Last week, I wrote about Calzone, a new calendar website for the domain industry. The primary objective of the calendar is to keep people informed of important dates for the new gTLDs, such as sunrise periods, landrush periods, general availability, auctions…etc.
101 Domain is offering customers somewhat of a more personal email newsletter to keep them abreast of new gTLD dates and updates. The newsletter is called
Daniel Negari is going “all in” when it comes to his new gTLD applications. The Las Vegas Sun is reporting that Negari, whose company has applied for the .college, .xyz, and .now TLDs, has acquired a 13,000 square foot building in Las Vegas, which will serve as the headquarters for his company, XYZ.com, LLC. The building is known as BLOKHAUS, and it will be re-named XYZHAUS.
13,000 square feet is pretty large for a company of XYZ’s size, and with that amount of square footage, it is pretty clear that Daniel anticipates his company will soon be hiring. Although the plans are to use the entire building for its headquarters, the company may offer some co-working space as well.
I reached out to Daniel for further comment, and here’s what he told me:
I want to share this new gTLD infographic created by eNom. In an update earlier this week, the company reported that “eNom’s new TLD Watchlist reached 3.3 million expressions of interest,” which is a 30% increase since April. As of right now, the top three new gTLD reservations at eNom are .web, .shop, and .hotel.
1 & 1, which is in the midst of a massive mainstream marketing campaign, is showing a bit more than 3.5 million gTLD pre-reservations, and the top 3 pre registered extensions are .web, .online, and .shop. Suffice to say, the winner of the .web and .shop applications are going to sell many domain names.
I find it a bit surprising that eNom is reporting 3.3 million pre-reservations while 1&1 is reporting 3.5 million because of the huge marketing campaign by 1&1. If I had to guess before looking at the reported numbers, 1&1 would have had far more pre reservations than eNom. I would imagine eNom’s significant preservation number is due to the prominent location of its new gTLD link in the top menu as well as its marketing efforts to customers.
Unfortunately, I was not able to download the eNom graphic as a .jpg or .gif file, so if you want to check it out, you’ll need to download it from eNom’s website.
This evening, Donuts posted the video below to the company’s YouTube page. The minute long video is informational in that it explains why a new gTLD domain name would benefit a business or organization. The video suggests that a company would be better off purchasing their ideal keyword or brand domain name in a new TLD extensions rather than a settling for alternative keyword or brand domain name, presumably in .com.
I don’t know how Donuts plans to market or share this video, but it’s similar in nature to the 1 & 1 television commercial currently airing. With more than 300 new gTLD applications, Donuts is going to play a prominent role when the new TLDs roll out.
Regardless of where you get your domain name related news and information, you’re bound to see plenty of articles and threads about the new gTLD domain names. New gTLD domain names are coming, and they are going to have a big impact on the business of investing in domain names.
Now that we’re close to the point where new gTLDs are going to be available, and we’re past the point where companies are advertising the new TLDs, I am curious if you would reconsider your decision to not apply for new gTLDs, assuming you are in the majority and are not an applicant.
In a Domain Sherpa interview last week, Daniel Negari said his decision to spend more than a half a million on his three new gTLD applications “was one of the biggest no-brainer investments that I have ever had to consider.” I’ve heard others say similar things about their applications, so it seems to me that there are few regrets.
I would venture a guess that nearly all of us will own at least one nTLD domain name within the next few years, and some of us will likely be owners of large portfolios of these new TLD domain names. The closer we get to new gTLD availability, the more it seems people are finally accepting that these new extensions are coming and will impact this business in many ways. The actual impact is yet to be determined (and probably won’t be fully realized for several years) but it will be fun to observe and see how things shake out.
Now that we are close to seeing these new gTLDs be approved and marketed, I am wondering if you would apply for a new gTLD if you could turn back time and had the capital to apply. Vote in the poll below, and feel free to add a comment. You’re also welcome to share what new gTLD you’d apply for if given the opportunity to turn back time.
Vote below!
