The debate over .CO – whether it can be a viable alternative to .COM or if it is just a gimmick – continues. For example, Overstock.com, the popular online retailer, recently introduced the new O.co domain name, but is billing it as a “shortcut” to the Overstock site rather than a standalone brand.
While reading the TechCrunch blog, I recently came across another example of a company using .CO for an interesting purpose. Go2 Media is a service that connects mobile publishers, local audiences and advertisers through content and location-based advertising. It owns the domain Go2.com and uses it to host its consumer-oriented site. However, the company does not own Go2Media.com – this domain is registered to a Korean man and has no content other than a link to DomainCA, a Korean domain registrar.
Instead, Go2 Media owns and leverages Go2Media.co for its business-oriented site, where it hosts information for publishers and advertisers. What likely happened was, the company saw that Go2Media.com was already registered, and sought a solution. But instead of attempting to reclaim the domain Go2Media.com through UDRP (a search on UDRPsearch turned up no filings over that domain) or other means, the company chose to register Go2Media.co as an alternative. When push comes to shove, though, Internet users in the U.S. are conditioned to affix .COM at the end of Internet addresses, and as such, Go2Media.com receives traffic – undoubtedly visitors seeking the company, not some Korean squatter’s site. At the end of the day, .CO is not a substitute for .COM.
