New gTLD

Domain registrar 1&1 has been advertising the new gTLD domain names somewhat extensively in the US during NFL games. The company may be advertising at other times as well, but I have primarily seen these commercials while watching football.

I find these commercials most interesting because 1 & 1 is advertising a product that is not yet available and the company doesn’t know exactly when the new gTLDs will become available. They are also advertising pre-reservations, which are non-binding.

That said, the company is reporting the number of pre reservations it has received, and that number has eclipsed 1.6 million. The top 5 pre reserved gTLDs are:

If you’re watching the NFL today, you may have seen one of (if not the) first new gTLD television commercials. Domain registrar 1&1 ran the commercial I embedded above. It’s all about notifying the general public about the new gTLDs that are coming, and it implores people to pre-reserve a new domain name now.

It’s interesting that the company has

New gTLD domain names are a source of discussion and debate throughout the domain investment space. Off the top of my head, I can’t really think of a more polarizing topic related to domain names.

Last week, I reached out to a random group of colleagues to get their feedback on the new gTLD domain names that will be rolling out soon. I asked them to complete the following sentence using 5 of their own words or less: “gTLDs will…” As you can see below, the responses run the gamut.

Within the next few months, new gTLDs will become available for the public to register, purchase, reserve, and use, and I think it’s going to be fun to watch what happens. I invite you to complete the “gTLDs will…” sentence in your own 5 words in the comment section.

Thanks to those who participated and to those who participate with a comment!