[rdtsc]

Many of those come from a different time - the dot com boom era. Then owning the right domain meant you were 80% there. Needless to say money, effort, and time was spent getting the right domain without then leading to profits. One reason for that logic was discoverability. Before Google was Google how would you buy shoes? Well of course go to your swanky new Netscape browser and type "shoes.com".

Funny now you still go to the address bar and type "shoes" but you don't go to shoes.com but to Google who tells you where to go buy shoes