three letter word domain names left, there are a couple common acronyms like CST.io that are available too.
If you are no longer selling the list, can you show it on your site? When you say 3 letter domains, are you referring to dictionary words or any random 3 letter?
I've just assumed that it tends to imply 'technology' via the long-existing term "I/O" [input/output].
Even the businesses that that use it and are less tech-heavy in business model tend to be web- and/or mobile-first type companies from what I've seen...
In addition to the "techiness" of io, a lot of the draw has been availability. They've been going at $50/yr for a while, which has kept the squatters away. Last time I looked, there were a plethora of three-letter English words available.
I jumped in in 2009, and basically had my pick of 2-letter domains.
Selling the remaining list is quite a smart idea. it obviously has value even though it would be relatively simple to figure out the remaining free domains on your own.
True, the task is not very difficult if you have a list of words to check against. If you're time to create your own list takes more than $19 of your time then its probably of some value to just buy mine :)
I'm curious how the average consumer (non-tech audience) views a .io domain.
I'm planning to build a consumer facing site and use .io as it's an easy way to get a decently good domain, but I don't want to scare people off with the domain.
I've been using it for jobboard.io for around 8 months and have only had one customer ask me about it. To be fair I don't know how many people are NOT using me because they don't get the domain and are simply moving on. In the long run I don't think it's an issue as most people CNAME their own custom domain for their job boards anyways.
I don't know how to feel about this. I've commented many times before, warning others about the .io domain and the consequences they'll face with ranking on Google. Now that won't be a problem. But let's face it, .io will never be as 'accepted' as .com by Billy Customer, and now squatters have a reason to go buying them all up, so good luck grabbing one for a techie startup or niche.
While I agree that .io will likely not be seen the same way .com is by your average customer it may not be that much of an issue if Google starts ranking .io domain names highly in search results. Which is how many people choose what sites to visit or buy from.
> .io will never be as 'accepted' as .com by Billy Customer
It's seemed to me that all the uses of .io so far are precisely for sites only developers will have any reason to visit--software libraries, B2B SaaS, etc.
It requires something about the way we conduct ourselves to change, at least.
I remember reading about how Japanese advertizers would use Google queries in ads instead of URLs - and we in the West did little to improve on that with QR codes - so it's possible that there's a place for .io somewhere. I just think it'd be a really bad idea to use them interchangeably with .com domains.
I guess the same can be said of .co domains, which look like typos to the average person, when they aren't used as shorturls.
> I remember reading about how Japanese advertizers would use Google queries in ads instead of URLs
That's happened in the UK as well, though (in my experience) more often with video adverts (e.g. movie trailers) than print advertising. It began with stuff like "AOL Keyword: harry potter" (was it "keyword"? can't remember, was definitely AOL), and mostly died after that, but have seen it with Google a few times.
And on the flip side, you seem to suggest that QR codes are a western thing - actually they were invented in Japan, and are much bigger in Asia than over here.
> I remember reading about how Japanese advertizers would use Google queries in ads instead of URLs
This is probably because it's hard for the Japanese to correctly remember web addresses, since they're in the Latin alphabet. By having them remember search queries instead, this problem can be easily avoided.
I'm not sure typical non-technical users have any idea what the TLDs mean, or pay any attention to them at all.
Many users just type website names into google or their location bar, not paying any attention to the URL at all. Or, actually type the _hostname_ into a google search box, not realizing what a hostname/URL _is for_.
well, if it doesn't seem to be adopted by a prominent start-up (yet), doesn't mean that the extension is not popular for it's obvious non-geo "I am" meaning. It is one of those novelty extensions and Google should also allow webmasters to choose whether to treat it as gTLD or as a micro state of 'Isle of Man'.
You can buy the list of 30 remaining three letter words/common acronyms for $19: http://andio.herokuapp.com
I'm sure you could do this yourself but why waste $19 of your time :)
There were 40 left about 2 hours ago, so far these domains have been purchased in the last 2 hours: was.io,
mph.io,
lie.io,
avg.io,
cum.io,
ear.io,
era.io,
hwy.io,
shy.io,
sox.io
260 days ago I posted a webapp I made on HN, listing all of the available remaining .io domains in order of most common words -- with 2, 3, 4, and 5 letter columns. It was completely free, but it got one upvote I think? The site is currently down, but if there's interest I can put it back online.
It's tough to get traction on HN for certain things. Also, if you think about it people don't want other people to know what domain names are available "just in case".
There are currently 26 three letter words/common acronyms left. List available here for a small fee http://andio.herokuapp.com
That's lame - $20 for this list? What's the likelihood one can actually register one of the 3 letter domains for a typical reg fee and not some huge cost?
Yeah, it was probably a little much. The site has been up for quite a long time and I thought it might useful given the circumstances. Should I have linked to it more than once? Probably not.
124 comments
[ 3.6 ms ] story [ 181 ms ] thread[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.io
In other words, I'm not sure this is a good thing or sets a good precedent. I understand the rationale as they're just reacting to what the industry is doing (I'm looking at you GH) but I imagine we'll see more of this in the future.
I say all this as a (legitimate) .io domain holder.
Somewhere there is a bailiwick just waiting for the crafting community to jump all over it.
I've got to think that they'll see a pretty big influx of .io registrations today & over the next few days, I'm sure they're thrilled.
I also have the same reservations too, though -- although I applaud the reaction & speed, a big part of me wonders if it's really best suited for decisions like this.
What happens when some other TLD needs to be re-categorized the same? Where does it stop?
Is there any precedent to Google removing a domain from their 'gccTLD' list?
That'd be more scary / have a bigger potential impact on people I'd assume -- although I suppose they could just 'tweak' the TLD to not rank quite as high without doing as much publicly like this perhaps...
The use of the word 'cue' in this context is really dead, isn't it?
Also, I can't think of any .ms sites yet that is listed there. Even a google seasrch of site:.ms doesn't seem to show up anything that sticks out... maybe a few music related sites using it as the 'music' tld?
If interested http://andio.herokuapp.com
EDIT: was.io and mph.io have been purchased since posting this comment, now 38 left.
I mean english dictionary words and common acronyms, not random 3 letter combinations.
Just off the top of my head.
Even the businesses that that use it and are less tech-heavy in business model tend to be web- and/or mobile-first type companies from what I've seen...
I jumped in in 2009, and basically had my pick of 2-letter domains.
I worked on this project a while back and posted the list for free for over a year, not sure why it's a sin to charge money for it now.
I'm planning to build a consumer facing site and use .io as it's an easy way to get a decently good domain, but I don't want to scare people off with the domain.
My .io has been hosted on GAE since the start. I wish GAE would support naked domains. http://www.macch.io/
It's seemed to me that all the uses of .io so far are precisely for sites only developers will have any reason to visit--software libraries, B2B SaaS, etc.
I remember reading about how Japanese advertizers would use Google queries in ads instead of URLs - and we in the West did little to improve on that with QR codes - so it's possible that there's a place for .io somewhere. I just think it'd be a really bad idea to use them interchangeably with .com domains.
I guess the same can be said of .co domains, which look like typos to the average person, when they aren't used as shorturls.
That's happened in the UK as well, though (in my experience) more often with video adverts (e.g. movie trailers) than print advertising. It began with stuff like "AOL Keyword: harry potter" (was it "keyword"? can't remember, was definitely AOL), and mostly died after that, but have seen it with Google a few times.
And on the flip side, you seem to suggest that QR codes are a western thing - actually they were invented in Japan, and are much bigger in Asia than over here.
This is probably because it's hard for the Japanese to correctly remember web addresses, since they're in the Latin alphabet. By having them remember search queries instead, this problem can be easily avoided.
Railing against re-use of small countries TLDs is the 2013 version of writing "Micro$oft".
Many users just type website names into google or their location bar, not paying any attention to the URL at all. Or, actually type the _hostname_ into a google search box, not realizing what a hostname/URL _is for_.
I'm sure you could do this yourself but why waste $19 of your time :)
There were 40 left about 2 hours ago, so far these domains have been purchased in the last 2 hours: was.io, mph.io, lie.io, avg.io, cum.io, ear.io, era.io, hwy.io, shy.io, sox.io
There are currently 26 three letter words/common acronyms left. List available here for a small fee http://andio.herokuapp.com
https://iwantmyname.com/blog/2012/05/100-shockingly-short-io...
and here is another:
are.io bow.io cot.io cry.io dew.io dip.io dye.io ear.io egg.io fee.io fry.io had.io hem.io hid.io hut.io jug.io lid.io lie.io lip.io men.io mop.io mow.io oar.io ore.io pit.io rag.io ray.io rib.io rid.io rot.io sod.io toe.io tow.io tug.io was.io won.io yaw.io
I did not bother to verify availability.
Charging for access to information like this is deplorable. Just because you can does not mean you should.
One comment was enough.
Among which 283 are available .io domains:
https://gist.github.com/muloka/5527116
Some time ago I was trying to register an .io domain - but my bank would not allow the transaction because fraud :(
I still want one...
Thanks for doing it (and putting it back online). Really useful if you're looking for a quick .io inspiration.