Using Domains from "Bad" Countries

[AmCan]

with all the various country domains that are being used by webmasters/companies around the world, i'm wondering if political beliefs, cultural and recent news affect how people view domains. i know i'm always leery of unknown sites from places such as china and russia.

So does the recent attempted terrorist attack on an airliner affect the way you feel about domains from the countries on the US list for increased security on US bound flights?

these are the countries:
Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen

I'm also curious if Americans will feel different than the rest of the folks here.

[Betpartners]

Damn fine question

Never thought about it because i have never been in a position to think about it so cant really answer categorically.

First reaction would be, no the domain extension would not bother me, if i started with not using domains because of the extension what would be next?

Maybe never touch Cuban cigars or Pakistani curries (which i love btw), dont watch films if one of the stars was born in Syria, dont support my football team because it has an Iraqi striker and so on.

Once you go down the boycott road its hard to stop.

That said maybe if boycotts on these countries goods would ensure their governments were more responsive to security issues.

So yeah tricky question and a very good one, thought provoking.

Edit: In relation to would Americans feel differently at this time you have to think yes they would because what happened recently is still raw, but the British would have felt differently be assured after the July 7 bus bombings in London, Spanish after Madrid March 11th, Australians in Bali/Indonesia and so on.

[universal4]

Wow, interesting topic....

I hadn't thought about it much, but I do tend to be a little more careful when visiting some unknown domains when certain extensions exist.

Rick
Universal4

[RayUK]

I probably wouldn't buy domains with those countries ccTLDs but not because those countries are 'rogue', but more because I wouldn't be targeting those countries for traffic.

[AmCan]

I appreciate the comments, but please vote too!

i agree with the "unless i'm targeting that country" statement. but then i think .tv, it's Tuvalu, but used by a lot TV/video oriented I've also seen .AT (austria) and .me (montenegro) used for marketing to english speakers.

Frankly i don't think most people think about where a domain "comes from". I doubt that most people going to a .tv site know of tuvalu.

[RayUK]

Yes, I have seen those ccTLDs used (.at, .me, .tv) and I might use them in the future - but they weren't on your rogue list.

Now if Tuvalu launched a terrorist campaign aimed at somewhere I would probably not give up any .tv domains I had, depending on whether the organization promoting the terrorism actually benefited from my domain fees.

Hope that made sense. The rest of this post probably won't.

The problem is that the vast majority of, say, ordinary Libyans are just people like me trying to get along. The real problem is a minority of people in those countries (usually also the governments - which to me says more about the nature of government itself than the nature of any peoples who happen to live elsewhere). Goods boycotts (of which a ccTLD boycott is a form) usually only harm the ordinary people who I don't have any beef with. The promoters of terrorism (or whatever) in charge won't be harmed generally by the slowing down of any trade. They have the guns to make sure they are fine thank you very much.

However I do realise that the domain fees from ccTLDs usually go to the state apparatus and thus this is different to other forms of boycott.

JMO

[Doolally]

Great question!

I'd buy international domains without too many worries if I thought they were useful. I've never really considered domains from rogue countries before but if I thought they'd be useful then I don't think I'd have a problem.

[Anthony]

Cuba, Iran, Sudan and Syria, Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen

If I wasn't targeting those markets I wouldn't purchase those domains.

But if I was marketing something that had an audience in those countries, I would. I don't see them as "Bad".

I agree. I don't think people view .tv as Tuvalu, they associate it with TV and video. People are just looking for the best marketing angle.

[Muppet]

Oddest post ever. I don't see how that has anything to do with the purchase of domains. It is nonsensical. Just because someone who does something bad comes from a certain country does not make the entire country "rogue". Wtf does that even mean?

I am struggling to think of a more "unfriendly" country on earth than the USA based on the actions of its government in recent years (maybe North Korea? curiously not on your list AmCan). Should you stop purchasing .coms or .us domains because of this? If anyone here thinks one idiot trying to blow up a plane is reason enough to blackban an entire country, then please PM me and we'll work out a price for all your .com domains because I'm sure you wouldn't want to be thought of as a hypocrite.

As for me I would not be in a hurry to purchase domains from these countries for more sane reasons - I don't speak the language, I am largely ignorant of their business culture, I don't know their gambling laws, and frankly most are relatively poor economically. If I could think of some awesome recognisable english domain that ended with a .pk or something then I'd go for it. Why not, apart from the fact that most of those weird domains like del.icio.us are crap?

One thing I have most certainly learned in my travels is that people are people wherever you go and almost everyone just wants to live a happy and peaceful life with their family and friends. Something we should all remember before swallowing the "rogue state, axis of evil" fear-mongering crap fed to us in recent years (wherever you may live) in order to justify a disgusting war or two.

[AmCan]

I'm surprised at the shock and anger displayed by folks in reaction to a simple poll.

Oddest post ever. I don't see how that has anything to do with the purchase of domains. It is nonsensical. Just because someone who does something bad comes from a certain country does not make the entire country "rogue". Wtf does that even mean?

Sorry it's too shocking and upsetting for you to comprehend Muppett, but most people in business choose the products they sell, the brands they promote and the people they do business with based on some criteria.

In our business i hear people repeatedly say "i won't promote....." insert, 888, RTG, OnGame, etc. as the brand that people don't want to be associated with it. People are screaming in another thread about whether people should go to a conference because warren may still own a piece, etc. You know, people making decisions based on reputation, the SAME point of the poll's question.

It's a pretty simple question, a pretty simple poll: does the reputation/label/etc of behind the country that owns the TLD, affect people's behavior.

So far from the votes it sure looks like it does.

[Muppet]

Relax AmCan, I don't know what country you are from but I am guessing the USA based on your response? I am sorry if you are and it offended you, but do you think your strange poll might be considered offensive by people from the countries you cited? You asked how we felt and I gave you my answer - don't be upset if it's not what you want to hear.

I'm a pretty easy-going guy, not from any of those countries. I am neither shocked nor angered, I just find your line of thinking bizarre. Perhaps a few examples would help.

What about the shoe-bomber a few years back - wasn't he a UK citizen, born and raised in the UK? Better sell the .co.uk's and stop promoting all UK based businesses. Or the Oklahoma bomber, he was American. Or the numerous guys who have committed gun massacres in various western countries.

Of course you won't sell your .com's because of them because you know nearly all Americans etc are nothing like them. Do you think just maybe that could apply to the people in every country on your list there? Or do you honestly believe there are "evil countries" full of dastardly ne'er-do-wells plotting the downfall of whereveritisyoulive?

Lets face it, most people everywhere on earth don't give a toss about what happens outside their own backyard so to speak, and there are idiots and criminals in every country on earth. Being an idiot is a human condition, not a racial one.

As for the poll, it seems to me that you are making an assumption about people's reasons for choosing yes or no. Would You Buy a Domain or Use Website in Domain of "Rogue" Countries Listed Below? Based on that question I could have voted No for all the reasons I articulated in my post (language, cultural, financial barriers), which have nothing to do with your assumptions. I did vote yes though for the one reason I stated in the end.

I refuse to promote cpays for example because of the number of players and affiliates they have ripped off in the past. I wouldn't refuse to do business with everyone from their country (is it Israel?) because of them though. That would be stupid and counter-productive. There is a big difference between refusing to deal directly with bad people and barring a whole country because of 1 or 2.

[gamblingbutler]

I personally would always buy a Russian domain - even if considered rogue here - when it comes to online gambling and if I have the resources to do content and market it.

There are so many Russian and Ex- Soviet Union guys spread all around the globe - same goes for Chinese by the way - also they are the sickest gamblers so that outweighs the rogue argument imho.

[TomasA]

Muppet, my English is poor, but word by word, you are the English version of my criteria about this thread. Bravo!

[bobbywatson1978]

Buying a domain or using a website from a rogue country are two very different issues. I can't say I'm able to make a blanket decision regarding either.

Domains are bought and sold to promote or represent a website effectively, and if there is a domain out there that I think would benefit my business or website enough to check on it's availability, I could care less who owned it last or first. Afterall it's mine now.

A website in a rogue nation where terrorist ideals are commonplace would most likely have no appeal to me in the first place. I just googled Iranian run websites, and was unable to find much that would interest me as an American, but I would be promoting the same kind of "stinking thinking" that has helped to spawn so much hatred of the West if I was willing to make any decisions unilaterally without thinking about them with my heart and mind.

[gamblingbutler]

When I wrote my post I didn't realise this was mostly about terroristic activity etc.in the countries that were mentioned. I thought this is referring to the fact that gambling is illegal in both Russia and China at the moment. However my bottomline stands. Would always use them if it makes sense businesswise.

[AmCan]

Thanks for all the posts and the detailed comments. While i appreciate the reasoning, my goal was to find out the the numbers, not about the reasoning. Does what appears in the news, these countries being labeled negative because of a terrorist attack affect people's feelings.

Once again I apologize to Muppet who thinks the question is somehow outrageous, hurtful and in Muppet's opinion a "Statement of my beliefs", which it's not. The question is a simple marketing question. i could have asked "Would you buy a domain with "Kasino" in it vs "Casino" or i could have asked "PC or Mac"/"windows" or MacOS etc., but they weren't the questions i wanted to ask. If i'd ask PC or Mac, there would like have been more arguments

You see i'm in the marketing business, i'm interested in how others who tend to buy domains, if i was opening a bar i'd be interested in whether people thought it would be better to open a martini bar vs a wine bar.

[Ace Fun]

There are a number of points here.

A non .com name will always lose traffic the the .com. The only possible exceptions are ccTLDs when you are targetting the country in question - .co.uk for example.

Why would you want to get one anyway? A lot of people seem to believe that the domain name is important for SE ranking, this is only true for non-contested phrases. It is a very minor factor if you are in competition with a number of other sites for placement.

Memorable .coms are essential for viral marketing imho.

A big danger with the use of minor ccTLDs is that the government decides to change the terms of the registry licence. This happened a while ago for one of those islands that used a fancy extension (I forget which one).

If the registration fees are low, then you run the danger of getting your site linked in with all the traffic pumps, phishers and scammers. Biz and info still haven't recovered from their free registration abuses imho.

[universal4]

Bobby,

if there is a domain out there that I think would benefit my business or website enough to check on it's availability, I could care less who owned it last or first. Afterall it's mine now.

This is risky.

If the previous owner was rogue, or linked with bad neighborhoods or had serious issues and a reputation of spam, that reputation could easily stay with the domain for a very long time.

AmCam, please don't start the Mac/PC war, as Jarvi and I would likely be at odds fairly quickly....lol

Rick

[MichaelCorfman]

I found this poll today, so decided to check and see if we owned domains for any of these countries, and discovered we actually do own one for Nigeria: casinocity.com.ng. That is because if there are land-based gaming facilities in a country, we tend to acquire the related domain and list details of he facilities available in the country on the site. We know of nine casino gaming properties in Nigeria:

Aristocrat Casino
Barcelona Hotels Abuja
Federal Palace Hotel & Casino
Green Lion Casino
Imo Concorde Hotel & Casino
Jacaranda Casino - Abuja
Jacaranda Casino - Lagos
Lagos Poker Club
Transcorp Hilton Abuja

Michael

[Madz]

I agree, unless you are a webmaster most people would not understand where a domain extension originates from or what it may mean. Most click the most relevant answer to thier query in the SERP's. The likes of us, who know and understand a little more may think twice.

To your question, nowadays I think I would be more inclinded to purchase such domains if it fitted my purpose. At the end of the day its about keeping the lights on and the bellys full....


Also to add to this, if we only base our decisions on the idiots in suits that govern our countries that are making all these great decisions nowadays then we are doomed to fail anyway. Who cares what they think or what they claim is rouge?

I appreciate the comments, but please vote too!

i agree with the "unless i'm targeting that country" statement. but then i think .tv, it's Tuvalu, but used by a lot TV/video oriented I've also seen .AT (austria) and .me (montenegro) used for marketing to english speakers.

Frankly i don't think most people think about where a domain "comes from". I doubt that most people going to a .tv site know of tuvalu.