The .CONTACT new gTLD: some fresh news

The .CONTACT new gTLD was delegated in 2015 and a date was finally announced for its Sunrise Period.

Donuts Inc (Dog Beach, LLC), owner of this domain name extension, announced that the Sunrise Period will start on the 29th of September 2020, and end on the 28th of November 2020.

From what I understood from this project, there should be "a little more" than just registering a domain name when you go for your ".contact". Also, the TLD Marketing asset kit from Donuts offers nothing for this string so...can that be a sign that the .CONTACt new gTLd will be different from other TLDs? Let's wait and see what comes out.

More details here.

Which: .TEL or .CONTACT new gTLD?

I own a certain number of .TEL domain names (ie: registries.tel) because of the precision they offer. I consider that they are a right choice to point someone to a place where they could find your phone number and other contact details or directions. The pages offered by .TEL are basic and go straight to the point: the info is found in zero click.

Many registrants just received an email explaining that this is going to change and it is going to be possible to set up DNS to point .TEL domains to other kind of contents but the one offered by the .TEL platform: and after all, why not?

If I understand this move by the registry, probably because registration volumes are decreasing, I believe that opening these domains to other kind of uses could save the registry from declining. It is possible too that the strategy is to focus more on domain name investors: not to forget that some .tel domains are now old and using them for SEO might be of interest.

So where's the "but"?
I believe the "but" comes from the approaching .CONTACT new gTLD. I think it makes sense for readers of  website to find a place which offers how to contact a company and .TEL had succeeded in offering this "one page" place where a reader could find all contact options. This was innovation to me and it still is.

Three questions that I have:

1. Question 1: would someone want to call me on the telephone (the meaning of "tel")? or would someone want to find a way to contact me by telephone, send me an email or Skype me (the meaning of "contact")? Thinking twice, I think that ".contact" is more more appropriate for that job.
2. Question 2: is a complete website needed for  a ".contact" or a ".tel" website? I wouldn't build a website using such domain names: one single page would be enough and...I found the .TEL platform was already very good at offering this service (even if I found that it required too many clicks to add a link). I will migrate my .TEL domains to the new platform offered by the registry but I won't create websites for one reason: a website has to be hosted and the .TEL platform is already providing this. I won't change something that is already offering me satisfaction.
3. Question 3: isn't the .CONTACT new gTLD offer the exact same as the .TEL one? We don't know if innovation is coming with the .CONTACT new gTLD - unless that sentence on front page which says: "A platform for hosting contact sites. Conversations have never been so easy." There are two keywords here: "platform" and "conversations" - but it seems to be the case. We don't know yet if adoption will be met on a new concept but if it is, I'd say that .TEL has a problem because the registry who finds how to attract consumers offering added value with a domain name purchase, is not known yet in the history of Internet.
   The two word on the .CONTACT registry's front page seem to say it all: this is going to be an innovation and I can't wait to see what's coming.

As I wrote it above, I understand the position of the .TEL Registry to "do something" and change things if registrants stop renew their .TEL domain name. Unfortunately, if an innovation is coming with the .CONTACT new gTLD - which I already find quite attractive for companies - it is possible that it does not save the .TEL Registry. There were other things to do but to drop this TLD in the new gTLD arena. I hope domain name investors participate in saving .TEL because it is the only way that I see for this registry to survive.

This coming new gTLD in which I believe A LOT

Some Top-Level Domains are a success and this is noticeable by the number of domain name registered, no matter if some registries cheat a little. When the volume of domain name registered is not constant but keeps increasing, it is a sign that Registrants pay interest.

Companies
Companies are concerned by new generic Top-Level Domains and it is a subject that should be followed, not only because of the existing risk of infringement(s), but because it makes sense to use a descriptive domain name extension: when buying wine, you search for a sign that says "wine", not "buy"nor "shop" "commercial".

In the COMPANIES new gTLD report, I publish the list of new domain name extensions companies should consider registering their domain name with. For the obvious reason of budget limitation, all cannot be purchased but this is a short list extracted from the complete list of 1,179 delegated new gTLDs.

The .CONTACT new gTLD
The CONTACT new gTLD will hopefully launch before 2017. At the moment, the TLD is delegated and one domain name has been created. I am not sure it makes sense explaining why registering the domain name of a company in ".contact" is important so let's focus on what the Registry says about his extension: "A platform for hosting contact sites". If this sentence looks like the .TEL concept (you can check http://registries.tel/ as an example): a similar platform for all new domain name registered; another sentence says: "Conversations have never been so easy". One could be a place to store contacts and the other could be a chat platform.

Shall I have all my contacts stored at a third party application or provider with the risk of losing my address book if I forget to renew my domain name: definitely not or at least, I will be very careful with the security and backup aspect of such service. Will I want to pay for this? Not sure.

Whether this new gTLD will be a place to store contacts, chat or just "do other stuff", I am really excited about its launching. I also hope to find innovation: some sort of form service so people can write then the message is sent to an email? The potential is so high behind this multilingual TLD that, no matter what it offers, It is definitely domain names that I will recommend registering.

New domain name registration volumes:

• HOT - New gTLDs related to COMPANIES;
• New gTLDs related to the LAW;
• New gTLDs related to the COLORS;
• New gTLDs related to FINANCE.

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