For several weeks, I’ve had an ongoing debate/argument with a friend looking to invest in very cheap, newly released gTLD, specifically a .sale one.
Note: I will mention what a gTLD is in a moment…
I keep trying to tell him that these things are not a wise investment for the reasons I will talk about shortly, but at the same time, I’ve been researching the history behind them to get a second look and possibly re-adjust my opinion.
I know that many of you reading this now have possibly also been in the same situation that I’m in as is my friend and are wondering if purchasing one of these lower tier domains is the right move. Perhaps you’ve received some sort of promotion from one or more registrars pushing them and how it’s the next big thing in domain names.
In any case, as I said, I’ve been doing a lot of research on this lately and I will admit, I have re-adjusted my position on them, but to anyone seeking to make a website in 2017 and beyond, my prediction, after making websites for 12 years is that you should stick to the more popular/widely used gTLDs as they have always been shown to offer the most results.
In short: The most traditional types of gTLDs are still the best ones to get.
But let’s start from the first and most important thing:
What is a gTLD?
Here is the meaning of it:
Now what exactly does that mean?
Well take any domain name, and the extension it has, and that represents the gTLD. So a .com, .net, .org (which are domain extensions) are examples of a gTLD. So in short, a gTLD is ANY known and sold domain extension out there.
There is a tiered system to gTLD’s and this is where it gets important:
Not every one of these extensions is looked at, priced or ranked in the same way on search engines. Some are considered to be better than others. For example:
The .com, .net, .org ones are considered to be at the top of this system (and thus more expensive to buy), and are also referred to as TLDs (just remove the generic word in the beginning) and they are the most popular because they are purchased most often by people looking to make websites and traditionally, these were and are still the most popular domain extensions you see today.
However, every few years, new domain extensions (gTLDs) are released by domain registrars like GoDaddy and other big names to try and “expand” people’s name buying options. For example:
Let’s say someone took my name and made it into a .com, a .net, and a .org. Now if I wanted to buy a website with my name in it, I’d either have to contact the person/s who purchased those domains and/or use the lower tier extensions and go from there.
I can also just choose to make a different name (for example Vitaliy1.com). But this is where things get interesting and confusing for people thinking about buying gTLD, and it is something I am about to clear up:
Important facts and experiments that make an argument for buying lower tier gTLDs:
1) If you are seeking to make a website, and have it rank on Google, the good news is that they have already said that they do not give extra points for the domain extension you use. This means, whether you buy a .com, or something like a .sale, the weight in terms of how well that site’s extension impacts rank is basically the same (here is the article), but this is a screenshot that proves it:
2) However, what is also true is that the number of second, third tier gTLDs is also being purchased on a very low level (for now) and the websites being made out of these domain extensions is very low, at least compared to the number of the top level extensions out there.
3) Although rank on things like Google vary on MANY types of ranking factors, having personally done various searches to test out the level of importance an extension plays, I will say, my experience has shown that so far the higher, more popular level extensions do rank better.
For example, I specifically did a search for a .sale extension and didn’t see a single one ranked on the first 5 pages of results from Google:
- Most of the results were .com pages.
- The others were .org pages.
- But not a single .sale on the first 5 pages.
Of course this may not necessarily prove that they don’t rank them, but more than likely that there’s no one making these sites yet or they aren’t on a big enough trust level to rank to rank on Google’s first page results (something I will comment on very shortly that is also pivotal).
4) I did do a URL search for my friend’s website and it is INDEXED on Google, though it’s rank as of now is very low. This certainly does provide evidence to the first point that Google indeed does not care about the extension your website uses:
5) I also ran another experiment where I did a search for websites in my area (NYC) with the extension .nyc.
In the first 5 pages, I saw 7 domains RANKED with that extension, while the others were mixed between the higher tiered ones.
Arguments and facts against lower tier gTLDs:
1) As of this time, the second, and lower tier ones are not being purchased as highly as domain registrars are pushing them. Sure they’re saying it’s going to be a good, cheap investment, but remember, they are the ones selling them so of course they want you to buy them.
But the argument here is that to this day, the highest level extensions are taken more seriously by people who buy them and I would argue people who visit those sites.
Think about 2 websites you visit:
- One being a .com
- And the other being, say a .guru.
Which would your eyes take more seriously?
I think the first extension would be treated with a more serious look, although that also is dependent on the type of content the said website has, which is going to be another argument.
When I think about potentially buying a domain name from someone, the FIRST extension on my mind is a .com. If I were given 2 websites to buy, 1 with a .com extension and another with say a .guru, and both charged me the same price, I’d 100% choose the .com.
It is a factor in my opinion on how people choose their purchases when it comes to domains a more known extension can actually raise the value of the site. See a $40,000 case study.
2) The internet in my opinion is being directed by certain companies, Google being one of the main ones, and if you look at how they look at websites, then you’ll know they don’t necessarily judge the site by it’s extension nearly as much as they judge it by it’s content and overall quality.
The argument here is that regardless of which extension you buy, they can ALL ultimately rise to being a highly lucrative website as there is large amounts of content on it.
This means that:
A .com with one page will simply not beat a .sale that has 100’s of pages on it, at least not in terms of it’s Google ranking. And you can also say the same thing if the .com had more content than the .sale site.
3) Provided all things are equal, I would argue that STILL, despite Google’s own words, if 2 websites have the same amount of content, comments and quality, the higher tier domain extensions like these will get that extra point in the rankings and the reason is because the more stable, popular and reputable extensions are still the go to ones used today.
This means if we took the same .com and .sale, put a 100 articles on each of them and had them compete on Google, I argue the .com would get more points in ranking and I also think the people viewing the sites would likely see the .com as more of an authority compared to the .sale page.
4) This is more of a speculation but there is an underlying paranoia I have about buying the lower tiered extensions as I honestly think they won’t rank as high and if I put in so much work on a lower tier domain, and then have it get outranked by a site with a higher tier extension, it would really destroy me. I would make the safer investment and just start my website off with a higher tier domain extension (and I will make a legitimate argument for that in a moment).
My final thoughts:
To really understand where new gTLDs are going and if they will be popular, you’ll just have to look at the history…
There was a time where the internet started with just .com’s and then eventually expanded into .net’s, org’s, .edu’s, and the other top tier extensions you see today. At one point those other extensions were also low tier and dismissed by many but overtime, grew to become top tier ones.
I believe the same will happen to all these new gTLDs being released, but it will depend a whole lot on the amount of people who buy them. But it is something that needs to be carefully done and the reason is this:
I believe that the more wide range of gTLDs that will be released over a short period of time will only lessen their quality and give weight to the existing, higher tiered ones. The more options people have, especially in this particular subject, the more likely (in my opinion) they will gravitate towards the more known extensions.
Why your domain extension choice is like choosing a stable currency:
I honestly look at all these extensions this way, where the top tier ones are basically the “gold standard” and the up and coming ones are still trying to get to that level.
While the opportunity is there for ALL gTLD’s to become a gold standard level extension, there still exist the top ones that have NOT lose their value over all these years and I believe the safe investment, thus, is with them and not with the new ones.
In addition, that argument is in regards to the extension alone, but as I said earlier, the internet is moving towards a content rich experience, where ultimately, regardless of the extension your website has, the content you have on the site is what TRULY matters. And frankly, it is the only logical way of seeing things.
Why give SO much extra weight to someone who just chooses “right” on their website extension? It would eliminate the need/incentive for people to create content in my opinion.
Ultimately though, in my opinion, having a “gold standard” extension and a high quality content site is what will determine the success of it.
I will also admit that my position on the lower tier extensions has loosened, but I will still advise either waiting for the others to rise in popularity/market value and/or to just forget about them and go with the existing top ones.
Interesting discussion on gTLDs. I was always told that Google doesn’t like the more generic extensions so I’ve always tried to pick the more mainstream .com or .org. I guess that wasn’t totally true, now that you say its more about content. This makes more sense and I think its more fair when it comes to which website should rank and which ones shouldn’t. It will be interesting to see what extensions become more popular in the future.
I think in the future, the focus will move away from which gTLDs are best and more into content, but for now, you’re right to stick with the most common ones.
Hi Vitaliy,
I understood all your arguments and your questions about gTLDs, but here is my question: You were trying to convince your friend to not invest in a gTLD. But I since there are so many arguments about them, aren’t they super cheap?
Even if your friend invested in few domains, isn’t the low price worth the analytical conclusion you can experience after buying and using them?
Thank for sharing and have a great day!
Hi Julien, the thing about buying domains is that it shouldn’t JUST be a matter of price, it should be other things such as:
How easily would the domain name be remembered? More mainstream gTLD’s are easier to remember.
Will it brandable? Anything works here.
How will it look to the viewer? A .com would look more professional.
And some more stuff, but domains in general are very cheap to buy nowadays. You’re talking about a $1 a year for none mainstream gTLDs vs about $10 a year for main ones and there’s just more positive aspects of buying the latter one, so for that price, it shouldn’t be an issue, stick with the main ones.
As I also said before, buying up a lot of domains really means nothing in the long run, unless they sound nice, the gTLD becomes popular and people want to purchase the name from you, but you’re taking a risk there in not knowing whether or not that will ever happen and/or waiting who knows how long for it to happen.
It’s really the content that makes the site, not really it’s name and the gTLD you use will impact the look of the website.
Great article Vitaliy! I have also found that there is quite a bit of controversy on the subject of lower-level gTLD’s, but like you I have my own personal experience with them.
I have had a unique experience – I have had a website with a .me extension that actually did quite well in the search engines, but what I did was include the .me in the *name* of the site (it was named with “Me” on the end). This worked well, and the domain was not something that would be copied or used by a .com because it would not have made sense.
But – generally speaking, I am right there with ya! I much prefer getting a .com (just to be on the safe side) than use a lower-level gTLD.
There is also the argument that if someone is building a site that he or she would possibly want to put up for sale later, a .com would most definitely be a better bet, due to the fact that people buying might be a bit more “squeamish” about purchasing a lower-level domain.
At any rate, I appreciate your article – I think that it can be quite helpful to people out there who are weighing the pros and cons of what type of domain to buy.
Great points Tonya and thank you for sharing your personal experience using a less popular gTLD yet still getting good results. Yet you also made a good point on the resale value of the domain should you choose to go that route. Indeed a .com will be worth more than a none .com! I did do an article once where I spoke about raising the resale value of a website and that was indeed one of my tips.
I completely agree about top level domains. I have branded several businesses and only one used a top tier .com. Most use either a free domain or a very cheap one no one wants types. The conception that the internet is getting crowded has always blown my mind. As a Systems Administrator and Cyber Security Expert, I find that the internet is extremely fast and is actually growing at a breakneck speed.
Yeah it has recently surpassed 3 billion in users and you can only imagine how many of those people are buying/making websites, and that includes buying domains. It will be interesting to see how if the gold standard of domains remains that way 5 years from now Brad.
Excellent Information. You make a good point, it does not matter really about the extension but the content is what counts. Very true.
I never though about how .net and .org used to be low tier extensions. Did they have .gov from the start? I was wondering because all the government websites like the DMV and Unemployment use .gov. I wonder if they used .com in the beginning.
I notice when I got my domain, they were selling all different kinds of extensions like .apple or .cheap. Really odd looking. Who knows maybe they will someday become top tier domain extensions. Thanks for the post bud!
-Johnny
I’m fairly certain .gov came out shortly after the .com extensions boomed and the names people wanted to take were already taken by those with the .com extensions, so adding a new layer over that, a .gov one really improved business for domain registrars since it would bring in a new number of clientele.
Hi Vitaliy,
You have answered one of my serious queries. Is it worth going for one of the new extensions? There are some amazing ones out there. They are often much more expensive than the standard .com though.
Maybe this is just a marketing ploy by the suppliers to get us to think they are more valuable. How much do people really use a URL to type in these days?
Surely this means that the domain name is more important than the domain extension? At least with a new gtld, you can get the domain name you want and sometimes get a cracking combination of name and extension, e.g. “Worldsbest.guru” (I have not checked if it is free.)
Like you, I am still undecided so I guess I am back to “.com” and “.co.uk”.
That’s the thing, it seems like all these uncertain roads on domain extensions lead people to make the safe investment and just go for a .com. You asked a good question about how often people type in URL’s vs finding them on Google or on other sites and the answer is I don’t know, but what I can safely tell you is that if you were to ask someone to memorize a domain name, it would be much easier for them to remember it if it had a .com extension, vs any other extension out there. That just further vindicates that gold standard argument I made.
Only because I am naturally a skeptic I probably wouldn’t invest in the any of the gltd’s you’ve named. Unless they become popular. I already pay attention to the gltd when searching sites. If it doesn’t say .com, .org, or .info, I don’t trust the site. Maybe if more search engines such as Google had more of them on there first pages I would have more trust in them.
That will likely be the trend, but I think it’ll be a few years before you see more of the unknown gTLD’s on the first pages of Google Jaime, but overall, you are part of a large audience which also distrusts the domain extension if it isn’t a common one, something that I personally believe has merit.
Interesting. I took for granted that a .com was best possible extension . I really did not think much about extensions but I am sure that content is what matters. If you make a lot of good quality content which people read, you will not have to worry about ranking. I have a site with a .com and .me extensions and both rank the same.
Well when you say they both rank the same, how much content is on both of them? And what keywords are they ranking for? Ultimately if you have enough content on both, the extension won’t matter, but I’m just curious.
Interesting article. One thing to consider is the age of the websites showing up in search results. Since the common TLDs have been around much longer, so more likely the site is as well. I also notice in my website stats that it is still common for people to be typing in .coms when searching.
And it will continue this way for at least 5-10 years in my opinion. People have just been trained to view .com websites as the ones that are “real”.
Hi Vitaliy, I have gone through many of your posts and they all have helped me a lot with building my site. I always thought one gets a higher ranking using the popular .com,.net, etc, but after reading your article I came to understand that whatever Gtld one decides to use doesn’t affect ranking. Thank you for this information. I can now go ahead and use the “.guru”.
It ultimately doesn’t, but if you can find a .com with the domain name you wish to use, I’d take that over the .guru.
So I have read your post and found it to be very educational and informative. I completely agree with this post and all of your opinions on these new and upcoming gTLD’s. I saw the facts you listed from Google saying how they judge websites and I’m sure this is true but as you said its not all about how Google judges these site. It also depends on how the viewer’s and customers judge these new gTLD’s.
I am a little curious as to the general price differences between these new gTLD’s and the current ones that we use such as my personal favorite the .com’s. Is there really that much a price difference that anyone is actually willing to chance these new gTLD’s instead of the old trusted ones we have came to know and appreciate?
A .com extension will typically cost you more initially and moving forward, depending on WHICH registrar you use, they may raise the price every year. GoDaddy does this which is why I moved a lot of my .com’s from there to Wealthy Affiliate, where the price does NOT get raised and I save money. If you buy a .com, it’s better to do it there.
But other none popular gTLD’s will sell for less, simply because their market value isn’t as high as a .com so yes you can get VERY cheap lower tier extensions right now, but do not let their cheap price lure you in, because as I said, if you buy them from certain top registrars, you may find yourself paying more for them OVERTIME than even for a .com.
Like I said, it’s better to buy a .com and from a registrar that won’t hold the extension “hostage” to price increases year after year, so if you’re planning on getting a .com, get it at Wealthy Affiliate. You can register for the main site for free, then buy/auto renew the domain from there.
Vitaliy,
Having set up a website a few months ago, I had to try different variations of what I wanted for a domain name. I ended up using “-” between each word since the .com or .org wasn’t available. It would have been nice to have additional options for a gTLD. However, you’ve put it extremely well, which TLD would my visitors trust more and it goes back to the old standards even if Google says otherwise. Someday there will be more recognized gTLDs, but I’m not brave enough or been online long enough to be comfortable with them. Thanks again for a great review. Martin
No problem Martin, although it’s not a matter of bravery. You are setting up what could possibly be a big business for you and you have every right to make the most rational pick at a domain extension as a result and if all evidence points to the gold standard gTLD’s being the best to choose, why wouldn’t you want to do this?
In regards to your current domain name having a dash in between the words, it’s not a big deal, but ideally, a domain name without these things is preferable in my experience as it looks more professional and has an easier time with branding (people remember the name and usually get annoyed by dashes).
But usually finding this “ideal” gTLD is tough and many times people resort to what you did. I often tell people NOT to dwell so much on the domain name they have to choose from and if none of the major options are available, then to go with another that meets that ideal criteria. People get too caught up on that “perfect” name that ironically, they limit themselves to in the end. As long as your domain name is simple and in a self explanatory way defines what your page is about, you’ll be fine.
I was a little confused on what a gTLD stood for. Thanks for clearing that up. I certainly do believe that sticking with the less obscure gTLD is better because they are more professional (I guess) and because it’s easier to find a domain with a .com on the URL search bar as opposed to a dot sale.
I understand that the gTLD doesn’t necessarily affect your rankings on Google because rankings are dependent on the content you produce. However, for personal and professional reasons a dot com or a dot org is definitely the better options for domain names.
Do you think it’s alright to purchase domain names with a gTLD relevant to a country such as the likes of dot Co, dot uk or would you just recommend to the stick with the broader gTLDs?
Good question, I know of a lot of country specific websites that pick out an extension that is exclusive to the country. I’d say, buy a more popular gTLD if you’re running a blogging website or any type of website for that matter.
If you own a local business that operates within a specific location (city, county), you can try to get a gTLD specific to that location, but ultimately, that site’s content is what will determine where it goes. So focus on that and also try to find a domain with a .com gTLD.
But the points you made about it being easier to type in a URL in the search bar with a more known gTLD is a big difference maker that further weighs in favor of buying the normal ones, or as you said, the professional ones.
Hi Vitality, I like how you explained about gTLDs in your post. Although one might like fancy extensions, that alone will not boost earnings. I believe sticking to the antique extensions is better for me. Two questions, first, how did you find out your friend website rankings? I don’t remember seeing it.
Next. Do you think one who has the time to add quality content to a website with a new extension should try out the new extension?
Hi Dorcas, I like the use of the word “antique” in regards to the most popular gTLD’s, it’s a good way of looking at it. Regarding your questions:
1) I took his domain name URL, put quotes around it and entered it into Google, and since it was indexed by that time, the site showed up. However, I did not type in ANY keyword because it doesn’t rank for anything yet, and that is because there is only one post and it’s also a duplicated post from another source in my understanding, which actually makes things worse for the site owner, but I digress, like I said, I simply entered the domain name into Google, but I also used quotes which gives me exact results based on my Google query.
2) I think I understand your question, but let me make sure: You’re asking if someone who gets started on a BRAND new site, who is also ready to commit to writing a lot of good content, if they should invest in an “antique extension” or one of the newer gTLD’s, correct?
Considering this is the context, I would say they should invest in the popular extensions, at least for the time being. While all evidence I’ve found points to newer gTLD’s having the same potential, again, there is much more GOOD history and evidence to suggest a traditional gTLD is just a better choice for now.
gTLD! That is a completely new word for me! I have ALWAYS thought of the .com’s and other more popular extensions as something that Google would rank higher! Maybe you are correct…we just don’t see the others simply because there are so many more .com’s out there!
It was also new to me to learn that Google does NOT offer favoritism to the gTLD’s versus the other, not-so-popular extensions!
In my next purchase, I will definitely consider less popular extensions after reading your article. Thank you!
My main point was that buying one of the lesser gTLD’s will not hurt your ranking, but you are still better off buying a .com because it’s popularity and marketability.
I have often considered less popular gltd’s for huge .com copycats and just linked the domain itself to an associated affiliate link. Do you think this is even a method worth considering or not?
So for instance the infamous “makemoneyonline” still has quite a few obscure domain extensions left. Would you advise buying any of them? If so what would you do with them, build a blog or just redirect the domain?
Not really Damo, this is a waste of money unless you plan on making the said gTLD a big site with lots of content, otherwise, the name itself will play no major role (I tried this before) in ranking and certainly NO ranking if it has no content and just affiliate links.
Hello, I am looking at your site and the first question I have is, how did you find out the rating of your friend’s website? I think that would be great knowledge to share with someone reading your content. I do like that you go into great detail explaining site extensions. I for one chose the com format for myself, I think the only reason I did is that it seems to be more recognized and I feel more people would trust my site. I am now 2nd guessing myself though because there are so many options nowadays. I think this is a great site, with a lot of insight and knowledge. Great job!!
When it comes to having so many choices, such as is the case with domain extensions, go with the most secure and popular ones, namely .com’s. regarding the question about my fiend’s website, there was no “rating”, I just looked up the domain name in Google and saw how it was ranked.
There was no actual rating on the site because it’s new, there’s no content on it, so there’s nothing to examine in terms of how it’s ranking on Google, because right now, there’s really too little to go by.
Interesting topic. I’ve always stuck with a .com and .org for my 2 other blogs personally, but the idea of using a different domain extension has crossed my mind from time to time.
My thinking though is by this point, a .com has become so ubiquitous for American audiences on the web that trying to come up with a different domain name just seems futile.
Obviously, I don’t have data to back my own assumptions up, but I guess I have to leave it to my gut to decide what is the best route.
As always, great article!
Michael
Hi Michael, there is data on this stuff and even without having to look too deep, you and I both know that .com’s are without a doubt the majority when it comes to gTLD purchases online. One only needs to look on Google, Bing and Yahoo to see this.
But no matter what trend that follows, I seriously doubt there will ever be a time (again) where certain gTLD’s are so obviously favored and others are not, the trend is just not going there, it’s going towards a content rich experience.
To play it safe, stick with the current extensions you’re using, until you see that website/domain buyers are moving to other domain extensions and those extensions are being actively ranked high on search engines.
Amazing! I find it fascinating to learn about the tiers of gTLD. I never thought that they would be a factor on how much traffic you can get. Like you said, Google does not care about the extension; It is more on the quality of your content, the leads, and the amount you contribute to others overall. I think a .com is a great investment, but so is .guru. Thank you for sharing this post, I’m glad I learned about gTLD’s.
They are not a factor in traffic potential, the content and keywords are. But I would still tell you to get a .com over a .guru.
This was an interesting page! I’ve learned a new ‘lingo’ word! (gTLD) I’m happy to know that the search engines aren’t putting more value on the regular .com’s. Websites should be about content and helping people.
I think that the main reason people would shy from unfamiliar extension is just because they are unfamiliar. We have heard too many horror stories about villain websites so there’s a fear that we need to clear up. People just need to learn how to be safe online and keep their info secure. Don’t you think?
Well in the past, it was common for people looking to scam to use cheap gTLD’s like .info’s and yes that is one of the reasons in the past why .com’s and the other main TLD’s developed a more secure reputation, but nowadays, it’s not like this, because the people who used those cheap extensions destroyed their website, not because of the gTLD they used but because of the horrible content they produced on the website, including using black hat tactics and through Google’s own algorithm, they lost.
Nowadays this is not the case, but at the same time, the confidence aspect of having a .com still overvalues the lower tier extensions, which is why I still recommend people use them.
In my mind the gold standard has always been a site with a .com domain. Before reading this article, I had no idea what a gTLD was but now this makes perfect sense. I don’t see the top tier extension possibilities depleting any time soon, but I can’t help but wonder if it would be prudent to purchase a lower level/generic TLD in the same name as your .com site in order to insure your corner of that market…keeping someone say with a .sale site with your same name from taking some of your traffic.
There’s many people who suggest this course of action Susanne in hopes that they can “monopolize” on a name brand. But I can assure you, this is probably not a smart move unless you own a really successful name brand and have a lot of money, because the fact is, even if someone buys a gTLD with your brand name or the same site name you use, ultimately the content they have on the site will determine if it’ll ever be a problem to you and your website’s rankings. But in my experience, this is an extreme rarity and not an issue I’d worry about.
Another thing to consider in favor of my argument is that people who can’t buy the domain they want simply either try to buy it with another extension and if that’s not available, then they start to add letters or numbers to the name to buy that.
With that in mind, you simply cannot afford to buy every single possible domain extension out there with all the different name possibilities. It’s just a waste of money. Stick to your own domain and build it out as best as you can, I assure you that you will not have to worry about a competitor website with the same name beating you, not if you keep producing content.
I wonder, is it just about how Google ranks the site, or does it also have something to do with the leve of trust a person has in a gTLD? I would think that all other things being equal, if I choose a popular topic, say bicycles, and Google presents me with two websites, both equally ranked, but one is .com and the other is .sale, I would gravitate toward .com all other things being equal. It seems to me that if I’m purchasing a product, whether it is a physical product or just information, I want to have the best, and the best to me still sounds like .com.
A .com certainly carries more perceived value in people’s minds since they have been around for so long, but in the event you are specifying, it is unlikely the person browsing who sees the “equal” sites will care whether one is a .com and the other a .sale, what they will see is the results Google gives them which is a title for an article and a short snippet, and the title/snippet which carries the most eye catching stuff will earn the click.
But you have to understand, with the exception of the perceived though on .com’s I talked about, there is NEVER actually going to be an event where there’s 2 identical sites. If this were the case, one would be a duplicate of the other and would get de-indexed by Google.
Even if you have 2 sites, a .com and a .sale and they both have 100 posts, the same theme, they will still NOT have the same content and its ultimately the content which will determine their rankings. At that point, the gTLD will impact the rankings of either site very minimally. I did note above an event in which there were more similar factors between 2 sites and that a .com would give the site more favor, but it still would be VERY little. A gTLD is simply not as big of a deal as it’s rumored to be and the rumors come from registrars who are just looking to sell them as I said above…
This is quite interesting and as the internet inevitably gets more and more crowded all the half decent .com and .net sites will be used up and people will have to use the lower tier ones. Despite this I personally think that while you can still get even half decent .com sites we should take them as they will be worth a ton in the future when they are used up.
This is a major misconception Abe, .com’s are not scarce at all, it’s people who want to buy a specific, obvious name for their domain have a top tier gTLD attached to it that run into issues, so they assume there isn’t enough “space” to buy the gTLD they want.
Even though brand names are important, I honestly think it’s a minor obstacle if the specific domain name you want is taken, what’s so hard about finding a new name? There’s literally endless possibilities that way and all you have to do is not be so stubborn on wanting a specific domain name.