Any experience with dot.tk?

Maximus

New member
I like dot.tk. It works well for me. It is set up to work fast, and it is easy to manage one's domain. However I've heard some people complaining about it. Have you got a dot.tk, and what experiences have you had with it?
 

Pauline

New member
I only use dot.tk for sandbox type Websites when I'm experimenting with something new. I haven't had any problem with those but I'd imagine if one went for the real thing, I'd prefer to have a registered and paid for domain. Preferably a .com, .net, .co or .org.
 

PeaceSigns

New member
Sander K is right - I've experienced that before where they just terminate it if you're getting enough US/quality traffic. But, I still use it as a sandbox to launch / test early sites.
 

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
I'd like to know a little bit more PeaceSigns. How do you mean they just terminated it? If you look at the TOS they have, there is nothing about traffic in it. I'd be very interested in the details.
 

PeaceSigns

New member
I had a relatively short domain with them (it was a dictionary word) and I was getting about 4,000k unique visits a month. So I guess they pieced together high quality traffic + short dictionary word domain, and decided to make it a 'premium' domain. They terminated with an email saying something about it now being a premium domain, and it redirected to their ad landing page.

Oh well :) it happened a long while back, I don't even remember the specific domain name anymore. It was in the gaming niche (and it wasn't a brand or a trademarked name).
 

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
Aha, it's not really a scam, more like by design. It is covered by their TOS:
8.2. Modifications to FREE DOMAIN.
By accepting this Agreement, you hereby acknowledge and agree that we, in our sole discretion, may modify or
discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the service at any part thereof, at any time with or without prior notice,
including, without limitation, modification or discontinuance of advertising, content and applications appearing as
part of FREE DOMAIN. You agree that we will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification,
suspension or discontinuance of FREE DOMAIN or any part thereof.
Source: Dot.Com Terms and Conditions

So I reckon they get people to grow tk.com domains for them in exchange of loaning the domains to them, and once the domain is ripe for the plucking, i.e. it's grown into a very popular domain thanks to the lessee who has been promoting the borrowed domain, they just take it back as a "premium domain" and put it up for sale.
:heartylaugh:
 

PeaceSigns

New member
It's a good idea - but once your site crosses the threshold of 1,000 unique visitors a month that you should get an actual domain. That's the lesson learnt I guess, but it's great for starting out and building up.
 

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
Definitely. I've got four .tk domains, but only for fun. If I get serious about a Website I'll definitely buy a domain. They're not really that expensive.
 

PeaceSigns

New member
Good job hellsing! The other option is - if you want to retain your site, buy the dot.tk domain - it's roughly the same price as a regular .com domain (something like $9 - $12 excluding 'premium' domains) and it is a real TLD. If you buy the domain, they can't take it away from you.
 

Genesis

Administrator
Staff member
PeaceSigns said:
Good job hellsing! The other option is - if you want to retain your site, buy the dot.tk domain - it's roughly the same price as a regular .com domain (something like $9 - $12 excluding 'premium' domains) and it is a real TLD. If you buy the domain, they can't take it away from you.
Great idea. Particularly if it's a popular name one can't get with .com etc.
 

PeaceSigns

New member
Premium domain names from them go at like $100 a pop (for established brands) - but I guess if you're site is that big, you could buy it and redirect it back to your site for a year and then hope all your fans/followers remember the new URL.
 

jaran

New member
I have dot.tk domain with 2000UV/day. But I guess is not valuable. Almost my user send feedback via email wants my script than my domain. Its really funny lol
 

cobaltsean99

New member
Maximus said:
I like dot.tk. It works well for me. It is set up to work fast, and it is easy to manage one's domain. However I've heard some people complaining about it. Have you got a dot.tk, and what experiences have you had with it?

I host my own domain given to me from dot.tk. I use cloudflare to manage my dns and a free web hosting provider to manage files and other things on the domain. I love dot.tk and have had awesome experience with it.
 

ogah

New member
dot.tk is scammer
i have join with domainshare and have many expired and parked domains on my domainshare account but i'm not get revenue.

dot.tk also take my .tk domain that have PR3