What can we learn from new gTLD registrant take up so far? 

Its early days for the new gTLDs. Can we learn anything from registrant take up yet? At the start of March 2014, the total number of registrations across over 130 new gTLDs was over 200,000, says Matthew Zook of Zooknic, which provides data and analysis for the domain name industry.  

The new gTLD, .GURU has attracted more than 40,000 registrations, .PHOTOGRAPHY 20,000, .TODAY and .TIPS 13,000 each. Five other registries have between 2,500 and 7,500 and the rest a meagre 1,000 or so. To have 200,000 registrations in the first quarter of the first year of the new gTLD program is hardly a tsunami when, for example, Nominet is registering over 105,000 .UK domains a month. Is this slow, low take up due to a lack of public interest or confusion at change of this magnitude? Is it because of poor marketing by registries and registrars or caution by rights owners that have the opportunity of priority registration in a Sunrise? Perhaps it is a combination of all these reasons – the natural consequence of a complex roll-out process.

The most keenly anticipated strings – .ART, .APP, .BLOG, .CLOUD, .MOVIE, .MUSIC, .SHOP – will not launch until much later this year when contention between the multiple applicants has been resolved. Some of these new gTLDs may capture the public’s imagination. Otherwise, we don’t expect to see any significant wave of registrations, other than in the geo-TLDs. The .LONDON new gTLD promises to be huge when it launches on 29 April. Meanwhile, if its innovation you want, you’ll have to wait for some of the “open restricted” and “.brand” registries to launch. What we have at the moment is what we’ve had for the past decade: registrations being sold to enhance online communication (and in the case of defensive registrations: registry coffers).

Com Laude offers corporate domain name management and online trademark protection for corporations worldwide. In addition, Com Laude offers the advice brand owners need in order to formulate a sharp strategy with regard to domain name registration in all the new gTLDs at the second level.

And…we’re off! First new gTLD strings are delegated into the internet’s root zone

History has been made! On 23 October 2013, ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) announced the first new gTLDs to be delegated into the internet’s “root zone”.

Akram Atallah, president of ICANN’s Generic Domains Division, proclaimed “It’s happening – the biggest change to the internet since its inception. In the weeks and months ahead, we will see new domain names coming online from all corners of the world, bringing people, communities and businesses together in ways we never imagined. It’s this type of innovation that will continue to drive our global society.”

This shakeup to the internet’s naming system is set to create opportunities to enhance competition and innovation on the web, through transforming how information is circulated, marketed and discovered online. VeriSign’s .com space is incredibly crowded, with many startups coining new words to name their company, just so they can acquire affordable .com real estate (e.g. Reddit, Spotify, Tumblr). These new gTLD extensions will transform the increasingly cramped domain name space, offering more variety and choice to all internet users.

The first delegated strings are:

You might notice that they are written in languages that do not use the Latin alphabet. That’s because ICANN decided to put Internationalised Domain Names (IDNs) first, to make the internet more global. Before today, aside from a few ccTLDs, IDNs could only be registered at the second level.

Now that the strings are online, it is up to the associated registries to sign up ICANN 2013-compliant registrars, coordinate PR and marketing efforts, publish their Sunrise Policy and issue their 30-day Sunrise Notice Period. In other words, this is a big milestone, but there is much work to be done before consumers start using domain names in these new pieces of internet real estate. That’s not likely to happen until the beginning of 2014.

How will ICANN handle 1,400 more new gTLDs coming online over the next few years? If reported alleged early violations are anything to go by, they will be completely overwhelmed.

How will trademark owners handle 1,400 new gTLDs coming online in the next few years? With trepidation and consternation. While they are given a chance to register their brands before infringers, it comes at a cost. Nevan Chellan, Com Laude’s Special Projects Manager for these trademark Sunrise periods, reports that “it’s still early days for brand awareness, but we are seeing an uptick in monitoring activity.”

How will the public react? Many have said that we don’t need these new gTLDs. We didn’t need our Kindle or camera phone a few years ago either. Now, they’re virtually irreplaceable.

Com Laude offers corporate domain name management and online trademark protection for corporations worldwide. In addition, Com Laude offers the advice brand owners need in order to formulate a sharp strategy with regard to domain name registration in all the new gTLDs at the second level.

Google signs its first Registry Agreement with ICANN

The time has come – another historic moment in the new gTLD program. Internet search giant, Google has signed its first Registry Agreement with ICANN for the new gTLD .みんな (“everyone” in Japanese). Google proposes that the TLD will adopt an open registration policy; therefore if a domain name under .みんな is available, anyone will be able to register it.

As yet, none of the executed new gTLD contracts have substantially changed from the approved base agreement, and with 44 Registry Agreements already signed (29 signed by Donuts, which is seven more than the same number of existing TLDs!), the first new gTLD Sunrise periods are likely to start later this year. We are therefore left wondering whether we will see the first registry go live before the next ICANN meeting in Buenos Aires; what an exciting prospect that would be!

Valideus, Com Laude’s sister company, offers strategic new gTLD consulting and registry management services for applicants engaged in ICANN’s New gTLD Program. It is currently managing 5% of all new gTLD applications for clients from a diverse range of industry sectors, including global leaders in e-commerce, banking, consultancy, food, insurance, media, software and telecoms.

20% of new gTLDs have UK roots

In this multi-national multi-lingual age of global communication across territorial boundaries, why do we still celebrate national success? Hard to say, but we found ourselves analysing the provenance of new gTLD applications last week. So how well did the UK perform?

Our not-very-scientific study indicates that of the total 1,930 new gTLD strings applied for, 394 (or 20.4%) were from organisations based in the UK. Of these, applications for 96 strings were from UK based organisations and 280 strings were supported by UK based organisations.

Although this figure of 20.4% includes the 18 applications made but withdrawn by UK based organisations, we think it is impressive that one fifth of the new gTLD registries have got at least one foot on this green and pleasant land. Credit must be given to Her Majesty’s Department for Culture Media and Sport, which strived to ensure that UK business was aware of the possible advantages to the digital economy that the new gTLD program could deliver. We’d like to name check Mark Carvell, the UK’s representative on ICANN’s Government Advisory Committee, who is particularly effective at championing British interests.

Valideus is managing 124 out of the 394 UK based new gTLD applications. First the applications were created and now the strategies for launch and day to day operation are being formulated. The process of identifying short and long term uses for a registry is Valideus' priority.


Valideus, Com Laude’s sister company, offers new gTLD consulting services for ICANN’s new gTLD process. It is currently managing 5% of all new gTLD applications for clients from a diverse range of industry sectors, including global leaders in e-commerce, banking, consultancy, food, insurance, media, software and telecoms.