If they had called it Asia Now, it would need to include East and South Asia and I think wisely, it does not. 

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

I think the vast majority of expats living in Asean know what Asean means compared to Asia.

They might understand both terms but the human memory is far more fallible than most people realize. You might say ASEAN to me, and I might fully understand what you said at the time, but might very easily later remember it as Asia.

You will also have noticed that sometimes, when typing, you write the wrong word and later wonder how you did that, because you were clear, in your mind, on which word you meant as you typed.

Then you also have the problem that, in conversation, people often don't hear what is said correctly.

I own a few thousand .com domains that are mostly unused but I always set them up with a "catchall" for email. It is astonishing how many people type the wrong domains for email addresses, and none of my domains are what you would describe as typos (i.e. deliberately similar to other domains). Even intelligent professionals send sensitive documents to entirely the wrong domains.

 

37 minutes ago, Puccini said:

Very interesting. Does ASEAN NOW now have to start from scratch building up its search engine ranking?

I suspect they'll simply maintain the original URL as a redirect or possibly sell it to any one of the Visa agents who are doubtless, even now, queuing up with wads of cash to take it over.

2 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

If they had called it Asia Now, it would need to include East and South Asia and I think wisely, it does not. 

They would not have been able to afford the AsiaNow.com domain, it's asking price is €22,500.

AsiaNow is, actually, a viable brand name, but still not as good as the two-decade established ThaiVisa brand.

Couldn't you fix the damn search engine while you were at it? It still doesn't allow posts older than a week to be searched.

1 minute ago, Greenside said:

I suspect they'll simply maintain the original URL as a redirect or possibly sell it to any one of the Visa agents who are doubtless, even now, queuing up with wads of cash to take it over.

No, if they do that they will lose ALL their Google rankings and any organic traffic they receive through old links.

The old domain will just have to sit there, forever, redirecting traffic to the new domain.

 

1 minute ago, Poet said:

They would not have been able to afford the AsiaNow.com domain, it's asking price is €22,500.

AsiaNow is, actually, a viable brand name, but still not as good as the two-decade established ThaiVisa brand.

Do you think they should have covered Japan, China, and India, etc.? I don't. 

3 hours ago, misterjames said:

Tessanet Limited is a Hong Kong based company which means it's required to comply with the Chinese Communist Party. 

 

That's a fact.

So no more b**ching about these Chinese tourists any more... ????

1 minute ago, asiasurfer said:

So no more b**ching about these Chinese tourists any more... ????

 

Luckily we've still got the Americans and French at our disposal ????

 

Just now, Jingthing said:

Do you think they should have covered Japan, China, and India, etc.? I don't. 

A brand is just a brand. You are not legally obliged to cover every territory that it could conceivably refer to.
 

You want your brand to amplify your efforts. Even if they were only covering 3 countries, a cool brand like AsiaNow would amplify their efforts in those 3 countries.

AsiaNow would also remain relevant after ASEAN is replaced by a successor agreement. What is today known as the EU was renamed something like five times.

6 hours ago, Salerno said:

I know it's 2021, and call me old fashioned, but showing a little respect to your members would have been appreciated.

 

Does this mean their will be an even bigger wumao presence on here now?

 

No one asked me about the change! ????????The emos didn't work!!! Because of the new name?

Seems like another life when Dr. PatPong and George ruled, and we had freedom of speech. 

However, good luck to the new Aseannow, it was a bold move buying an Internet forum in this day and age. 

 

Should have asked us before for name suggestions????

 

 

What the hell?!? The font just went back to suck and the option to change the Theme was removed.

1 minute ago, Poet said:

A brand is just a brand. You are not legally obliged to cover every territory that it could conceivably refer to.
 

You want your brand to amplify your efforts. Even if they were only covering 3 countries, a cool brand like AsiaNow would amplify their efforts in those 3 countries.

AsiaNow would also remain relevant after ASEAN is replaced by a successor agreement. What is today known as the EU was renamed something like five times.

Yes and no.

Asean Now accurately defines their scope and that clarity does have value. 

6 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

True, but it works well using google. 

I think the average user expects a search box to do what it says and doesn't want to bother screwing around with Google search operators even if they knew they existed.

Just now, Greenside said:

I think the average user expects a search box to do what it says and doesn't want to bother screwing around with Google search operators even if they knew they existed.

That no doubt is true but anyone that really really needs to search this forum eventually learns offsite searching is really the ONLY way!

8 minutes ago, Poet said:

No, if they do that they will lose ALL their Google rankings and any organic traffic they receive through old links.

The old domain will just have to sit there, forever, redirecting traffic to the new domain.

 

I believe that using the old domain (OK, I said URL) as a redirect site was what I said, wasn't it?

I will be changing my username to PRAVDANOW

Just now, Jingthing said:

Asean Now accurately defines their scope and that clarity does have value. 

Their hoped for scope. Some but not all of the ten country sections will reach a viable level of activity. Therefore, unless they are very lucky, the brand will never accurately reflect what they actually offer.

 

Would Thai Virus be a better name? Certainly timely. 555

well, i for one certainly hope that the scams and incessant spam masquerading as topics don't go away.  it just wouldn't be the same.  and of course, the real estate investment scams promising 10 or 20% yearly return.  i would miss it so much.  

1 minute ago, Poet said:

Their hoped for scope. Some but not all of the ten country sections will reach a viable level of activity. Therefore, unless they are very lucky, the brand will never accurately reflect what they actually offer.

 

OK, but reaching some level of success in their regional goals is at least plausible. 

????

7 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

That no doubt is true but anyone that really really needs to search this forum eventually learns offsite searching is really the ONLY way!

"Really, Really needs" is a pretty good way to filter out a sizable percentage of visitors.  I think any site designer who tried to sell me on the basis of "they'll just persist" would be out of the door pretty fast  ????

Just now, elgenon said:

Would Thai Virus be a better name? Certainly timely. 555

I had mentioned before at least Asean Now was better than Thai Quarantine.

1 minute ago, Greenside said:

I believe that using the old domain (OK, I said URL) as a redirect site was what I said, wasn't it?

No. You said:
 

13 minutes ago, Greenside said:

I suspect they'll simply maintain the original URL as a redirect or possibly sell it to any one of the Visa agents who are doubtless, even now, queuing up with wads of cash to take it over.

They would have to chose one or the other: keep the domain as a redirect or sell it someone else who will then gain any Google juice and organic link traffic.
 

I Imagine all the other countries will have they own expat  sites as well.If they want to expand good luck to them

2 minutes ago, J Town said:

What the hell?!? The font just went back to suck and the option to change the Theme was removed.

 

Personally I use a browser plugin called Stylus to alleviate site issues, if you have the knowledge or willing to learn it's worth having a play. Just about got it back to the way I like it:

 

Help! I saw a post by MisterJames and it said it was posted 3 hours ago. How do I find the post if the time is not listed with the post? Used to be.

 

Has Thai Visa been bought by a Chinese company?

2 minutes ago, bristolgeoff said:

I Imagine all the other countries will have they own expat  sites as well.If they want to expand good luck to them

Some do, some don't.

This is one reason I've suggested a separate expansion to Latin America. In my experience most Latin Americans don't have decent Thaivisa.com level expat forums and the region is a massive expat draw.

5 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I had mentioned before at least Asean Now was better than Thai Quarantine.

Great minds are bent in a similar way! Go with wisdom my friend.