Today in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Corilyn Shropshire looks at how companies deal with the problems of finding a great domain name (“Web is no bottomless pit for dot.com name seekers,” 8/16/2006):

The World Wide Web is running out of names — or at least the most popular names that end with a dot.com suffix. Dot.net, dot.org and other suffixes still have plenty of room to grow. They just aren’t all that popular.

Ms. Shropshire talked to several local web designers, including me, and all of us had examples of
domain names we wanted for our clients but couldn’t get, for various reasons.

I’ve found, though, that in the end it’s not a major obstacle. There’s always an available alternative, and having to be creative can produce a more original and memorable result.

And besides, having a great domain name doesn’t guarantee success. A great value proposition, good access to your target market, excellent coordination all along the supply and distribution chains, the right resources to fulfill orders — all of these are just as important. For an example, just think of Pets.com.