Apple is using one of its .Apple domain names to market its newest line of iPhones. I am sure some people, especially those with a vested interest in the new gTLD program, will look at this as a big moment in the short history of the new extensions. I am also sure that others will brush it off and say that it doesn’t really matter.
I want to gauge what readers think about this news. Is it a big moment in history, not important at all, or somewhere in the middle? Cast your vote now and feel free to share your rationale:
Only if they drop or sell the dot com
Somewhat. Why?
It helps increase awareness that new TLD domain names even exist. For example, .us has been publicly available since 2002, but for all intents and purposes the American public still does not even know it even exists. Even among those who do know it exists, some are actually so uninformed they apparently think it means the pronoun “us” instead of what it really is. Yes, some publishers may be using it that way, but to still not know is alarming.
Eventually if enough people see “Example.Something” and it’s not .com, net or org, they may instantly realize it is generally a domain name and site on the net they can use.
And as I said at Rick’s Blog, I think .app also has that advantage, that people are likely to realize it’s something online they can go to. That helps the larger cause of TLD awareness in general.
Not important at all.
If they use it a 2nd and 3rd time, then probably worded the 1st time.
If once and done, some problems.
Seems like a stupid move to me unless they own the equivalent .com name. I wouldn’t be surprised if the marketing campaign becomes temporary due to confusion and meaningless confusion.