Would a .tk domain negatively affect traffic?
 

I'm just wondering if having a site with a .tk domain would be a bad idea, because i've come from the school of thought that says that 99% of surfers only think in terms of .com, and that other domains are pointless.

However, i am aware that certain "second rate" TLDs dwarf others in terms of notoriety and traffic (i.e. thehun.net), but have also suffered from buggar all traffic and Google refusing to index some of my .net and .org's.

Penny for your thoughts.

.tk is a perfect valid domain and made for collecting traffic

never even HEARD of it!!!!!

Nothin beats .com, you should stick with .com, more easier for surfers

.tk is the country code for Tokelau

http://www.iana.org/root-whois/tk.htm

If your website became successful, would you trust your domain to a country you can't find on a map? :1orglaugh

While http://ww.dot.tk is giving away free .tk domains, and that might be an incentive to those on a really tight budget, you should stick to .com. You don't run a business only thinking about saving a few pennies in the short-run --- long-term, you're always better off with .com.

If you were building a restaurant, would you build it 1000 miles from the nearest road, or in downtown NYC?

Yes. I know at least one ISP that had blocked the entire .TK tld, Roadrunner/Time Warner. It may be resolved now.