Why we're adding .APP to our new gTLD report

The "new gTLD reports" are monthly snapshots of new domain name registration volumes according to specific categories of businesses or groups and three of these reports are "special".

3 new gTLD reports are "indicators"
In our list of 17 reports, 3 are slightly different from the 14 others:

1. The report related to Companies lists the gTLDs in which we believe a company should register its name or trademark with;
2. The Singular VS Plural reports lists registration volumes but more important, it lists the TLDs that do exist in two versions: singular and plural (ie: ".accountant" and ".accountants";
3. The Multiple Registries one is an indicator of volumes registered from a group to have acquired several domain name extensions.

Why we're adding .APP to our report for Companies

There are several reasons for this:

• The cloud application market was valued at $ 52.605 billion in 2017 and is projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 14% over the forecast period to reach $115.71 billion by 2023. If numbers remain number, it still means that it is expanding fast. In more simple words, "apps" are adopted and chances are high that more companies either decide to point their website visitors to an application, or even create theirs;
• Domain names ending in ".app" were massively registered during their General Availability Period and when this happens, the risk increases for a Trademark to have its name squatted; so $20/year to block this from happening is not a prohibitive investment;
• It is multilingual: you say "app" to qualify an application is many languages worldwide;
• It's a memorable TLD if you are in the application development business;
• A SSL certificate is mandatory to use a ".app" domain name and SSL is a sign that security is increased on such a website: demonstration of security increases trust in a company;
• It's cheap and when domain names are cheap, potential users tend to buy them more and install them;
• It can be free: we acquired jovenet.app for free (for its first year of registration).

Companies are not concerned by all new extensions but a certain number them. The number one reason why we believe that .APP should be added to our list is that companies are coming to the use of applications and informing about it on a domain name ending in ".app" demonstrates innovation. Of course, application developers are more concerned by this statement.

A hidden reason

There's another hidden reason actually why we think that companies should secure their ".app" domain name...but this one...well, this is what we think: Google operates the .APP new gTLD and it is also a search engine; not "a" search engine actually but "the" search engine most of the world uses. Google decides what can be best indexed on its own platform. When informing about a content related to applications AND using a SSL certified website (recently advertised by Google to give a ranking boost to secure https/ssl websites), we think that using a ".app" domain name will rank better in search engine results.

The latest new gTLD report for Companies is available here.

Introduction of .APP domains by Google

...and how to secure them
.app, the web's first secure-only open top-level domain (TLD) for mobile apps and developers, is launching on May 8. This in-depth technical talk covers use cases for .app domain names, HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS), best practices for secure website development, and the unique security benefits of .app domains thanks to TLD-wide HSTS.

The .APP has 150.000 registrations

The .APP new gTLD has passed the 150,000 domain name registrations just after a few days it entered its "GA" period.

The General Availability period
Known as "GA", this period is when a registry has ended all previous periods such as the Sunrise Period one, Landrush and/or other EAP periods (for Early Access Program).

The GA period is the most important one for a registry dedicated to selling domain names through the network of accredited registrar. It allows to see if the business model chosen to launch the extension was good or not. When registrants buy lots of domain names on the first days of GA, it can mean that the extension will meet adoption.

A little history
In the case of the .APP new gTLD, there is an historic background since the owner of the Registry is "Google" and the application was won in an auction for $25,001,000.00. These are the two first main reasons why the launching of this extension was followed by various parties.

Another reason is that it is short and memorable for application developers who will want to demonstrate precision when introducing their "app" on a website. Amazon offers the same kind of extensions for Bot developers with a .BOT new gTLD.

Also, the number of mobile-only Internet users now exceeds desktop-only in the U.S and what do you need on your mobile: apps.

The .APP Business model
The business model chosen here was to sell these domain names at an average price below $18 (more or less) at retail registrars like Uniregistry or Google Domains, with a renewal price close to $25 each year. It is important to note that a SSL certificate is mandatory to use a ".app" domain name.

With the SSL certificate, understand that the price of the certificate should be added to the price of the domain name and hosting...unless if you decide to use G Suite where the SSL certificate is "offered" when using the latest version of Google Sites.

My opinion
I am no application developer so I don't really need such domain names and I find that the price is a little high compared to other domain name extensions, I like the idea to force users to use a SSL certificate: with the general increase of online fraud, it makes sense to show a secure website introducing an application. Will application developers use a ".app" domain name? I think so because Google has a strong image and an impact on users.
I also just think that it makes sense for a company to introduce its application(s) using a ".app" domain name...because "app" is the word commonly used and understood for "application".

The .APP (and .DEV) new gTLD was announced

The highly awaited .APP new gTLD is coming. As a reminder, this Top-Level Domain was won in an ICANN auction by Google for $25,000,000 in 2015:

1. Sunrise Period: 29 March 2018 to 30 April 2018;
2. Trademark Claims Period: 01 May 2018;
3. Qualified Launch Program: 27 Feb 2018 to 30 Apr 2018.

Learn more here.

The .DEV new gTLD is probably coming too but I could not find the official information but some details but in the recent consolidated .APP & .DEV policies.

Reminder: the .APP new gTLD is not just a simple domain name extension. You won't be able to do whatever you want with these domain names: surprise coming.