Nothing actually. It doesn’t have the cachet of Dot Com but is considered by many to be the second Dot Com; many site owners use them interchangeably. One of the original five domain name extensions (Com, Org, Gov, Mil and Net) created in 1985, it was originally conceived as intended for network providers. Today anyone can purchase a Dot Net domain name, and in popularity it is fourth among domain extensions following Dot Com, Dot De and Dot Cn.

It would be interesting to know when it was opened for unrestricted registration. And why. Is it possible the decision was an economic one? There was obviously a lot more money to be made selling the extension to all comers rather than only to Internet providers. Even so, there is plenty of room left to business interests for relevant domain names. Whereas Dot Com has sold over 82 million names, Dot Net-as of 2009-has sold less than 13 million.

Aftermarket domain names, those names already registered by investors in hopes of making a profit on their sale to individuals and businesses searching for the perfect domain name, are considerably cheaper on average with a Dot Net extension than a Dot Com. Porn.Com, for instance, sold for 9.5 million; Porn.Net sold for a trifling $400,000 (I know, I know, its an over-the-top example; but it does wonderfully illustrate my point!).

I admit that Dot Net isn’t the first domain extension a person thinks of when they set about finding a website; but it most probably is the second even if it is the fourth most popular worldwide. After all, Dot Org brings to mind organizations, not commercial entities, and Dot De and Dot Cn, while immensely popular to their individual populations (Germany and China), are hardly household names outside their borders.

So, before you register a completely unsuitable Dot Com domain name or break the bank trying to purchase one, give a thought to anchoring your website with a Dot Net extension.