A recent discussion on using short URLs prompted me to consider registering a short URL for various redirecting purposes. I wanted to see if there were any usable .US domains left so I started trying out different names. Since I had some time to kill and don’t really have an automated way to search, I just started typing in names I thought would be interesting. Obviously, they needed to be short and common words – no brand names. Also, it was apparent that the really cool names would be taken, but I wanted to see them anyway. What I discovered just made me shake my head in disgust. It’s probably no surprise that a lot of good domain names are snatched up and used by cyber squatters, but what really got me was how many good names were used for nothing worthwhile.
Among the many URLs I tried, only seo.us, save.us, call.us and shiras.us seemed to be legitimate uses of common .US domains. The majority of them were pointing to domain parking sites or were similarly wasted on cheap ad revenue sites. Some were just blank or simply could not be found at all (yet they were registered).
Obviously these sites are hoping to cash in on the domain name in some way, either by direct entry (like I did) or someone wanting to buy the domain (at a profit), but there has got to be a better use for those domain names. Some of them are quite good names with lots of potential but are being squandered on domain parking. How much revenue does that actually make? Couldn’t you develop a half decent site and earn even more with real advertisers or even generic banner ads? Are these missed link juice opportunities or is this the best use of domains?
I guess there are two points to this post:
- [RANT] I hate seeing good domain names being wasted on stupid sites
- [QUESTION] What is the best use of an unused domain name (projects that never developed or ended or just fell through)?
