We all know .com is king. You've got to wonder if ICANN left things as they were and did not issue any more extensions. That would be like in a city where all you have are streets. It could not be visible.
Hélas, ICANN, with their continued expansion drive, has not and will not stop. No, 1000 extensions are by far not enough. The startups are rejoicing today because they can have just about any domain name they want because of extension galore. Be careful and think twice before ending like New Coke.
However, an extension other than .com often does make sense. For example, whole countries' tourism offices have taken to .travel extensions, much to the dismay of domain name collectors who held the .com version.
It sure makes much sense if you own a hotel and add a .hotel extension to your name. It probably does as well with a .hotel suffix, as the .com version. In addition, the purchase money saved over the .com version might make it easier for a startup to keep funds in its pockets.
While .me and .xyz still seem to struggle to find their place, other extensions, to mention a few, like .city. .pizza and .app seem to be doing rather well.
My all-time favorite non .com, of course, is Vacation .rentals. It is the ultimate in a non .com extension. Keyword loaded, not being used as the final URL, but forwarded—the perfect link example.
Any extension other than .com can be undoubtedly helpful when it fits the domain name, as long as the domain name and extension complement each other.
Make sure your website's title, name, and extension, ring a bell to your targeted audience. The right keyword domain with a content matching extension is the best for your website address.
The positive about ICANN is that it allows anyone to register any available extension they fancy, as silly as that might turn out.
AOL(.)com might not have been the last bummer that experienced domain name sunset.