Every time my clients ask me for brand naming services, their natural instinct is to ask for an available .com domain that exactly reflects their brand name. More than 20 years have passed since the .com boom, so that task is becoming increasingly difficult.
Unless the client is an online business, my advice has always been to come up with a good brand name first and take care of the domain second. In the brand naming hierarchy, it usually goes like this:
- Secure a killer brand name
- Secure trademark availability
- Secure a .com domain
- Secure social media handles on all relevant platforms
It’s extremely rare that a client is going to secure a premium brand name in all four categories. Usually, they will have to make one or several compromises along the way. The good news is that making a compromise does not determine the success of a business.
On the contrary, here are a few multi-billion dollar brands that don’t own their .com domains.
Alphabet
Current domain: abc.xyz
Alphabet is the parent company of some huge brands: Google, YouTube and Android, just to name a few. To paint the correct picture, Alphabet’s revenue in 2022 was US$282.8 billion. More money doesn’t mean that you could secure a premium .com domain. The alphabet.com domain, at the time of writing, belongs to a (land vehicle) fleet management and consulting firm.
Nissan
Current domain: nissan-global.com
Nissan is an automotive giant from Japan with a long history, and a truly global presence. Their company belongs to an exclusive group of car brands that are both well-known and desired. Their revenue in 2022 was $74.979 billion.
There is an interesting story tied to the nissan.com domain too. The site originally belonged to Uzi Nissan and his small electronics and software business. The Nissan corporation first tried to buy the domain from mr. Uzi Nissan in 1999, and then took him to court. Mr. Uzi Nissan won the case, and kept his rights to use the nissan.com domain. He sadly passed away in 2020, and his site went temporary offline for unknown reasons. The original nissan.com site was successfully archived, and can be browsed on The Wayback Machine.
iPad
Current domain: apple.com/ipad/
iPad has become a huge brand in it’s own right. The product line generates about $20-$30 billion in yearly revenue for Apple, yet it doesn’t own its own .com domain like it’s cousin, the iPhone (iphone.com). At the time of writing the domain ipad.com displays a non-distinct “Coming Soon” page.
Skoda
Current domain: skoda-auto.com
Skoda is Czech automotive giant that’s now a part of Volkswagen. Skoda is another car manufacturer that doesn’t own their own .com domain. Is this a common occurrence among the automotive industry?! Skoda’s revenue in 2021 was about $18 billion. At the time of writing the domain skoda.com belongs to a personal blog, and they have been so nice to dedicate a “…links page to other Skoda’s on the Internet.” Very wholesome and lovely!
Peloton
Current domain: onepeloton.com
The stationary bicycle phenomenon grew in popularity and revenue extremely quickly. Peloton Interactive’s revenue for 2022 was $3.052 billion. What’s even more fascinating is that Peloton is an online media company and they succeeded to have that stellar growth without securing a .com domain. As of writing, the domain peloton.com belongs to an oil and gas software company.