The .UK revolution

[jmcc]

Yes, there are lots of unknowns. I would guess in a year to 18 months we should have a good feel of where we're headed with .uk!

It would be best to plan for at least a three year hold on domain names. Normally, it can take five years before a new TLD stabilises in terms of development and registration patterns but the third year is where a lot of the highly speculative registrations have been cleaned out. There will be a Junk Dump around this time next year of domain names that couldn't be sold or developed. It always happens. But there are ongoing deletions as the .UK has been around since 2014. I'd have to do a few queries on the databases to see which ones were deleting but some of the domain names in the 01 July zone were on deletion/renewal nameservers.

Regards...jmcc

 

[cloud]

I'd really like to put some useful information onto switchedto.uk for people that are starting new companies/websites to convince them that .UK is the way to go. At the moment this is all I've got:

"We believe that .CO.UK has had it’s day - we’ve now got a more concise and shorter alternative and that’s .UK!"

Whilst everyone may not agree, I stand by that statement, I really do think that .UK is better than .CO.UK and should be switched to in the future. Most companies were on the ball enough to register their .UK and I think that .CO.UK is old hat, so if you can persuade new companies to use .UK to make it fashionable, then I reckon it's a worthy cause to get others to move to it. Even if it's just to make it so that we don't all have to hold onto and pay for two domains forever... .CO.UK needs to become the new .ORG.UK and die.

Can anyone think of anything else that I can put on there that would persuade new companies/websites to choose .UK instead of .CO.UK? I'm looking for things that people will be considering and that they may find important when they're launching a UK website. Maybe drawing some comparisons to .CO.UK might be useful... eg .UK is just as good as .CO.UK from an SEO perspective (I have no proof for that at this point, but if you do, please let me know!)?

I need some inspiration and you lot seem like the right people to ask.

 

[Alien]

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/why-your-business-needs-a-uk-domain

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technol...-is-first-Briton-to-switch-to-.uk-domain.html

(Negative) https://econsultancy.com/seven-reasons-why-uk-domains-are-a-bad-idea/

https://econsultancy.com/nominet-explains-the-reasons-for-uk-domains/

@Jiblob

 

[newguy]

To be honest, based on what you've said there it makes the reason behind the site seem extremely shady, when I thought it was built to provide a useful information site.

You've basically just said your website is purely a propaganda website.

Currently your cause seems to be that you simply don't like .co.uk extensions and are struggling to find any good or valid reason why, and need other people to try and give some good reasons for you to use.

Very dodgy if you ask me.

Regardless of a view on .uk , some sites will be switching to it. As a matter of interest I can see why a site detailing sites that have switched could be useful.

 

[cloud]

To be honest, based on what you've said there it makes the reason behind the site seem extremely shady, when I thought it was built to provide a useful information site.

You've basically just said your website is purely a propaganda website.

Currently your cause seems to be that you simply don't like .co.uk extensions and are struggling to find any good or valid reason why, and need other people to try and give some good reasons for you to use.

Very dodgy if you ask me.

I would agree if there was much in it for me, but there really isn't a lot. I own more .CO.UK names than .UK. The site is intended to be a completely honest, informative resource and I have asked these questions in good faith. I don't want to put some bs on there that isn't true - hence consulting the community.

My honest belief is:

a) We shouldn't all have to pay twice to Nominet for domains just because one is popular now and the other one is better but no one uses them yet.
b) .UK really looks better, cleaner, less confusing

...and it's perfectly OK to say that and endorse it.

What I don't want to do is to endorse something that isn't true. It needs to be factually correct and useful as a means to say ".UK is OK, you know?"

I hope that's OK!

 

[Alien]

I would agree if there was much in it for me, but there really isn't a lot. I own more .CO.UK names than .UK. The site is intended to be a completely honest, informative resource and I have asked these questions in good faith. I don't want to put some bs on there that isn't true - hence consulting the community.

My honest belief is:

a) We shouldn't all have to pay twice to Nominet for domains just because one is popular now and the other one is better but no one uses them yet.
b) .UK really looks better, cleaner, less confusing

...and it's perfectly OK to say that and endorse it.

What I don't want to do is to endorse something that isn't true. It needs to be factually correct and useful as a means to say ".UK is OK, you know?"

I hope that's OK!

It's your site - you are entitled to say what you like.

 

[cloud]

https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/why-your-business-needs-a-uk-domain

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technol...-is-first-Briton-to-switch-to-.uk-domain.html

(Negative) https://econsultancy.com/seven-reasons-why-uk-domains-are-a-bad-idea/

https://econsultancy.com/nominet-explains-the-reasons-for-uk-domains/

@Jiblob

Thank you for the informative posts, maybe something that's not paid for by Nominet in there lol

It's your site - you are entitled to say what you like.

Thank you .

@Trauiner I welcome the criticism and respect the vehement skepticism.

Thanks for the comments.

 

[jmcc]

I'd really like to put some useful information onto switchedto.uk for people that are starting new companies/websites to convince them that .UK is the way to go. At the moment this is all I've got:

"We believe that .CO.UK has had it’s day - we’ve now got a more concise and shorter alternative and that’s .UK!"

Too many words. It is also saying that if the visitor has a .CO.UK domain, then their domain name is out of date. That would immediately put some people on the defensive.

It might be better to use a simple question as a hook. "Where are you?"

It gets the visitor thinking and then, mention the .UK. You are selling the benefits of the .UK rather than disadvantages of the .CO.UK.

With a website, there's only a few seconds to make an impression on the user. A question is one of the best ways of doing it.

Regards...jmcc

 

[domainscot]

That's understandable, just as BBC.co.uk will soon direct to .com . I can't imagine many sites ever redirecting from .uk to .co.uk though , only the other way around.

Yep thew BBC is doing the correct thing by moving over to .com.
The carry on with .co.uk and .UK basically killed the name space and downgraded the brand. The confusion this is going to create over the years will be worse that companys will move over to .com to protect there business.

Basically the .UK should have been handed over to all .co.uk owners for free. But greed played a big part in this thats why dont rate the .co.uk name space any longer. Dont get me wrong still have a few .co.uk domains and did register some .UK. Do think when the disputes start happening when .UK gos after a .Co.UK and wind the domain. Thats when the real issues will be start to fold. Just think you registered the .co.uk for last 20 years and then someother person buys the .UK then says I have trademark on that name can you hand over the .Co.uk or else we due.

Fun Fun Fun.

Thats when negligence starts to happen who to blame for this.

 

[newguy]

Yep thew BBC is doing the correct thing by moving over to .com.
The carry on with .co.uk and .UK basically killed the name space and downgraded the brand. The confusion this is going to create over the years will be worse that companys will move over to .com to protect there business.

Basically the .UK should have been handed over to all .co.uk owners for free. But greed played a big part in this thats why dont rate the .co.uk name space any longer. Dont get me wrong still have a few .co.uk domains and did register some .UK. Do think when the disputes start happening when .UK gos after a .Co.UK and wind the domain. Thats when the real issues will be start to fold. Just think you registered the .co.uk for last 20 years and then someother person buys the .UK then says I have trademark on that name can you hand over the .Co.uk or else we due.

Fun Fun Fun.

Thats when negligence starts to happen who to blame for this.

I do agree that it's become complicated. In many cases a different company owns the .co.uk than the .com , so for companies that didn't register .uk and find that they may need or want it, they may find themselves in a tough spot. And as you say, if a site becomes established at .uk, that could also pose problems for a .co.uk owner that didn't previously exist

 

[3gmedia]

I do agree that it's become complicated. In many cases a different company owns the .co.uk than the .com , so for companies that didn't register .uk and find that they may need or want it, they may find themselves in a tough spot. And as you say, if a site becomes established at .uk, that could also pose problems for a .co.uk owner that didn't previously exist

The .co.uk owners have had 5 years to register the .uk with nominet emails as well.

I would say that's a strong and valid argument if ever you go to DRS

Maybe somebody on here with legal knowledge could enlighten me.

 

[newguy]

The .co.uk owners have had 5 years to register the .uk with nominet emails as well.

I would say that's a strong and valid argument if ever you go to DRS

Maybe somebody on here with legal knowledge could enlighten me.

That's a good point. Also, most of the domains that people have their eye on currently are very generic in nature, and so I wouldn't think there will be many issues there. The place name that seems being mentioned with regard to 'passing off' has nothing to worry about in my view for instance.

 

[Nigel]

Can you imagine the furore if a Nominet DRS expert handed over a .uk domain containing a commonly used word or geographical term to the .co.uk owner, for no other reason except that the .co.uk owner had an existing site up and running. I can't see it happening - DRS decisions seem to be fairly consistent these days - and it is nominet, after all, who opened up the .uk extension for the sole reason that .uk domains be registered even if the .co.uk is owned and used by someone else.

 

[diablo]

Can you imagine the furore if a Nominet DRS expert handed over a .uk domain containing a commonly used word or geographical term to the .co.uk owner, for no other reason except that the .co.uk owner had an existing site up and running. I can't see it happening - DRS decisions seem to be fairly consistent these days - and it is nominet, after all, who opened up the .uk extension for the sole reason that .uk domains be registered even if the .co.uk is owned and used by someone else.

Agreed.

Until very recently, the RoR gave the impression that the .co.uk and .uk were somehow linked and this was reinforced by those insisting both had to be sold together, etc.,

It is clear now that .co.uk and .uk are as distinct as .co.uk and .me.uk and that's how they will be treated at DRS. Any right the .co.uk registrant had expired when they did not exercise RoR.

 

[Reddy]

One of the criteria for a DRS to be successful is it must be shown to be an abusive registration.

One factor which Nominet lists to show the registration is not abusive is:

- The domain name is generic or descriptive and is being used fairly.

 

[jmcc]

The .UK as it was in the survey of 01 July 2019 .UK domain names (2,105,158)

Content: 2.02%
No content: 42.45%
Templated content: 10.52% (PPC, sales, affiliates)
Redirects: 13.68%
No Site Response: 31.32%

There are 23 different categories of usage in this survey so I've simplified it a bit.

Other interesting data:
HTTPS redirects: 1.54%
Sales: 2.23%
Matched domain name redirects:

Top ten matched TLD redirects (redirects to sites with the same domain name stub in other TLDs): 8.89%

.co.uk 167,249
.com 12,869
.org.uk 3,977
.org 546
.net 505
.eu 382
.me.uk 320
.de 277
.co 207
.nl 176

Still working on some parsers and code.

Regards...jmcc

 

[cloud]

I honestly believe that there are plenty of .UK sites to be discovered that I can't discover through Google alone. I found https://dg.uk today. A real company, a fantastic domain looking great on a .UK.

I've updated the list on https://switchedto.uk with the latest sales and some more .UK switchers.

 

[jmcc]

I honestly believe that there are plenty of .UK sites to be discovered that I can't discover through Google alone. I found https://dg.uk today. A real company, a fantastic domain looking great on a .UK.

Google is flawed when it comes to generally detecting new websites. This is because it primarily relies upon following links to detect new sites. With the propaganda about "bad" links and SEO, new sites don't have many inbound links. Google murdered many of the web directories and these would have been, after links from friends and family owned sites, the first major links that many sites would have gained. Many ccTLDs no longer publish their zonefiles or new registrations. That makes things more difficult for search engines to detect new sites.

Regards...jmcc

 

[jmcc]

I think you're pulling at straws with some of the domains. It seem like you're struggling to find any decent sized companies that have made the switch?

Doing it manually is almost impossible as it depends on search engines to detect these sites first. It is possible to automate the process but it involves checking at least the entire .UK ccTLD's non-.UK domain names and websites. That's approximately 9.5 million or so domain names.

Regards...jmcc

 

[jmcc]

I agree but you wouldn't need scan 9.5 million domains. You only want to focus on 'big' or 'meaningful' companies that are changing though.

It would be easier to check all of them and see which of them are forwarding to a .UK. The other aspect of surveying the remaining 9.3M or so is that it would provide some insights on the state of the .UK ccTLD and how domain names are being used. Most domain names in a ccTLD will be unused or on holding/PPC/sales. These can be excluded easily. Checking which sites redirect is part of the process. Ther number of actively developed .UK sites is still quite low as it is still relatively new. Detecting sites that are redirecting to a .UK is a bit different to detecting new .UK websites. Using a tool to detect the top 20K UK sites limits the view to those sites. The top sites rarely change that quickly because many of them have invested in SEO. The ones that do change are often small business and personal sites. These are the ones to watch with a new TLD launch. They decide whether it is a success or a failure.

Regards...jmcc