The media always likes to talk about the how millenials are changing the world. Young people always embrace change and the hip thing, right? Not true when it comes to new domains apparently.
According to the British SEO (search engine optimization) company Varn, millenails HATE new domains more than older people. At least they don't trust new domain names as much as the older generation.
Varn asked people across the United Kingdom (UK) this question.
“Do you trust companies with .co.uk and .com domains more than those with other newer domains such as .eu, .biz, .net, .fashion, .london and .digital, etc.?”
It should be noted that .EU has been around for over 10 years. The .BIZ domain has been around for almost 16 years and .NET… well that's been around for as long as .COM. The big three extensions .COM/.NET/.ORG have all been around for 30 years. So .EU, BIZ, and .NET are not “new” domain extensions. However .FASHION, .LONDON, and .DIGITAL have only been available for a limited amount of time.
Over 70% of people said they do not trust new domains. This is not surprising considering new domain names distribute spam only.
What was most interesting about Varn's research was the fact that Millennials and Generation Y trust new domains LESS than older people. Of the 25-34 year-olds surveyed;
- 77.6% said “I trust .co.uk and .com domains”.
- Only 21.3% stated in the survery that they “trust all domains the same”.
When “Mom and Dad” were asked the same question, 55-64 year olds response;
- 61% of them trust .com and .co.uk domains more
- 35% of them answered “I trust all domains the same”
That means the younger generation trusts tried and true .CO.UK domains and .COM domains 16.6% more. While younger people trust new domains 13.7% less compared to older people.
Young people trust don't trust these new domains. This makes sense if you think about it. If you are more used to using the web you get used to the standards. In the United Kingdom that is .CO.UK and .COM. So that is naturally what young people trust.
This totally explains why I need to help fix viruses and issues on older people's computers more often. They are visiting spam and malware sites that are on new domains getting the computer infected. Now we just need to educate older people to only use good country code top level domains (ccTLDs) such as .UK and .COM, .NET, and .ORG. Young people know intuitively to avoid new domains.
Marekting, media, and society make us believe those that are Millenials and Generation Yers are supposed to always like the cool, new, and hip thing. Obviously this research and suvery show otherwise when it comes to browsing the internet. Particularly when it comes to new domains.
The claim from new domain registires, companies, and consulting groups is that these new domains are for the “next generation”. That argument goes out the window if young people don't want to use them. More importantly if they don't trust a new domain space to begin with.
Amazingly older people trust new domains 13.7% more. Will you see new domain companies marketing to 55 – 64 year olds? I doubt it because that's not a good use of marketing dollars. Why would you target a demographic that has money? 😉
Are you a Millennial or in Genereation Y? Are you older? What do you think of these findings?
