Warnings About Alternative TLDs

If the domain name you want is just not available, there are a number of alternatives. Of course, the first alternative is to see if your name is available in one of the many other TLDs. There are a number of alternatives that may not be in your best interests though:

Sub Domains

As you may have seen elsewhere in the Domain Guide, it is possible with the right configuration to set up an essentially infinite number of sub domains for any given domain name. Thus, for example, you can make the sub domains:

news.mylonganddulldomainname.com
weather.mylonganddulldomainname.com
sport.mylonganddulldomainname.com

These all use “mylonganddulldomainname.com” as the starting point.

Now, you probably wouldn’t expect to be charged for “news.mylonganddulldomainname.com” – in fact, in this case you probably wouldn’t even use this domain if it was handed to you for free!

Yet there are a lot of companies in the business of selling “alternative” domain names, which are nothing more than sub domains of a single higher-level domain name. Sometimes the companies selling these types of domains don’t go out of their way to explain their origins.

While such domain names could be lucrative, they are not ICANN accredited domain names. Because they are not added into the central database as unique Registries, check into the company before buying such domains. If the company is unstable and they go out of business, you could easily lose your domain. If anything, make sure the name comes from an accredited Registrar who has a solid business foundation.

Unreachable (Alternative) TLDs

Here’s where the domain name picture starts to get really blurred!

Up until here, all the top-level domains (or sub-domains) have some official basis for their validity. But you’ll find a few uninvited guests at the domain name party – and like many uninvited guests, a few contortions are required to get entry.

Basically, the fundamental difference between alternative domains and regular domains is that they are NOT recognized at the Root DNS level. The mapping of domain names to IP addresses (which allows you to type in “Microsoft.com” into your browser yet have your computer – which speaks only numbers – communicate with Microsoft’s servers) is done by a number of large servers scattered around the world. If a domain name is in the Root DNS servers, it will resolve (that is, it can be translated into its IP address and therefore you can find the site). These Root DNS servers essentially act like dictionaries for domain names, translating them from text into numbers.

Some companies are selling domain names with TLDs that are not officially recognized by ICANN and hence they’re not allowed into the domain name dictionary, the Root DNS files. Just like you’ll be stuck if you look up a word in a dictionary and find it missing, browsers will be stuck trying to make sense of such domain names and you will be unable to connect to the site you’re trying to visit.

Unless…

Yes, there had to be an “unless” otherwise the names would be an impossible concept rather than just an improbable one! The get-around in this case is that IF your ISP has installed some special software OR if you go to the company’s site and download some special software. In either of these cases, you’ll be able to reach those domain names!

In practice, this means that the alternative domain names are a class of domains that are only accessible to a fraction of the Web population. In the past, such companies (like AfterNIC and new.net, for example) have forged some partnerships with pretty large companies, but at this point, 99% of the online population can not resolve these domain names – and hence cannot visit those sites.

The attraction is that you suddenly have a whole swathe of new domain extensions, from .agent through .chat to .video, to play with. However, the very strong downside is that it puts your domain name off-limits to the majority of the web population, not to mention the fact that since these domains are not officially sanctioned top domains, they are at the mercy of the solvency of these ‘shady’ companies.

Every domain Registrar reviewed or listed here is an ICANN accredited Registrar…no need to worry about the problem if you use iGoldrush as your starting point.

Domain Search Tools

If you’re still having a difficult time finding a good domain name, try DomainIt’s domain name suggestion tool or look through the list of domain search tools on this site. While you still may not be able to get the exact name you wanted, you’ll likely find several suitable alternatives