Some of the "new" generic top-level domains sound ridiculous. There’s .pink, there's .monster, and there’s .sucks. Then there’s a really stupid one - .xyz. It's just three letters at the end of the alphabet; it has no meaning. It is said that there are over 1,500 TLDs and basically, any word can be a TLD nowadays. But why do all the spam seem to come from .xyz and other new domains, rather than from forerunner gTLDs such as .com, .net, or org? Aren’t most domains ending in .xyz spam? As a user, have you ever taken any .xyz websites seriously?
How Reliable Are .xyz Websites?
There’s nothing wrong with the top-level domain .xyz itself. abc.xyz is a website for Alphabet Inc., a company owned by Google’s founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin. So of course, reliability is irrelevant to any particular TLD.
According to the publication by Google back in 2015 that new TLDs are not treated differently from other gTLDs (such as .com and .org) and do not have any advantages or disadvantages in their search results. (Google's handling of new top-level domains)
Are New gTLDs Any Useful?
New Generic TLDs ("generic" as opposed to country-specific TLDs such as .uk, .ca) certainly make it easy for us when choosing domain names.
For example, if you want to create an LGBTQ rights-related website, stophomophobia.com is already taken.
Instead of coming up with a longer URL that you don’t really want (e.g. stophomophobiaeverybody.com) you can go for stophomophobia.lgbt, which is available. It’s easy, simple, and users will know exactly what the site is about.
With this particular example, stophomophobia.com is taken by someone else but the actual website doesn’t exist. The domain is currently parked and for sale for $2,695, not exactly affordable for an individual, is it? So if you start building a good informative site stophomophobia.lgbt now, whoever buys stophomophobia.com in the future may always be running behind you in the race.
When Are New gTLDs Not Useful?
On the other hand, the use of a new gTLD instead of .com does not always work in your favor. Particularly if the same domain name +com already exists.
For example, you want to name your website “Pride Shack” for some reason, but prideshack.com already exists. It’s an awesome online store that sells LGBTQ+ pride merchandise worldwide. If you created a site prideshack.xyz, your site would not only confuse the existing Pride Shack customers/audience, but because Pride Shack says the name is a registered trademark, you could get yourself into trouble for it. You would definitely be at risk if you foolishly chose to copy the name of a large company, such as amazon.digital, buzzfeed.store, etc.
Cheap TLDs Are Targeted
According to NameStat.org, .xyz is both the biggest-selling and fastest growing generic TLD as of February 2022.
Spammers, scammers, and any of those who create a website with dishonest motives purchase a domain with the lowest price range. Some of the generic TLDs including .xyz, .info, .store, etc, are available for as low as $1 per year.
In many cases, discount prices are applicable only for the first year, and the regular price will apply at the renewal date, e.g. $10+ a year. But spammers/scammers have no intention of keeping it for that long, anyway. Their sites are likely to be forced to shut down within a few months or less, so there’s no point in spending more than a few dollars for the domain.
Choose Your TLD Wisely
So when it comes to a domain name for your new website, we know it’s perfectly fine to pick one of any new TLDs. Domains ending .xyz are NOT necessarily spam. But knowing that cheap domains are prone to spam, and they are often misconstrued as spam by many users...would you really choose one of them just to save a few dollars a year?
Some of the TLDs are good though, for example .accountant, .tech, .art can instantly suggest what the site is all about, but come on. What goes with .xyz, apart from abc and perhaps uvw? You might want to consider your TLD wisely when choosing a domain.
