You might notice that there is not a great deal of buzz about the net’s newest TLD .Asia. Domain industry folk are certainly not excited. Reading the banter on industry forums such as namepros.com, .Asia is described as “crap” or “as worthless as .mobi”
Domain industry big daddy Frank Schilling has openly expressed a lack of interest in the .Asia name space, encouraging domain investors to focus on ccTLDs and generic TLDs such a .com (primarily), .net, .org etc.
So what’s the vibe here on the ground? In Asia.
Big money is flowing through the .Asia domain auctions.
Taking a look at some of the top auction names it is clear to see that at least some people with dollars believe in .Asia
sushi.asia $22,500
cooking.asia $21,500
water.asia $19,388
Some naughtier names have auctioned for over $70,000 US
Big spends on on generic .Asia names are taking place across the entire spectrum of meaning. Any words with broad meaning and commercial value are fetching auction prices anywhere between $3000 - $5000. Good luck picking one up at the registry. Even xylophone.asia is gone
So lets break down some of the arguments that have been passed for and against .Asia.
Against:
Asia is a western conception. It has been said that people of the region, Japanese, Korean, Thai, view themselves in terms of their nationality, not as “Asian”. This is a compelling argument and makes you wonder what meaning people of Asian countries will derive when surfing the new name space. If .Asia doesn’t resonate, maybe it wont succeed.
On top of this, Asia is awash with name space. Each country with its own ccTLD as well as language / character IDN’s. With this fragmentation of name space, language and meaning, who’s to say which name space will dominate and retain the most traffic.
For:
Very little of the of the trade or commerce that takes place across borders in Asia uses ccTLDs or IDNs.
Tourists booking their holiday in Thailand don’t book on .co.th
A development firm opening office in Tokyo is unlikely to use .co.jp
An importer ordering products from a Chinese factory is unlikely to buy from .cn
The emergence of a new name space to represent the region may serve as the new home for the international commerce that takes place in Asia.
Not to mention that Asia is booming. Previously closed economies are increasingly opening up, and with the ease of travel borders are becoming fluid.
Maybe the changing state of the region makes it the perfect time for the new name space that names in the domain business love to hate.
