If you do think differently of startups with whose domains end in something other than ".com" what are your reasons? Of the more popular TLDs, which ones seem the MOST legitimate (which are the "least bad")?
Yes, alternative TLDs are cool for us nerds, but it's horrible for any startup in the consumer internet space. Most "regular" people are not familiar or comfortable using them. More often than not, people will meet you with a blank stare when you tell them your website is example.io.
I once spoke with the founders of Vol.ly (since acquired) and they said their name choice was a nightmare. Their company was pronounced Volly, but every time they would have to take time to explain their domain was v-o-l dot l-y. This is annoying for the founders and instantly forgotten by the user.
There's a reason why most startups that begin with non-.com domains eventually switch if they gain enough traction.
All that being said, I don't think it's logical to purchase an expensive .com before your company proves its success (or raises an absurd amount of money). Take your time, and get creative to find a workable .com, or get a domain that will still make sense if you ever want to purchase the .com. For example, served.io (no disrespect to them) could never change to servedio.com.
However, if your not in the consumer space, then I think alternative TLDs are a much more viable option. You're not depending on eyeballs for your startup's success. And if your target market is technology folk, it's even better.
Being an SEO/SEM guy for years, I was worried about Google snubbing a .io domain in SERPs. In the two weeks that the new site has been online, we've floated up from page 50+ to about page 5 for our most-targeted keyword phrase (QR code platform).
You do lose the ability to tell Google that it a US-targeted domain in Google Webmaster Tools like you can for non-country TLDs.
We went with it because data payloads of QR codes can be quite small (especially in MicroQR codes) and every character saved is potentially an exponential gain where it comes to unique identifiers in a URL shortener.
I registered: C.GG a few years ago because i wanted to make my own shortener that would be very easy and fast to type on the keyboard (letter C and G are conveniently on the left side of keyboard, and dot on the right). But never got to use it though yet.
Each one has it's own reason!
Gleb
Bingo. Such novelty domains can be a dog to promote via any non-clickable medium.
On my whim in March last year, we went and created http://getlocalne.ws
In the early days, getting the word out about it was like a chore (and a half). Shortly after launch, a local newspaper, a popular magazine and a national TV channel here all wanted to cover it. Between them, I remember confirming and re-confirming the domain/URL about a dozen times ! :)
Even during and in the immediate aftermath of all that coverage, the traffic was hardly anything to write home about - peaking to just about 1500 per day, slowly tapering off to stabilize at around 250 or so. I attribute this low impact to the facts that 1) the domain is not a .com and 2) all 3 media that covered it were non-clickable.
Interestingly, once the search/social and other online sources started kicking in, the traffic levels started rising steadily, almost week-on-week (presently at about 5k/day).
I'd say most domain extensions other than .com, .net, .org (and .edu, .mil, .gov) would fall under either ccTLD (country-code TLDs) or vanity domain categories.
If memory serves me right, the first creative use of such a domain that achieved good visibility and large-scale commercial success was del.icio.us, or am I missing any others before that?
If you're targeting the masses, and marketing in print, then you need something more obvious which is easy to phonetically speak.
Having said that, I've seen some awful "dot-coms" read out on TV ads and radio ads over the years...
Even .info (that was considered to be spammy some years ago, don't know now) can offer some great ones. A throw-away reg fee of $1 to $2 (first year) makes it all the more attractive. :)