gTLD – Dot Com Domains Are Not The Only Option Any More…

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

gTLD – No!  It’s Not A Sexually Transmitted Disease.  And, Dot Com Domains Are Not The Only Option Any More…

There’s a big change in the wind for the internet this year.  Have you ever wondered who is behind making the internet work?  No, really, it’s not The Great & Powerful Al Gore.  He stays busy nowadays fighting off witches and flying monkeys.

[Introduction Please…]  ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names & Numbers) is a non-profit organization that is responsible for coordinating much of what we see and do every day on the internet.

To find a person on the internet you need to have an address that is unique and identifies the computer you are looking for.  To find a website you have to have a domain name.  To obtain enough domain names for all the websites in the world you need to have domain extensions not only to identify what type the website is but to create additional domain names.

ICANN coordinates all of this for the entire world.  Without that coordination, the internet would either not exist at least would not be global.

In more technical terms, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) coordinates the Domain Name System (DNS), Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, space allocation, protocol identifier assignment, generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domain name system management, and root server system management functions.  http://www.icann.org/en/about/welcome

So, anyone active on the internet today knows that domain names are getting longer and longer because all the good short ones have already been bought.  When people starting using the internet commercially, the ideal name was one syllable long with a .com extension.  Now, we are seeing names like “http://www.IHaveABusinessIWantYouToLookAtOnline.com”.  Domain names are rivaling tweets or texts now in their difficulty of trying to type them in (or remember them).

To fix this problem, ICANN has created and is releasing hundreds of new domain extensions this year.  These new extensions will be known as gTLD and will be in addition to the existing TLD extensions we currently use.

TLD stands for “Top Level Domain” and is what you currently type into your browser to get to a particular website like ““.  These are examples of extensions that we are all familiar with (not a complete list):

•  .biz Business
• .com Commercial
• .info Information
• .mobi Mobile Devices
• .net Network
• .org Organization
• .xxx Adult Entertainment

Starting this year, ICANN will be introducing hundreds of new domain types called gTLD.  gTLD stands for “Generic Top Level Domain”.

The intent is to do a few things. First, it will allow businesses to be grouped into three basic categories. BRAND (Wallmart, Coke, Pepsi, etc.), PLACE ( .london, .africa, .scot, etc.), GROUP (.music, .phd, .bank, etc.).  The industry is expecting between 1,200 and 1,500 applications, 80% of which will be .brand, 10% .place and 10% .group.

Second, it will allow users to get back to a shorter domain name.  Obviously, instead of remembering a long domain name, now you will remember a shorter gTLD domain name but the extension could be one of hundreds.  However, the gTLD extension should be in line with the type of website it points to to reduce confusion.

Third, by increasing the number of available gTLD domain names it should keep or drive down the price of domain names as supply increases along with demand.

Examples of some of the new gTLD extensions are

The new gTLD domain extensions will be released in 4 phases.

• Pre-Registration
• Sunrise
• Landrush
• General Availability

Pre-Registration – allows you to submit a request to register a particular gTLD domain name ahead of time.

Sunrise – a registration time that is specifically for trademark holders (no, you can’t buy Walmart’s gTLD domain name then hold it for ransom).

Landrush – a premium registration opportunity for those seeking an early, non-trademark registration.

General Availability – first come, first served.  However, there may be some requirements for registration.  For example, if you’re trying to register a gTLD domain that shows you are a member of an organization.

There are a number of people who make a very good living buying and selling domain names.  For those of you who are not familiar with this, there are attributes of a domain name that makes some worth more than others.  Just in buying and selling real estate.

A piece of land may have increased value because of it’s spectacular view that looks out over a spreading valley with a wandering stream and majestic jagged mountains as a backdrop.

So are domain names.

If this interests you as a way to make a living you should start watching domain auctions.  Log onto sites like http://www.flippa.com where they auction domain names and complete websites.

You can then start to buy gTLD domain names on speculation.  gTLD domains can be appraised just like real estate.  Also, like real estate, you can have an official appraisal done or an estimate made on the value of your g TLD domain.  Estimates are either free or cheap and many are obtained from websites who would like to get your domain listing.  You may get a feel for the value of your gTLD domain but it will generally be some what inflated.

A certified appraisal of your domain will be a bit more expensive to obtain but will give you a pretty good idea on what it should bring in the market place.

So, will gTLD’s be the next gold rush and enable people to accumulate huge fortunes on speculation?  Not really.  ICANN has approved so many new gTLD domain extensions that it should dilute the ability to corner the market on catchy new domain names.  Remember, one of the purposes of this move is to actually control or lower the cost of domain names.

If I were in ICANN’s position and could create new gTLD domain extensions, I would have created one under the “Government” category called “.ruletheworld”.  Then, I would have immediately bought and issued to myself the domain name “http://www.icann.ruletheworld.

Hey guys, no pitch here today.  If you’re interested in blogging for a living come on over and check out ““.  Yes, it’s for real.  Yes, it works.  And YES YOU can do it too.

Lynn

p.s.  gTLD : Shoot me an email at domains@ljmarket.com with any interesting or clever uses you see of the new gTLDs.  I’ll include them in a future post…

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