Tuesday, April 28, 2020

UPDATE: the .MEET new gTLD

Just updated (27 April 2020)

Would Google be preparing the "After Covid-19" period with this update on the .MEET new gTLD? This is what the ICANN just published for the .MEET new gTLD Sunrise Period:
  • Sunrise Period: 25 May 2020 to 24 Jun 2020;
  • Trademark Claims Period: 25 Jun 2020.

Strange

Surprisingly - and again, I think I have an idea but I wish that someone else could explain this - the official application is pointing to the .MEET application from Afilias: a competitor of Google Registry: both are Registries and Back end Registry solution providers so I guess that .MEET is probably not going to use Afilias' platform for its operations. 

What the application says

I will get back on this if I have an explanation but I extracted the content below from the application from Afilias since it is the only one available:
There is currently a proliferation of online dating and companionship services on the Internet. Research shows that there are over 1,500 Internet dating sites in the U.S. alone, creating confusing choices for consumers. Most consumers do not have the time, money, or desire to use the services of more than a few dating services. As a result of this fragmented industry, consumers have limited choices of people to select from when they seek their ideal date or the perfect companion.

The purpose of .MEET is to create an Internet namespace which could be used by visionary entrepreneurs and⁄or the existing online dating and companionship matching providers to become the gathering place on the Internet for many of the more than 40 million online companionship seekers.

This new online namespace could be used to create a .MEET portal destination to facilitate the creation of secure, confidential and easily accessible Internet identities to enable Internet users to find registrars to become registrants of .MEET.

.MEET domains could also appeal to organizations supporting the online dating and companion industry. Online dating and companionship services may be interested in obtaining a .MEET domain to differentiate their services from other businesses that are now using a .COM, .NET, .INFO or other all-purpose TLD.

Registrars could collaborate with leading industry vendors to create new and never-before possible services to leverage the unique and easily identifiable .MEET registrant. Using existing or new offerings, .MEET registrants may want to create personalized, secure and anonymous Internet identities to make themselves easily discoverable by the entire universe of online relationship seekers.

The .MEET domain name and the registrants that obtain the .MEET TLD would help to catalyze a more efficient online dating and companionship service on the Internet. Using simple match-making features, large numbers of .MEET registrants, over time, could motivate visionary entrepreneurs or a visionary industry player to provide a more complete, market-driven service for consumers.

People would quickly come to know that others are actively seeking relationships and they can become easily discoverable under a .MEET domain. Over time, facilitated by new apps and virtual communities, visionary entrepreneurs, registrars and new and existing industry players, using proven social media capabilities, could help .MEET registrants to create more and better content to expand the size of the virtual community they serve. As the .MEET TLD is increasingly adopted and content accrues, search engines could modify their algorithms to specifically target .MEET sites and content, making the TLD even more accessible, relevant and useful. Due to these dynamics, we anticipate that we could have 15,000 domains under management (DUMs) after three years.

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