Three leading companies in the domain space announced that they have teamed up to apply for, and ultimately manage, the .Online gTLD string. Directi, Tucows, and Namecheap independently applied for the .Online gTLD along with three other companies: Bitter Frostbite, LLC (Donuts), i-Registry LTD, and Dot Online, LLC.
The press release announcing the news gives a good explanation about why the group decided to partner up on .Online:
I want to share an interview about gTLD domain names that was recently posted on the Small Business Digest radio show on Blog Talk Radio, “the world’s largest social radio network.” The hour-long interview features a discussion with Kathy Nielsen, Director of Strategic Alliances (and Business Development for gTLDs) at Sedo. In the interview, Nielsen discussed the launch of gTLD domain names and how small to medium sized businesses can buy relevant domain names.
If you would prefer
According to a news report on a Grand Cayman-based local television station, Uniregistry is expanding its physical footprint. Uniregistry is the company founded and funded by Frank Schilling, and it applied for 54 gTLDs.
The report focused on the closure of a popular Brazilian churrascaria-style restaurant called Prime, and it said that the restaurant’s next door neighbor, Uniregistry, will be taking over the space.
I think it says something that Uniregistry is expanding well before gTLDs are awarded and available for public purchase. Whether the company has already overgrown its current office space or if it is ramping up to bring on additional employees and add equipment, it’s great to see expansion in the domain space.
Thanks to Bret for sharing the news.
Thought you might enjoy watching this commercial from hotel booking site, Booking.yeah, I mean Booking.com. Things are going to get more interesting later on this year or possibly early next year when gTLDs are available.
The downside to this commercial is that anyone who types in Booking.yeah will likely be taken to an ISP error page where Booking.com can pay for that traffic or they will be taken to a dead page because Booking.Yeah doesn’t work.
Thanks to Forrester for the tip.
Nearly two years ago, United Domains announced that the company would begin to accept non-binding pre-registrations for gTLD domain names. In a press release today (also announced on the company blog yesterday), United Domains reported “1 million pre-registrations made through its New Generic Top-Level Domain (New gTLD) Pre-Registration Program.”
The company offered users the chance to reserve domain names in 120 expected gTLD extensions, although there are nearly 1,500 actual gTLD strings that have been applied for. The press release did not mention whether there were one million unique gTLD pre-registrations or if there were domain names with multiple pre-registrations.
An important thing to note is that the pre-registrations aren’t binding, so people could pre-register hundreds or even thousands of domain names without having to actually pay for them or commit to paying for them once they become available. Obviously, many of these pre-registrations won’t materialize into actual purchases.
With that said, I think the most interesting aspect of the report ia the top gTLD extensions that were reserved, since that might give a general indication of what TLDs will have strong interest once they are available. Knowing the amount of interest might give applicants a boost when it comes time to the auctions for competing applicants on a TLD.
United reported these as “Top Ten Most Popular New gTLDs:”
This is a guest post from Matthew Godson, Co-CEO of Momentum Consulting Group. In this post, Matthew discusses his views on the introduction of gTLDs and how the Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Conference will benefit people who plan to invest or operate in the competitive gTLD space.
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More than a name.
It’s going to be a game changing year for domain investors. Experts opinions differ dramatically on how the roll out of ICANNs new gTLD program is going to affect domain investment strategies and how the value of existing investments is likely to be affected.
It’s inevitable that many TLDs are going to be a bust from an investing perspective. Of those that are going to be ‘open’ for investment, even single and double letter domains associated with obscure and unappealing new TLDs are going to be risky.
But there will certainly be big winners – and in many ways the new roll outs reset the clock for domain investors looking for a second opportunity on a coveted string.
But the new marketplace for domains is not going to be quite the same as the existing market.
The new variable in investing is going to be the team behind the new TLDs themselves and how they plan to introduce it, market it and brand it to consumers.
Are they well funded? Do they have a launch plan and a track record of success? Do they have the marketing and branding expertise to create the buzz that you are going to need in order to confidently realize a return on your investment?
In other words, for the first time in domain investing its going to be the human factor that forms the foundation for your investment strategy. Evaluating the teams behind these new TLDs will become an essential component of your investment strategy for 2013 and beyond.
Many of the investors who are serious about meeting the teams behind the new TLDs will be joining the domain community, registrars and brands at the Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Congress this coming March in New York. This event is designed to assist new TLD owners with their go-to-launch strategy as well as help non applicants determine their response. Investors will walk away with an insiders perspective on which new TLDs are going to be the winners – and therefore where best to invest.
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The Digital Marketing & gTLD Strategy Conference takes place March 11-12, 2013 in NYC. More information can be found at www.gtldworldcongress.com
