Registering a .me domain is quite an investment

Written on May 21, 2008 – 12:43 pm
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

Only two weeks to go before companies can register a .me name, the domain from the country of Montenegro. As you can imagine, this is quite an attractive domain. It creates some sort of personalized approach, even when it comes to world’s largest companies. Apple for example has registered apple.me, ipod.me, itunes.me, reports Networkworld. Trademark holders had the opportunity to register their domain names before yesterday. Other tech companies that profited from this rule - are amongst others - Microsoft, Skype and Digg.

What struck me, are the high fees of the .me registrations. Whereas a .com domain only costs you $10 a year, a .me domain will take 110 to 200 Euros per year from your budget. And there’s a catch too: the minimum registration period is five years. I wonder whether our sponsors will run for a domain when the costs are that high. Although Wakoopa.me and Fleck.me do sound good. And what about Netlog? Imagine somebody comes up to you and asks: “Tell me all about yourself?!”. A simple reply will be enough: “just Netlog.me”.

I hope you like that post!

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.ME, domain, domain names, Montenegro

About the author: Ernst-Jan is a blogger and journalist, who previously worked in New York to cover news at the United Nations. Next to writing, he's also a singer in the band Christina Five.

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13 comments/trackbacks to “Registering a .me domain is quite an investment”

Jun 5, 2008: Oluniyi David Ajao
.me domains: How to register .me domain names…

.me is the Country-code Top-Level Domain name (cc-TLD) for the Montenegro, a newly independent country in eastern Europe.
The .me domain which is sponsored by the Government of Montenegro, is generally available for entities connected with Montenegro b…

By Guillaume Jarysta-Dautel on May 21, 2008

I found lower prices (40 euros) and shorter minimum periods (2 years) with some registrars. But still quite expensive !

[Reply]
By Gonzague Dambricourt on May 21, 2008

Guillaume : what about sharing them with us ? :-)

[Reply]
By Amir on May 21, 2008

So when will the .il have its golden age?

fa.il
na.il
tra.il
sna.il

:)

[Reply]
By Pascal Van Hecke on May 21, 2008

@Guillaume and Gonzague: Fee depends on how early in the process you register.
the EUR 200/year is for Trademark holders during Sunrise period, see e.g.
http://eurodns.com/eurodns-new.....ions-start

[Reply]
By Patrick de Laive on May 21, 2008

I’ve been thinking about .me domain names and it is interesting to see what people come up with when thinking of a .me domain. Let me share it here. Most of it is sex or emotional related:

f*ck.me
love.me
see.me
feel.me
give.me

These are all obvious, but what might even be more interesting is to look for words with me in it in other languages. Don’t forget that me means the same in Dutch and in Spanish as well.

ama.me
ajuda.me
toca.me
help.me
zoen.me

the list is ongoing. I think the obvious ones will be registered instantly, but my guess is that after the first rush a lot of (creative) opportunities can be found

I guess Google.me is taken…

[Reply]
By Patrick de Laive on May 21, 2008

By the way, see the related post of Boris:

http://thenextweb.org/2008/01/.....ou-its-me/

[Reply]
By Doron on May 22, 2008

same story with the .cm (Cameroon) domains. When they smell $$ you get these ridiculous prices. I would love to have the do.me domain tough..

[Reply]
By Xavier Damman on May 22, 2008

ajuda.me =>
actually, in Spanish it should be ayuda.me

In the same trend,
cuenta.me (tell me)
perdona.me (perdon me)
…

Is there no .te somewhere?

me.me should worth a lot as well

[Reply]
By Andrós on May 24, 2008

For the Dutch readers:

“ME domeinen hebben een minimum registratieperiode van 2 jaar. De prijs gedurende de landrush zal EUR 28,-* per jaar bedragen, de totale kosten per registratie (2 jaar) komen derhalve op EUR 56,-*.” http://tinyurl.com/6orvt3

Boris, vergeet je Virgle.me niet te registreren?

[Reply]
By webwatch on May 29, 2008

The sky high registration fees and length of mandatory registration will definitely discourage a lot of domain flippers.

[Reply]
By cartrustglas on Jun 8, 2008

for the or burnt, decay year where I spent to my parents I never I go back pruning

[Reply]
By Juan Carlos Arzola on Aug 4, 2008

Hi,
They are pretty expensive names, but they will be worth a lot of money in 5-10 years from now. I went to auction and won a few good ones. Visit my site for a complete list
Juan Carlos

[Reply]