The New Domain
Extensions
1930
applications were filed for just over 1400 new domain extensions by
the deadline in 2013. If the aim of this program to expand the internet
succeeds, millions of new domain names will create the foundation
for millions of new websites to take their place on the web. More
than a thousand new domain strings, including some in entirely new
categories, will be scheduled to launch over the next few years.
Nobody
knows for certain how big the impact of this coming domain name explosion
will be, though it is very likely to be vast. The sheer number and
volume of the new TLDs will likely dramatically increase awareness
of this change to the domain name system. In turn, this should stimulate
wide acceptance and take-up of the new domain strings.
Joining
the ranks of the existing generics will be a big catalog of new strings,
as described under 'The New Domains' below. Also adding to
the ranks will be two new categories — dot brand domains
and dot city domains.
NOTE:
To see a complete list of all the original applications for new domain
strings, go to ICANN's
official list. (ICANN is the body that regulates the domain name
system.)
The New Domains
There
are presently only 22 generic domain extensions (such as .net,
.info and .com) and there are also 280 country code
domain strings (such as .ca, .cn and .us). A
big change to the status quo is coming and it looks like more than
600 new generic domain categories will be launched.
The
list of new domain extensions represents a very major increase in
choice for domain registrants. The options for naming a new company,
entertainment site or opinion blog are about to explode massively.
Just about every important niche is specifically addressed, and there
is also a big range of brand new general types of domain strings on
the horizon. These should easily be enough to cover every possibility
— domains such as .web and .corp for example.
Here
is a small representative selection of the new generics to illustrate
the wide scope of the program:
.app
.art .attorney .auto .baby .bank .bargains .baseball .beauty .bible
.bike .blog .book .business .buy .camera .careers .channel .chat .city
.cloud .company .corp .coupon .data .deal .doctor .family .fashion
.film .fitness .flowers .food .forsale .game .gifts .health .home
.hosting .hotels .kids .law .mail .media .mobile .money .mortgage
.news .online .parts .phone .play .poker .realestate .review .sale
.school .science .sex .science .search .security .shop .sport .store
.style .talk .tech .tires .video .weather .web .website .wedding.
The Brand Domains
It
appears that a small majority of the world's thousand or so largest
and most successful corporations have applied to own and operate their
own domain strings. These new domain extensions will typically be
based on the companys' trademarks, and naturally enough they will
be closed registries — which means they will not be available
to the general public.
The
brand domains are certain to have a major impact on the domain name
system. Some of the actual applications for brand strings reveal the
companies' plans to spend large sums of money launching their new
domains. They want to publicize themselves and attract customers to
their private internets.
They
want the consumer to know that their brand domains possess a universal
quality that dot com domains do not possess — complete trustworthiness.
And
they want their customers to stay on these new sites for as long as
possible, purchasing goods and services, building on loyalty.
A comprehensive
report about the impending dot brands has been published on our associated
site TheBrandDomains.com.
Several hundred quotations from actual applications are included,
along with summaries and analysis. The companies involved have the
influence, the wealth and the expertise to create a new asset class
of domain names that seem likely to have a major impact on the internet.
Around
680 corporations have applied for their own .brand extension. Here
is just a short representative selection:
.acer
.airbus .alibaba .amazon .amex .apple .axa .barclays .bridgestone
.cartier .cisco .citi .deloitte .deutschepost .fedex .fox .gecompany
.goodyear .honda .intel .jeep .jpmorgan .kpmg .landrover .loreal .macys
.mcdonalds .merck .microsoft .mitsubishi .nba .nike .nikon .panasonic
.pfizer .philips .samsung .sony .symantec .tata .toyota .walmart .xerox
.youtube.
A
key point about the impending brand domains is that with the backing
of so many huge companies (and corresponding massive marketing spend)
they will create wide global awareness amongst consumers of all the
brand new brand strings. In turn, this should help drive the momentum
of the whole expansion of the domain name system.
The City Domains
Given
that many of the world's major cities are, population wise, much bigger
than many of the world's smallest countries, it makes sense for them
to have their own domain extensions. So that is what is going to happen.
More than 60 cities (and a few regions) are about to acquire their
own domain strings.
Here
are a few of the city (and regional) extensions that are on their
way:
.abudhabi
.amsterdam .barcelona .bayern .berlin .boston .brussels, .budapest
.catalonia .corsica .dubai .durban .hamburg .helsinki .istanbul .joburg
.kyoto .london .madrid .melbourne .moscow .nyc .osaka .paris .quebec
.rio .roma .ruhr .stockholm .sydney .taipei .tokyo .wales .yokohama,
.zuerich.
The
city domains in principle will be operated and regulated by the administrations
of the cities themselves. Eligibility requirements will vary between
the cities, but in general, each city will probably require registrants
to either be residents or have legitimate or relevant business or
media interests in their jurisdictions to qualify.
More
info about the new generic and city domains can also be found at TheBrandDomains.com.
NOTE:
There is also a substantial range of Internationalized Domain Names
(IDNs) applied for across the domain spectrum. These IDNs refer to
names in various foreign languages and scripts, and these will help
make the internet more fair and more international, as well as adding
to naming options across the board.
Closed
Generic Top Level Domains
The
most controversial aspect of the new domain extension rollout is the
disturbing possibility that closed generic top level domains (gTLDs)
will come into existence.
A large
number of applicants for the new domain strings are for exclusive,
"walled garden" domain strings. In other words, they are
seeking to be able to operate (alleged) monopolies in particular niches
on the internet, and some of these niches are in fact highly important
and valuable global industries. That is, companies like Amazon for
example, wants to own the .shop and .store domain extensions
in their entirety. They will not offer domain registrations to competitors
or the general public. Instead, they are planning to own every single
.store and .shop domain in existence for their own use.
This controversy is being widely branded as (allegedly) monopolistic.
If
this scenario occurs, then Amazon would own every single .shop domain
in the world, for example the following short list — the actual
volume could be a hundred thousand — or a million:
Airport.shop
Auto.shop Baseball.shop Beach.shop Beauty.shop Book.shop Camera.shop
Clothing.shop Computer.shop Cosmetics.shop Domain.shop DutyFree.shop
Fashion.shop Flight.shop Frame.shop Gift.shop Movie.shop Music.shop
Phone.shop Retail.shop Shoe.shop Ski.shop Sport.shop Sunglasses.shop
Surf.shop Tech.shop Travel.shop Wine.shop
Imagine
the insurmountable market power of owning entire registries like this.
The
serious issue of closed gTLDs is analysed in deep detail by SuperMonopolies.
Amazon
is further applying to own in exclusivity dozens of other closed gTLDs.
Other companies such as L'Oreal (applying to own the .beauty
string) and Symantec (applying to own .security) are attempting
to do the same thing. If they succeed, it is anticipated that they
will be able to leverage their strategies to great anti-competitive
advantage. Then, it will no longer be possible to describe the internet
as a free marketplace.
As
noted in detail in our Terms and Conditions,
text on this page about the new domains on the horizon and the controversy
about the proposed closed gTLDs constitutes opinion only, does not
constitute expert or legal advice, is presented purely in the public
interest to promote awareness and discussion, and no responsibility
is taken for any consequences, omissions or action you take from considering
this opinion etc.
