Ask HN: Are .io domain names a fad?

Posted by intropic on Saturday November 17, 2012 @11:31AM
from the ask-hn dept.

There are a large number of new companies that are using .io domain names. I understand that a large part of this is due to good availability of english words, but wonder if it is a fad similar to the days of .ly domains. Do we eventually end up back at convoluted .com domain names until the next "cool" TLD?

( 4 comments | 3 points | on HN )

Re:Ask HN: Are .io domain names a fad? by xoail on Saturday November 17, 2012 @09:00PM (#4799591)

The way I see it, if your product is technical then .io is fine. But if you eventually want to market to every tom dick and harry then you better get a .com. Another strategy is to get a .io until you can afford a .com. Also, if you can market your website to achieve a million users on .io domain, you can raise enough money to buy the .com. My 2 cents.

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Re:Ask HN: Are .io domain names a fad? by Gertig on Saturday November 17, 2012 @11:40AM (#4798418)

I think that .io domains are popular for a few reasons, they are geeky "input/output" and they somewhat resemble a 10 (binary 2). Of course you mentioned the availability aspect which is huge. I personally own two.io (not sure what I'm going to do with that) so I may be biased :)

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Re:Ask HN: Are .io domain names a fad? by sixQuarks on Saturday November 17, 2012 @04:57PM (#4799097)

I think companies should stick with .com domains. They are the gold standard. That's just my opinion.

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Re:Ask HN: Are .io domain names a fad? by NatW on Saturday November 17, 2012 @12:20PM (#4798507)

drop.io probably started the trend. They were technical finalists at south by south west in 2007.

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