Wednesday, April 26, 2017

The .IDN new gTLD (or .INTERNET)

IDN has a lot of meanings and one of them is "Internationalized Domain Names". It is the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code for the country of Indonesia too.
The "AGB"
For anybody who went through the process of applying to a new gTLD in the first rounfd of the ICANN new gTLD program, page 67 of the new gTLD applicant guidebook (AGB) says:
"2.2.1.4.1 Treatment of Country or Territory Names: applications for strings that are country or territory names will not be approved, as they are not available under the New gTLD Program in this application round. A string shall be considered to be a country or territory name if: it is an alpha-3 code listed in the ISO 3166-1 standard".
So, someone paid $185,000 + all extra costs to apply for the .IDN new gTLD. The same happened for the .AND new gTLD and a few others I think.

Just for the note, the .IDN applications says:
"The purpose of the proposed gTLD is to offer a bridge for the Internationalized Domain Name Registrant to connect to users beyond their own language communities. This gTLD would be of help in furthering the Internet Communityʹs efforts to preserve the Internet as a unified, Global space. The proposed gTLD .IDN supports multiple cultural, linguistic and ethnic communities across the world by helping communities connect to the rest of the world across the barrier of language".
.IDN or .INTERNET ?
In a letter sent to ICANN in March 05, 2013, the applicant reported his mistake and offered to change it to .INTERNET. Probably a lot happened since 2013 but an answer to the applicant was published by the ICANN on the 24 April 2017 in regard to this change request. It says two things:
  1. "We note your commitment";
  2. "We encourage you to participate in the Policy Development Process".
After 4 years of procedure, there's still no answer.

What to think about all this?
Applying for a new domain name extension cost a lot of money and if the entry fee should be lowered in future rounds of the ICANN new gTLD program (not that nobody can tell about this today), it will still cost a lot so:
  • Do not apply  for a new gTLD if you have not read the applicant guidebook: this should be your bible when it has been updated and finalized for the next round (s);
  • Do not apply for a new gTLD "on your own" because you will forget something: in round one, I personally faced a geek who confirmed his boss that he would take care of the back-end registry process in his office to lower the costs. Talk to a pro with knowledge about new gTLDs.
  • Don't make a mistake with your application because it can then takes YEARS to be solved.
  • And again (even if this has nothing to do with this post) don't talk to backend registry providers about your project because if they don't sign you as their client, chance are high that there could be another applicant for your extension: talk to one new gTLD specialist, not all of them.

Monday, April 24, 2017

IDN homograph attacks and Branding

Which trademark/branding service provider is going to invent a product which includes to:
  1. Find a memorable name;
  2. Find the same domain name including:
    1. The ".com" domain name;
    2. The "industry related" corresponding new domain name (ie: ".forex" for Forex related businesses);
  3. Which includes characters free from IDN homograph attacks;
  4. SSL certificate.
The article with link above says that the problem is solved thank to browsers and SSL certificates but, will end-users double check if a domain name is true or not? I doubt it.

New generic Top-Level Domains: recent News

There were interesting news about new gTLDs in the online press these weeks. I strongly recommend the reading of the article about LEGO and the one on how to present a .BRAND domain name in advertising. The news:
  1. China’s Online Dominance Worry Brand Owners;
  2. New - The Mark Validation System;
  3. Events:
    1. Webinar on the Geographic Names;
    2. GDD Industry Summit;
    3. ICANN DNS Symposium;
    4. DNS-OARC.
  4. Multiple Registry pleased to report orders for approximately 90,000 standard name registrations across certain of its US and European facing top-level domains valued at approximately US$500,000;
  5. HOT - LEGO vs Cybersquatters: The burden of new gTLDs;
  6. HOT - Boston Ivy to drop premium renewals;
  7. Did New-GTLDs Start off on the Wrong Foot?
  8. DPML Upgrade for Enhanced Brand Protection;
  9. How selling cheap domains ruins your TLD for all users;
  10. .BRAND Trends and Recent Launches;
  11. HOT - How should I present .BRAND domains in advertising?
  12. Software Updates for Net Domains Could Spur $9.8B in Revenue;
  13. Are New G's INNOVATIVE?
  14. Geographic Names Webinar and ICANN59 Session;
  15. How to Get a Domain Name Transferred under the URS;
  16. This $20 billion company uses a new TLD for its website;
  17. How Brands Should Market Their .BRAND Domain Names;
  18. China’s April batch of approved TLDs has been released;
  19. WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center.
Want to receive daily news? Subscribe!

Wednesday, April 19, 2017

UPDATE: Orange is launching a Bank

Orange is the name of a fruit, but it is also a major French Trademark in telecommunication: the largest telephone operator in France and probably in many other countries in the world.

Orange is a ".BRAND" applicant
Orange is also a .BRAND new gTLD applicant who applied for the .ORANGE new gTLD. At the moment, the Trademark has two domain names indexed in Google and they are redirections:
  1. entrepreneurclub.orange
  2. startup.orange
The traditional "nic.orange" redirects to a ".com". The Whois seems to redirect to a ".orange" domain name.

Welcome to "Orange Bank"
Orange is the majority shareholder of Groupama Banque which is rebranding to "Orange Bank". The explanation is available here. One will wonder why a French company rebrands to an English name, in particular when Groupama has probably more French clients than English ones. I have a few doubts:
  • Could this change of name to an English one have something to do with the withdrawal of the ".BANQUE" new gTLD*, in which case "Orange Banque" could also have been a good name and orange.banque a fantastic domain name to use? I doubt it.
  • Could another reason be that the Orange Trademark is also managed by the UK? The .ORANGE new gTLD application was submitted by Orange Brand Services Limited, a company based in the United Kingdom, not in France. Come on...
  • Orange is the Registry for its own domain name extension: will it consider a www.banque.orange for the French version of its website and a www.bank.orange for the English one? And...has someone noticed what"s behind www.orange.bank? "Good Lord"...

Orange.bank
I had a look at the Whois to check about the owner of the "orange.bank" domain name and the Registrant is the Orange County Trust Company. The Registrant has an email ending with the orangebanktrust.com domain name and this does not look like it belongs to the telecom company that I use for my mobile. In one word: one of the most important telecom company is launching a new product named "Orange Bank" and the exact same domain name belongs to...some sort of competitor.

Considering the .ORANGE new gTLD?
I am confident that this long time project already has a person in charge of thinking about securing the right domain names upfront and just "naming" in general, but isn't this the perfect moment to demonstrate innovation and start using domain names ending in ".orange"?

UPDATE
It seems that Orange, a French Bank, will be using an english word in its second level domain...with a ".fr" extension: http://www.orangebank.fr. I will keep crying during the next two weeks.

Tuesday, April 18, 2017

Announcing a new gTLD Event?

I just launched www.gtld.events.

Please send your next event announcements to me. It can be a podcast, a webinar, a conference, a launching, a Sunrise Period, a special program; etc...

Events should be related to new gTLDs. Note that:
  • your event will be posted and announced on www.gtld.events;
  • your event will also be announced in the gTLD.club Newsletter (sent every day).

Don't know where to send your event announcement? Send your email here.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Strange article...

This is a recent publication about new gTLDs. It could look like it is written by a new gTLD hater but it isn't. I recommend the reading of this strange article doing the promotion of ... sub-domains.

Oh, and I love the ending: "new-GTLDs no longer have to be second best to dot COM".

:-)

Thursday, April 13, 2017

Latest new gTLD NEWS

A lot is said about new gTLDs every day and "reading it all" can be challenging and time consuming. We take care of this for you - everyday - in our Newsletter. Subscribe, it's free.

What was said recently:
  1. New gTLDs: Holding ICANN Accountable;
  2. Farewell to new gTLDs;
  3. Combating Five Myths About new gTLDs;
  4. French - Les new gTLD ont-ils de la valeur?
  5. Question: Does Google index the new domain names as “keyword”?
  6. Job: Director, Registry Services;
  7. HOT - Notes for a new TLD round;
  8. Chinese to invade .AFRICA? CEO thinks so;
  9. Major SEO contest won with a new domain name;
  10. Companies losing $10 BILLION by ignoring new gTLDs;
  11. Two new gTLDs were just delegated:
    1. .RUGBY
    2. .HOTELS
  12. The .WALMART new gTLD;
  13. After long wait, .ECO domains roll out this month;
  14. Top 10 Own Over 10% Of All New gTLD’s;
  15. Lack of safeguarding checks leaves children vulnerable to online abuse (.KIDS);
  16. New gTLDs = Amateur Hour;
  17. Cool - "New gTLD" source of info in Japanese;
  18. .CLUB Delivers Huge Sales of over $500,000;
  19. French - Le .AFRICA est ouvert. Titulaires de marques, ne trainez pas!
  20. Should You Use a New Domain For Your Website?
  21. HOT (French) - Les extension Internet identitaires;
  22. IWF calls on more in the domain industry to do the right thing;
  23. .FFEDBACK fires salvo over PICDRP complaint;
  24. New gTLDs are scapegoated for child abuse material;
  25. Have you got the best domain name?
  26. Self Driving Car Company Launches on a .AUTO Domain;
  27. HOT - New gTLDs for Companies;
  28. Major Startup launched with Pocket.Watch;
  29. Coming Sunrise Periods:
    1. .HEALTH
    2. .CREDITUNION
  30. Making new internet domains work for everyone;
  31. How Local are They? (GEO TLDs like .LONDON in the UK, .BERLIN in Germany);
  32. .FUN enters general availability today.

Monday, April 10, 2017

Financial new gTLDs

It is often an event when a new domain name extensions passes the 10,000 registrations or when it doubles its number of registrations from one month to the other. If no financial gTLD passed the 10,000 registrations this month, the .BROKER new gTLD more than "doubled" its number of domain name registered. This article might explain why.

Four domain name extensions are doing extremely well - one added more than 500,000 domain name registrations in one month (...) - and one lost a little less than 5,000 registrations. We removed the three extensions which were withdrawn from the list below.

New gTLDs with the "®" sign are registered Trademarks, which means that there domain names cannot be registered by third parties but from specific companies only.

The full report is available here.

The new gTLD concerned are: 

  1. .LOAN
  2. .BID
  3. .TRADE
  4. .ACCOUNTANT
  5. .BET
  6. .GOLD
  7. .FUND
  8. .CASH
  9. .DEALS
  10. .MONEY
  11. .CAPITAL
  12. .FINANCE
  13. .EXCHANGE
  14. .FINANCIAL
  15. .AUCTION
  16. .CREDIT
  17. .BANK
  18. .LOANS
  19. .DIAMONDS
  20. .INVESTMENTS
  21. .ACCOUNTANTS
  22. .CREDITCARD
  23. .MARKETS (s/p)
  24. .TRADING
  25. .BROKER
  26. .BNPPARIBAS ®
  27. .CITIC ®
  28. .BRADESCO ®
  29. .BARCLAYS ®
  30. .FOREX
  31. .BLOOMBERG ®
  32. .TRUST
  33. .PICTET ®
  34. .CBA ®
  35. .SHRIRAM ®
  36. .SAXO ®
  37. .DVAG ®
  38. .AIG ®
  39. .AXA ®
  40. .SCB ®
  41. .BARCLAYCARD ®
  42. .JCB ®
  43. .SPREADBETTING
  44. .CFD
  45. .CFA ®
  46. .EVERBANK ®
  47. .NAB ®
  48. .CHASE ®
  49. .SOFTBANK ®
  50. .NETBANK ®
  51. .ALLFINANZ ®
  52. .NADEX ®
  53. .JPMORGAN ®
  54. .CITADEL ®
  55. .PAY
  56. .DEAL
  57. .MINT ®
  58. .UBANK ®
  59. .BANAMEX ®
  60. .CAPITALONE ®
  61. .BOFA ®
  62. .FIDELITY ®
  63. .VISA ®
  64. .DISCOVER ®
  65. .CITI ®
  66. .LPL ®
  67. .LPLFINANCIAL ®
  68. .ICBC ®
  69. .COMMBANK ®
  70. .HDFCBANK ®
  71. .HDFC ®
  72. .STATEBANK ®
  73. .工行 (xn--estv75g) ®
  74. .CREDITUNION ®
  75. .ANZ ®
  76. .KFH ®
  77. .ALLY ®
  78. .PNC ®
  79. .AMERICANEXPRESS ®
  80. .AMEX ®
  81. .SAVE
  82. .HSBC ®
  83. .SBI ®

Friday, April 7, 2017

New gTLDs for the Law

We listed 10 new gTLDs related to the law and only one of them is a dotBrand. Surprisingly, it is the only .BRAND new gTLD to be offering to submit new gTLD applications to the ICANN : shouldn't this be considered when thinking of a company to submit your new gTLD application in round two of the ICANN new gTLD program? We think so.

This month, one extension keeps diving into the red for the third month in a row but three others are gaining a significant number of registrations.

We recently added the .ESQ new gTLD which belongs to Google and the funny thing is that it's been launched a very long ago but...no one noticed it. Here is what the new gTLD application says about .ESQ: "The purpose of the proposed gTLD is to provide a forum for lawyers and law practices to offer content related to their profession. ʺEsq.ʺ is typically used to refer to an individual who has been sworn in or accepted into their stateʹs or countryʹs bar. The mission of the proposed gTLD is to provide a dedicated domain space in which verified legal professionals can enact unique second-level domains."

Congratulations to the .LEGAL new gTLD which passes the 10,000 domain name registrations.

Oh, and yes, we consider that the .BAR new gTLD should be added to the 2017 LAW new gTLD report :-)

The list of new gTLD concerned:
  1. .LAWYER
  2. .LEGAL
  3. .ATTORNEY
  4. .LAW
  5. .PARTNERS
  6. .BAR
  7. .ASSOCIATES
  8. .ABOGADO
  9. .FAIRWINDS ®
  10. .ESQ
The full report is available here and we welcome more .BRAND TLD suggestions to be added to this report.

The .AFRICA Sunrise Period

The Trademark clearinghouse just announced the launching of the .AFRICA new gTLD Sunrise Period.

When:
  • START: Tuesday, 4 April, 2017 - 16:00;
  • END: Saturday, 3 June, 2017 - 16:00.

What the application says about .AFRICA
This is an extract of the new gTLD application submitted to the Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN):
"Our mission is to establish the dotAfrica TLD as a proud identifier of Africa’s online identity, fairly reflecting the continent’s rich cultural, social and economic diversity and potential. In essence we will strive to develop and position the dotAfrica TLD as the preferred option for individuals and businesses either based in Africa or with strong associations with the continent and its people. The dotAfrica TLD represents a unique opportunity for Africa to develop and enhance its domain name and Internet eco-systems and communities by collaborating with each other to:
  • identify, engage and develop African-based specialist skills and resources;
  • share knowledge and develop DNS thought-leadership; and
  • implement world class registry standards and contribute towards their continued development."

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Companies to register more "new" domains

That is a fact, companies don't have the budget to register their name in all new domain name extensions but they tend to register more domain names in targeted extensions. But...by the way, why would a company want to register its name in all available new domain name extensions?
Would it make sense for a company based in...Washington (USA) to register a domain name ending in ".sarl" when "SARL" is a corporate identifier in France, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon?

For this reason, we selected what we consider, the best domain name extensions to register a domain with for Companies; no matter where they are located.

The list of domain name extensions also includes the legacy ".com" domain name extension because we consider (for probably the next 10 years) that this old extension will remain a good one to secure and to use as a redirection to a new domain name. We also included two other legacy extensions and .TEL is one of them.

In this report, seven registries have more than 100,000 domains registered and four of them are increasing their domain name registration volume very significantly this month.

Two extensions, including an IDN, are losing registrations: 7,000 for the IDN when the .BLOG new gTLD does the opposite and gains 7,000 more domains!

The full monthly report is available in our Newsletter only which is sent tonight at 8PM CET.

For those who have an access to this specific report, we welcome your comments and will be happy to add an extension if it answers this question: "my company is based in Africa; does it make sense to register the Company's name in this specific extension?" Note that all websites are not translated into English but could be at a certain point in the Future of the Company. Some companies also secure their assets and register domain names to block a third party from doing it. There are various reasons why it can make sense to register a domain name, even if it won't be used.

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

New gTLDs and City names

The city of Istanbul gains more than 1,000 new domain registrations in one month, with its .ISTANBUL new gTLD. Three cities have sticked to the red for the past 3 months and keep losing registrations. Six cities are "in the blue" and have kept gaining more registrations for the past two months.

Eight cities just...don't want to launch and have one single domain name registered. One of them, the city of Boston and its .BOSTON new gTLD, should launch soon.

The .SYDNEY new gTLD passed the 10,000 new domain name registrations: "Congrats".

We are comfortable with adding the .TOURS new gTLD as a city name since this French city, also called "Le Jardin de la France" ("The Garden of France"), has a population of 140,000.

The domain name extensions concerned are:
  1. .NYC
  2. .BERLIN
  3. .LONDON
  4. .TOKYO
  5. .CITY
  6. .AMSTERDAM
  7. .KOELN
  8. .HAMBURG
  9. .MOSCOW
  10. .PARIS
  11. .ISTANBUL
  12. .МОСКВА (xn--80adxhks)
  13. .WIEN
  14. .VEGAS
  15. .IST
  16. .MIAMI
  17. .SYDNEY
  18. .MELBOURNE
  19. .QUEBEC
  20. .BARCELONA
  21. .BRUSSELS
  22. .TOURS
  23. .COLOGNE
  24. .CAPETOWN
  25. .NAGOYA
  26. .YOKOHAMA
  27. .GENT
  28. .JOBURG
  29. .TAIPEI
  30. .OKINAWA
  31. .TOWN
  32. .DURBAN
  33. .RIO
  34. .OSAKA
  35. .KYOTO
  36. .DUBAI
  37. .BCN
  38. .MADRID
  39. .STOCKHOLM
  40. .HELSINKI
  41. .BUDAPEST
  42. .DOHA
  43. .ABUDHABI
  44. .BOSTON
The April 2017 full report is available here.

We are open to add more city names, no matter if they are a generic string with multiple meanings. Forward the names to us. Thank you.

Latest new gTLD NEWS

These are the contents related to new gTLDs that we published a link to, in our latest gTLD.club Newsletters:
  1. The .FILM namespace is a viable new gTLD;
  2. Spotlight on the .CAM new gTLD;
  3. China approves more gTLDs;
  4. Interesting - How SHARP uses its ".sharp" domains;
  5. The .RADIO Launch timeline has been updated;
  6. Events:
    1. Webinar on Geographic Names: 25 April 2017;
    2. The AFNIC Forum: 18 May 2017.
  7. A new domain was sold for $183,000;
  8. HOT - Innovation in new gTLDs;
  9. .VIP and geographic gTLDs update;
  10. Bloomberg Loses URS?
  11. .BASKETBALL domains are live;
  12. URS is fast and cheap, but…
  13. HOT - Les modèles des nTLDs: questionnement;
  14. From $111 .BET Premium to a $6,500 sale;
  15. Search Engine Optimisation for .BRAND domains;
  16. HOT - Experts agree, nTLDs are as good as any other TLDs for SEO rankings;
  17. Can (and Should) Failed New gTLDs Be Saved?
  18. Almost 10% Of New gTLD Registrations In Upcoming Delete Status;
  19. Brand TLD Market Brief – March 2017;
  20. Country Bias in new top level domains;
  21. HOT - Studying .BRAND New gTLDs;
  22. LOL - When is the next round?
  23. HOT - The Dot Brand Observatory: a "date" is not the only question anymore;
  24. Registry wins .AFRICA domain battle;
  25. Want a .MAKEUP domain?
  26. Your Guide to Brand Top-Level Domains;
    1. What Are Brand TLDs?
    2. Why Now?
    3. What does the program status look like today?
    4. Why Many Big Brands Are Making the Move
    5. Cost Benefit
    6. What are domain names worth?
    7. What does it cost to protect a brand?
  27. Donuts tries the dirt-cheap domain model;
  28. Rightside changes brand blocking service for new TLDs;
  29. New gTLD Public Comment Opportunities.
We look for one single sponsor to which we will offer exclusivity on all contents and publication platforms until - and during - the next round of the ICANN new gTLD program. For details please see this offer.

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Photography and new gTLDs

There are 3 major increases this month in domain name registration volumes related to photography and one extension which keeps losing records. The extensions chosen to match with the subject of photography are:
  1. .WEBCAM
  2. .PHOTOGRAPHY
  3. .PICS
  4. .MEDIA
  5. .PHOTO (s/p)
  6. .STUDIO
  7. .DIGITAL
  8. .VIDEO
  9. .PHOTOS (s/p)
  10. .GALLERY
  11. .GRAPHICS
  12. .PICTURES
  13. .CAMERA
  14. .FILM
  15. .CAM
  16. .ART
  17. .MOVIE
  18. .SONY ®
  19. .CANON ®
  20. .MOV
  21. .PANASONIC ®
  22. .YODOBASHI ®
  23. .GOLDPOINT ®
  24. .NIKON ®
  25. .OLYMPUS ®
The few photography trademarks to have applied for their own domain name extension still do not have found how to use them. If Canon has launched one commercial ".canon" domain name, its major competitor Nikon is still in stand-by. The Sony Trademark, which is not only related to Photography has launched a few initiatives and has 8 ".sony" domains registered as of today.

Check the full report at Jovenet Consulting.

Monday, April 3, 2017

New gTLDs related to Catering

This a series of 18 reports related to new domain name registration volumes. The first report is for domain names extensions related to Catering and Food. The extensions concerned are:
  1. .PUB
  2. .COFFEE
  3. .CAFE
  4. .MENU
  5. .RESTAURANT
  6. .KITCHEN
  7. .BAR
  8. .PIZZA
  9. .CATERING
  10. .RECIPES
  11. .COOKING
  12. .REST
  13. .FAGE ® (see a case study here)
  14. .食品 (food)
  15. .EAT
  16. .FOOD
  17. .PAMPEREDCHEF ®
  18. .FOODNETWORK ®
  19. .COOKINGCHANNEL ®
  20. .CITYEATS ®
  21. .MCD ®
  22. .MCDONALDS ®
Noticeable domain name registration increases are more in the 100 rather than the 1000. No domain name extension is in the red this month but the much awaited .MCDONALDS domain name extension still does not show one single registration...yet. The .MCDONALDS new gTLD is an important .BRAND since this trademark has the capacity to communicate worldwide: something that new gTLDs desperately need to install and demonstrate usage. Trademarks (.BRAND new gTLDs) were added a little ® sign to be recognized.

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Did you notice?

There are two domain name extensions for:
  1. "Café": the .CAFE new gTLD, and;
  2. "Coffee": the .COFFEE new gTLD.
    (https://morere.coffee/)
But no application was submitted for:
  • "Thé" nor;
  • "Tea".
Just for the note, none of the two strings are listed in the ISO 3166 alpha-3 code list of prohibited strings by the ICANN new gTLD program.

.BRAND new gTLD Reports are updated once a month: CLICK HERE !