Are domain names a passing fad?
October 24th, 2012 | Filed under: Notes, Web Design | Add a Comment »In a world with ubiquitous, everywhere-search, massive aggregation, and ever-increasing integration of digital and physical, is it only a matter of time before “www._______.com” becomes as useful as a friend’s home address — something you look up occasionally to get directions or share with another, but in general, out of sight & mind?
I ask because of the 2014 Winter Olympics’ decision to call their games “Sochi.ru” … surely anyone searching “Sochi” around the time of the games in two years will find themselves at hubs of information about the games?
So, for mega-brands, do we really need “.com” anymore? Honestly, for anything with a unique name, why are we so concerned about pointing people exactly to its precise address. If I had a brand called Mildeux, couldn’t I just put up “Mildeux” ads and trust that if the ads were good enough, people would enter Mildeux into search?
Just something to think about.