C. Generic Names

A generic term can make a great domain name, because lots of people are likely to find your site. That's why domain names such as wine.com, furniture.com, pets.com and books.com were snapped up long ago.
As a general rule, generic domain names work best when you can use the actual term without modifiers or additional syllables. For instance, cars.com, drugs.com or coffee.com are the strongest and best uses of these generic terms. Domain names like fastcars.com, coffeebeans.com or bestdrugs.com aren't going to bring as many people to your site as the bare term would, but they're still considered generic for trademark purposes, meaning you get the worst of both worlds—an ineffective domain name and no trademark protection, either. If someone has got there ahead of you and is already using a key term by itself, consider adopting a classically distinctive domain name—that is, a name that is coined, arbitrary, fanciful, suggestive or flat-out clever. (See Section E, below.)
If you're considering a generic domain name (and someone else hasn't grabbed it yet), think it over before you decide to go with that name alone. As mentioned, having a generic name can certainly make it easier for people to find you on the Web. But because the name is generic, you probably will not have any trademark protection, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office probably won't register it. If you want to register your domain name as a national trademark, it must be distinctive enough to distinguish your product or service from others in the marketplace. For example, if a business names its new soft drink "Cola" and its website cola.com, it won't be able to register "cola" as a trademark. That's because "cola" describes a group of carbonated soft drinks with cola flavoring; it could refer to any of several brands of colas. But add "Shasta" to "Cola," and shastacola.com qualifies as a trademark because it specifies one particular brand of cola on the market. Other examples of terms that have always been generic are lite beer, super glue, softsoap, matchbox cars and supermarket.