Round 2 Projected Timeline based on 2,000 applications received

The ICANN Round 2 new gTLD Application Window just opened and I noticed an update on the Timeline. See below.

Official info from ICANN is available here.

 

Latest ICANN Board Workshop at ICANN82

Extracted from the article : "New gTLD Program: Next Round: The Board reviewed the implementation status of the next round, including the development of the gTLD application processing project, progress on the new Base Registry Agreement, the approval process for vendor contracts, and upcoming milestones for the Applicant Guidebook".

Learn more: https://www.icann.org/en/blogs/details/recap-of-the-march-board-workshop-and-icann82-07-04-2025-en

New generic Top-Level Domains: a few things I noticed in November 2023

In November 2023, some new generic Top-Level Domains "changed status", here is what I noticed:

• There is an Independent Review Process which is dated 9 June 2019: it is the one about .GCC. The panel was confirmed seven months after it was initiated and as of today: "No hearings are currently scheduled" (more here).
• Five Top-Level Domains (new domain name extensions) were revoked in November and one was transferred. The revoked TLDs are:
• the .VOLKSWAGEN new gTLD
• .ETISALAT
• .اتصالات
• .ROCHER
• .KINDER
• the .PROPERTY Top-Level Domain was transferred.
• Google Registry launches new .MEME top-level domain (more here).
• Funny: the .CFD new gTLD is listed in the Registries' Top 10 with more than a million domain names created (more here). 
• Comments on Preliminary Determination were opened for two Top-Level Domains to be terminated (more here):
• .XFINITY
• .COMCAST
• The TLD Startup information page from the ICANN (that actually very few understand) was updated on seven TLDs (more here):
• the .BOFA Top-Level Domain
• .AEG
• .BLOOMBERG
• .PICTET
• .TATOO
• .FOOD
• .DIY ("do it yourself")

New gTLD: a few things I noticed in October 2023

A fast note about what I noticed in the new gTLD world recently:

• Amendment to .ONE new gTLD.
• Renewal notice for .BERLIN new gTLD.
• Revocation Report for .CITYEATS
• Revocation Report for .FRONTDOOR
• .BOT new gTLD, Trademark Claims Period: 30 October 2023 to 30 January 2024.
• The .DESI new gTLD was transferred to a proposed Emergency Back-End Registry Operator Program - ICANN.
• The .FLICKR new gTLD was granted the status of ".BRAND". If the date does not exactly match, it is because the info was updated laitely.
• The .CEO new gTLD was acquired by a third party.
• The GAP Trademark; just dropped 2 dotBrand new gTLDs:
• the .BANAREPUBLIC Top-Level Domain and,
• the .OLDNAVY Top-Level Domain.
• The .SCA new gTLD was terminated.

Technical Services Sr. Manager (gTLD Expertise)

Genuent is Hiring a Technical Services, Sr. Manager specializing in Domain Name System. This is a Direct-Hire/FTE position with a premiere client based in Los Angeles, CA. If you're a match, please reply or contact tsanchez[at]genuent.com.

Job Summary

The Technical Services Senior Manager is part of a group of gTLD technical experts. The Manager is primarily responsible for managing technical systems related to gTLD registries and registrars, and to provide technical feedback to other departments. The Manager is someone with years of experience in the technical side of a registry and/or registrar of domain names.

Key Responsibilities & Duties

• Provide Internet systems engineering and technical support (80-90% of the time) and manage technical projects and external relationships (10% of the time), to address operational issues impacting gTLD (generic Top-Level Domain) registries and registrars.
• Provide level 3 technical support and subject matter expertise to resolve complex systems engineering and technical issues.
• Serve as a technical resource on Internet system registry and registration services, Domain Name System (DNS) security issues, and Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs).
• Design technical protocols to facilitate the interaction between the Registries, Registrars, Data Escrow Agents, Trademark Clearing House (TMCH), etc.
• Provide technical oversight and advice for the gTLD registry accreditation/application process, and the evaluation and consideration of new services through the Registry Services Evaluation Process (RSEP).
• Manage technical projects involving other internal areas, contractors, and Internet community volunteers.
• Write detailed reports to document interactions with gTLD Registries and Registrars.
• Develop and implement processes to streamline operational activities.
• Guide efforts to integrate programs and processes.
• As needed, provide support to the Contractual Compliance team to facilitate gTLD Registry compliance with the technical aspects of agreements and policy, to the Policy team for implementation of new gTLD registry policies, and to other teams to resolve issues impacting gTLD Registries and Registrars.
• Answer questions and assist in the resolution of disputes with Internet registries, registrars and community members.
• Prepare detailed technical documentation, reports, presentations, and speeches for both internal and external audiences.
• From time to time, attend and participate in regional and international Internet technical forums and community meetings.
• Other duties as assigned or requested.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)

• Broad knowledge and experience in Domain Name System (DNS), DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC), Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP), WHOIS/RDAP, and Data Escrow standards.
• Demonstrated ability in at least one high-level programming language (e.g., Perl, Python, Java).
• Excellent skills as a power user of Unix systems.
• Very good English-writing skills in relation to technical documents.
• Experience using XLM and JSON.
• Bachelor's or equivalent degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Information Systems, or related field, plus 10 years of progressive, post-baccalaureate experience in the job, or in a technical capacity with a Top-Level Domain (TLD) registry or domain name registrar.
• Alternatively, will accept a master's or equivalent degree in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Information Systems, or related field, plus 5 years of experience in the job, or in a technical capacity with a Top-Level Domain (TLD) registry or domain name registrar.
• Ideally, experience with Internationalized Domain Names for Applications (IDNA).

Education and Experience Requirements

• Minimum of 10 years of experience with a bachelor's degree, or 5 years of experience with a master's degree, in Computer Science, Systems Engineering, Information Systems, or related field.
• Minimum 10 years of progressive work experience in _technical capacity with a Top-Level Domain (TLD) registry or domain name registrar.
• Values diversity and gives preference to candidates with demonstrated skills in languages in addition to proficient written and spoken English.

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements

• Work is performed in a normal office environment with limited privacy and some exposure to background noise.
• Work Location is Los Angeles.
• Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally 5% of the time.

Apply here.

New gTLDs for the Law: 2019 in Review

I listed eleven new Top-Level Domains (domain name extensions) which are connected to the law: it can be a profession or a generic term. In 2019, nothing extraordinary happened but here is what I noticed:

• One is a Trademark (a .BRAND new gTLD);
• One is a Chinese IDN (Internationalized domain name);
• The .ESQ new gTLD, operated by Google, was delegated in August 2014 and had two domain names created in January 2019, same as December.
• Four of these Registries have more than 10,000 domain name registrations and the number one had 27,324 domain names beginning of December 2019. Surprisingly, this Top-Level Domain is the .TRADEMARK new gTLD in its Chinese version: the .商标 (trademark) domain name extension.
• Two of these gTLDs exist in English and Spanish: .ATTORNEY and .ABOGADO. Note that "abogado" is the name of a fruit too.
• Three of these TLDs lost registrations during the year, it means that they had less registrations in December than in January of the same year: .LAWYER - .ATTORNEY and .ASSOCIATES
• Two had the exact same number of domain names during the entire year: no increase, no decrease.
• One of the TLDs that I like best is the .POLITIE new gTLD: is stands for "Police" in the Netherlands. It is the only one that I found from this kind: it's the only Police in the world to operate its own domain name extension. The application submitted to the ICANN says: "In addition, an Internet portal for the National Police will offer opportunities for partnerships with local stakeholders and provide a platform for local partners to share information concerning a particular incident or a structural problem within a neighborhood" but unfortunately, I was not able to locate that Internet portal. The .POLITIE new gTLD had eight domain names created as of December 2019.
• The .LEGAL and .LAW new gTLDs both gained an average of 600 domain names from January to December. Adoption is slow by end users but it is there.
• The .PARTNERS Top-Level Domain gained 1,000 domain names in one year.

Read the full report here.

Coming: "HEALTH new gTLD: 2019 in Review"

3 new gTLDs were terminated

The official ICANN page for terminated strings was just updated with " new extensions:

1. .xn--estv75g (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited) - 07 November 2019;
2. .NADEX (Nadex Domains, Inc.) - 16 October 2019;
3. .VISTAPRINT (Vistaprint Limited) - 14 October 2019.

I find it sad that the .VISTAPRINT was terminated : the company is BtoC (first), has lots of competitors and the use of its own Top-Level Domain could have made a difference in terms of online positioning. With the so many products it offers, nit now makes it difficult to go straight to the right content and frankly, a www.visitcards.vistaprint would have offered more precision.

The .BEST Registry: One Year After

The .BEST new gTLD registry was acquired one year ago exactly. I interviewed his CEO Cyril Fremont for an update about two important aspects of the project: adoption of “.best” domain names by the public, and THE.BEST : a new kind of social network offering its members a “.best” domain name, and to be paid for their reviews.

The Interview:

(This article was first published on LinkedIn)

Jean Guillon: Hello Cyril, we had this interview in November 2018, 3 months after the .BEST Registry was acquired by yourself, and I wanted to follow-up with you on the global project. It will now be one year so, how are things doing today?

Cyril Fremont: Hi Jean, and thanks for the invitation. Well, a lot has happened since and, like it often happens when delivering innovation, we’ve had a lot of good surprises, learnt new things, but the most important is that we have executed the .BEST Registry’s plan for this first year.

Jean Guillon: On innovation and new services, I kept an eye on your development and noticed that many Brand Protection companies are now offering the new Brands.Best protection service for their clients to secure their Trademark(s) on the entire .BEST domain name extension: how strings (second level domains) can be secured on the .BEST database?

Cyril Fremont: Well, since 1st June 2019 and following the INTA 2019 in Boston, we are now offering a comprehensive .BEST protection service for brands and Trademark holders who want to block any .BEST domain name containing their Trademark from a possible registration. It is really important for us to allow and give +6 months to brands, to protect their Trademark before the official launch of THE.BEST social network.

Clearly, THE.BEST social network is an amazing marketing and advertising opportunity for brands but also a serious threat to Trademarks. Cyber squatting is already a nightmare on existing centralized social networks so the question is not “when”, but “how much” cyber squatting can happen for a single brand within THE.BEST social network if they don’t secure their domain name(s); not to mention that our social network will also affect the reputation of all major brands revealing the user’s satisfaction score of any product or service.

Jean Guillon: You recently announced a standard price drop with an offer to renew “.best“ domain names at the best price. I registered for a certain number of domain names and I will certainly benefit from this new renewal pricing but you will find my question very straight forward: how do you earn money?

Cyril Fremont: Well, we have actually 3 different channel revenues : go.best (the registry), brands.best (the brand protection program) and the.best (the social network).

On the registry side (go.best), like all TLDs, we sell domain names the standard way through our network of accredited registrars and we also sell premium names directly to big brands. We registered a huge number of amazing premium sales over the last few months.

The key with our “.best” premium names is that we don’t just sell a domain name: we sell a business plan with a target ROI to our end-users.

“Best” is part of the most typed keyword in google searches. Millions of daily searches are related to the best. This is why we are so successful selling premium domain names ending in “.best”.

The string “Best” is such a strong asset that we don’t sell names: we sell brand equity!

So, on the brand side, we also offer a subscription protection service to block any possible Trademark cyber squatting. This new brand protection service really is a critical mission: it’s not just a business for us as we want to avoid recreating a cyber squatting nightmare at the public launch of our social network the way it happened with the .TK for instance. Our last channel is THE.BEST social network. We already start generating advertising revenues on THE.BEST social media early adopters. We also offer a satisfaction monitoring service and a review sponsoring service to brands which should become our mainstream revenue for the coming years. Facebook has announced that they were doing +120$ per user in the USA on advertising in 2018. We still target an audience of 100M .BEST users on THE.BEST social network.

Globally, (go.best + brands.best + the.best) over the last 12 months, we have reached break-even!

On the registry side, we have executed our .BEST plan to be up to 20K live domains on the 1st year anniversary of the .BEST acquisition, and we are proud about that.

We pay very much attention to what we spend and focus on what matters. But in the next few months and following our price change on 5th August, we will now invest a lot in Marketing.

Right now, the Brands.best protection service is what matters for us but the next big thing FY2020 is THE.BEST social network, please note this.

Jean Guillon: What’s that thing about “Decentralized platforms” that you keep referring to? I understand that it deals with THE.BEST social network to launch anytime soon but it is still a little unclear to me. As a future user of THE.BEST social network, what difference will it make for me?

Cyril Fremont: We are all aware about the problems related to data privacy and the use some social networks have of our personal details. A decentralized platform will allow us to ensure that the respect of your private information will correspond to what the law says in your country of residence. Furthermore, it’s not just about data ownership, it’s also about data responsibility. Coz if you are the owner of your data, then you are also responsible of then, the same way you are for a domain name.

Jean Guillon: Let’s talk about numbers now, shall we?

Cyril Fremont: well Jean, you follow us on Twitter and you probably noticed that we Tweet a lot about our registration figures: we had as an objective to develop “.best” domain names and to meet with adoption. When we acquired the extension, there were - if I remember well - something around 2,500 domain names created. We now deliver an average of 1,000 more domain names per week and we now have more than 23,000 domains registered. This is good but believe me...this is nothing compared to where we are going!

As I like to say, we are not even “day 1”. Scaling the unscalable is THE.BEST game.

Jean Guillon: Ok, so when is Day 1?

Day 1 will be the launch of THE.BEST social network!

Jean Guillon: I noticed your two YouTube channels, there is one for THE.BEST (which has not launched yet) and another for the Registry. This is something that registries don’t usually do and that they often drop once the TLD has launched: I kind of like the story telling but what happens when the TLD has launched?

Cyril Fremont: Yes, service providers tend to launch many communication tools thinking that they will contribute to their visibility. It is usually true at the beginning but then they often just leave it as it is and forget about it, not wondering about the bad effect it can have on their image then.

I am still not happy with what we have done on the video side. We can do more and we will do more.

The subject of domain names is not an exciting one for all social media users, but we are innovators with our Registry and we think that our story is a good one to tell.

Plus on THE.BEST social network, we will start a process of interviewing with all “Best” players of all major industries.

We also want to make history here and become an example to follow the way the .CLUB registry did.

For me the .CLUB is also a good example to follow. I like the string, they have an innovative marketing, start to have a strong user adoption and a great usage of their TLD, not to mention that they have a smart team that helps also for execution.

Jean Guillon: Talking about other TLDs, there was a deal signed with the AFNIC, the .FR Registry: can you tell me more about it? I understood that new registrants of a “.fr” domain name will be offered the same ending in “.best”?

Cyril Fremont: Yes, this is what the deal is about : a “.best” domain name will be registered for free for one year for each new “.fr” registration. The .FR had +600k new registrations last year so the potential for us is important in France and we already had the support of all major French registrars such as OVH, Gandi, NETIM, NameBay, Hosteur, ...

It’s historic and once again, we are the first to have made a such co-marketing partnership between a new gTLD and and a cctld (country code). I would even say that it’s not the last one, because other partnerships are coming and will be announced.

The idea here is also to prepare the launch of THE.BEST social network as every registered “.best” domain (free or not) will be able to be directly linked to THE.BEST social network beginning 2020. Usage = Value, that will be our difference.

Jean Guillon: Well, thank you Cyril for this interview. Can you remind me when THE.BEST Social Network is launching again and are there any other surprises coming?

Cyril Fremont: THE.BEST social network is coming FY2020. The next big surprise is that we have also decided to open the usage of THE.BEST social network to other TLDs, but that’s another story and I give you “rendez-vous” next year for that part. So, stay tuned, THE.BEST is yet to come!

Now more simple to find a new gTLD

Super happy to announce that my fix to properly recognize new gTLDs is now live in the Google app and search bar on Android. Upgrade to today's release, type in a domain on a new gTLD, and it'll immediately go to that domain (like desktop Chrome does) rather than searching it.

— Ben McIlwain (@CydeWeys) July 9, 2019

Just updated: new gTLD reports for May/June 2019

1. New gTLDs related to POLITICS,
2. New gTLDs related to LUXURY,
3. New gTLDs related to the MUSIC,
4. Multiple Registries : group of Registries,
5. Singular VS Plural versions of a new gTLD,
6. New gTLDs related to CATERING and CULINARY,
7. New gTLDs related to PHOTOGRAPHY,
8. New gTLDs related to CITIES,
9. New gTLDs related to COMPANIES,
10. New gTLDs related to the LAW and LEGAL things,
11. New gTLDs related to FINANCE,
12. New gTLDs related to a COLOR,
13. New gTLDs related to SPORTS,
14. New gTLDs related to ALCOHOL,
15. New gTLDs related to REAL ESTATE,
16. FRENCH new gTLD applications,
17. New gTLDs related to RELIGION,
18. New gTLDs related to CARS,
19. New gTLDs related to HEALTH,
20. New gTLDs related to ADULTS.

New gTLDs: a good read

This is a recent article, entitled "Food for thought on the new TLD business

models", written by Loic Damilaville.

I strongly suggest the reading of this publication for new comers to the new gTLD world, entrepreneurs wishing to launch a new domain name extension or, Trademarks starting to wondering about securing - and using - their .BRAND personalized domain name extension:

• Unequal business models;
• Brand TLDs (or .BRAND);
• Sponsored (or Community) TLDs;
• GeoTLDs (geographic Top-Level Domains);
• Pure generics:
• generic domains that can only reach a small customer base;
• "open" generics, with terms used worldwide, which are lucky enough to address a global target or at least one that is very broad. 

• The consequences in terms of marketing strategies;
• Exclusive TLDs versus mass TLDs;
• Bad pricing never pays;
• Rights holders and domainers, two false friends;
• Convincing investors;
• "Success" or failure is not related to volume but to the relevance of the strategy with respect to market conditions.

Read the publication on the AFNIC website.

Bright way to inform about new extensions

I just saw that offer for Premium domain names sold "in a package" and I find that this is a bright way to offer them. If I am not so much in buying Premium domain names or participating to auctions, I believe that considering categories of TLDs is very important prior to buying a domain name at the regular price. For example, one would be interested to know that there is a dozen of domain name extensions dedicated to the business of Music. When preparing to buy a domain name to publish a content about Music...one should better know about what exists on the market.

Categories of TLDs did not exist in the past
In "the past", you would have bought a ".com", or a domain name from your country of residence ending in two letters. Today is different, when buying a new domain name within a certain business, it remains difficult to be informed that many extensions could match with the second level domain desired; even worse when the plural version of a domain name extension exists: if you are in the Real Estate business for example, you should check this list of domain name extensions before buying. I would also suggest to check that list of similar extensions too...and maybe that one too* for plurals.

What I saw
I follow a limited number of Twitter accounts and the Registry of African Geo TLDs Twitted this link on which you can read ".Africa - .CapeTown - .Durban and .Joburg domains from only $1.50 per slice". As a person interested in buying domain names from this region, I would certainly be interested in knowing that these domain name extensions also exist for the domain name that I am about to buy.

What about Registrars?
I know how difficult it is to create the right algorithm to suggest registrants the right domain name but unless I am wrong, and after checking at many registrars, all focus on the second level domain and none on the first level domain itself.

* These lists are frequently copied by Corporate Registrars lacking ideas ;-)

UPDATED: Jovenet Consulting: The Group

I am launching "another" publication platform for users to follow the new gTLD News. This time, I will add publications to a Google Group.

What:
This group lists publications related to new generic Top-Level Domains (new gTLDs). Questions on new gTLD projects, dotBrand, community or geographic TLDs are welcome. This group is about sharing and learning about Registries and next rounds of the ICANN new gTLD program.

Where:
Where to read all publications:

1. Here: https://www.jovenet.consulting/news/group and it's better if you use Chrome (since Internet Explorer bugs the page), or;
2. Here: https://groups.google.com/a/jovenet.consulting/d/forum/post (the URL is ugly but unfortunately, Google Groups does not (yet) allow to map a domain name to it.

To post, send an email:
To post your publication(s), you should send an email to post@jovenet.consulting (content is moderated):

1. Object of the email is your Title
2. Content of the email is the Content to be published.

Why:
I believe that the ICANN is not as good as it could to promote new gTLDs and registries lack sales people or ambassadors to promote their string's identity. Talking to ICANN insiders only is not enough.
Also multiplying places where content can be accessed benefits to all: potential interested parties, new gTLDs, registries, potential applicants and sponsors (that is right, you can sponsor these platforms and increase your visibility).

And:
For the moment, content posted should be the same as the one posted to the new gTLD LinkedIn group (2,700 subscribers) but the idea is to migrate to a platform owned by Jovenet Consulting. I am confident that Google will allow G Suite users to personalize the URL of their groups in the future.

Coming fast: the .SPORT new gTLD

The .SPORT new gTLD is coming and all businesses related to sport will be offered a chance to register a domain name ending in .sport (instead of ".com").

This is an extract of the latest publication from the Global Association of International Sports Federations:

• A select group of Ambassador websites will go live during Summer 2018, becoming among the first ever at .sport;
• A consolidated launch period will run from September 4 to November 6, 2018;
• General Availability will begin on January 8, 2019.

Premium pricing applies during the consolidated launch period. Standard pricing will apply starting with General Availability.

Read the full announcement at the GAISF.

Finance and new gTLDs: blue or red?

There is a lot happening in Finance "and" new gTLDs. In fact this report on monthly domain name registration volumes is one of the longest from the Jovenet Consulting new gTLD reports. One of the reasons for this is that lots of Trademarks in the finance applied for their .BRAND new gTLD. The top of the report clearly is about generic domain name extensions dedicated to selling domain names but almost two thirds of it is about .BRANDs. Surprisingly, half of the .BRAND TLDs...are just not being used.

54 .BRANDS and 34 generics
Some Trademarks have put their personalized domain names in use and have registered more than 100 for them: .CREDITUNION (500 domain names) - .DVAG (200 of them) .BNPPARIBAS - .CITIC - .BLOOMBERG - .BRADESCO and .BARCLAYS

Between 10 and 100 .BRAND domains
15 financial .BRAND Trademarks have registered between 10 and 100 of their domain names. The interesting thing about this is that the volume of these registrations has kept increasing: a sign that .BRANDs are finding adoption?

No news from Boston Ivy
The registry in charge of operating .FOREX - .MARKETS - .TRADING - .CFD - .SPREADBETTING and .BROKER shows small signs of development and such niche TLDs with their low number of domain names registered seem to find difficulties to recruit registrars. Note that the price of these domains has already been lowered but...have all solutions been considered? Not sure.

Abandoned .TRUST new gTLD?
The .TRUST new gTLD received no more registrations on a one year period of time and sticked to 51 domains from January to December 2017. We found interesting titles used such as a "Domain Assured Portal" which could be an attractive service for owners of domain names at high risk of being stolen, wrongly transferred or..."and more".

Generics: blue or red?
What about generic financial new gTLDs? These are the domain name extensions dedicated to selling financial domains through the network of accredited Registrars: have they been successful in terms of volumes of domains registered?

First of all, it is important to note that 10 of them kept receiving registrations month after month and never lost one single registration (and when it was, more other domains were registered). This is a good sign for a registry (when it does not cheat). The extensions concerned are: .MARKET - .FUND - .CASH - .CAPITAL - .EXCHANGE - .FINANCE - .CREDIT - .FINANCIAL - .INVESTMENTS and .MARKETS

Then we have extensions which behaved strangely: the .LOAN gained 1,3 million registrations during the year. This is a lot and there is a story behind this...of course. It lost 1,8 million domains between June and July (...) The funny thing is that the plural version of this same TLD - the .LOANS new gTLD - gained registrations too but only has 3,584 registrations in total. Strange, isn't it?

Some TLDs lost (a lot of) registrations: The .BID new gTLD lost 90,000 registrations between January and December and .ACCOUNTANT lost 39,000 (its plural version - .ACCOUNTANTS - only has 2,573...in total. The .TRADE Top-Level domain lost 2,500 domains.

Finally, only five TLDs like .DIAMONDS lost registrations between January and December and 22 .BRAND extensions sticked to one single registration in one year.

Check the full report here.

New gTLDs: how they incite innovation

We thought new gTLDs would bring innovation to the world of domain names, but has it been the case? Clearly not...and this for two reasons:

1. It took too long for many projects to be validated by the ICANN and launched;
2. It cost too much Registries to wait and money dedicated to innovation went to...you know...when you have to pay your staff while waiting, etc...                     :-)

We also thought that innovation would be sudden but it appears that it is taking longer.

Is innovation coming now?

Clearly yes.

I see new kind of projects coming which did not exist because of the non existence of new gTLDs. All use and/or focus on new domain names:

• Tools to operate large portfolios of domain names with a minimum number of clicks: some Trademarks now want to find a use for all of these new domains they have to secure*;
• Tools dedicated to the meaning of specific TLDs (.email - .club - ...);
• Directories dedicated to specific domain name extensions: the interesting thing about new gTLDs is that some extensions now clearly mean something and help identify the content of a website directly when reading the domain name;
• Search engines for specific TLD meanings: why not search an info about a Contractor in a search engine dedicated to ".contractors" domain names?
• "Gain sharing" focussing on specific TLDs: a method to help Registries Registrants generate an income from a specific domain name extension;
• Mad scientists projects**.

Some registries are still having a hard time to make their project profitable but this is what is driving creativity today. There are failures with, for example, attempts to flood the market creating new domain names with no content; but little by little, we see that registries are not necessary - as we imagined it - the one to deliver creativity: registrants and entrepreneurs are now the one to take the lead. 

Rebranding is innovation

According to Verisign, it appears that ".com" was originally created to represent the “commercial” intent of a website so now there is a ".search" domain name extension, does it mean that it is time for Google to change its extension to perfectly match with what it is really doing?
What about The Time: isn't it time to change to a ".news" or ".press" to clearly express what it is about, or does it have to stick to that old speech about ".com" domain names and SEO?
Some Trademarks are showing initiatives:

• Bentley announced its http://www.corporate.bentley
• Total developed its Wiki: http://wiki.total
• SNCF will soon change to oui.sncf
• etc...

By the way, what sounds best here: "innovation is branding" or "branding is innovation"? Don't both sound good thank to new gTLDs?

We are interested in talking about your new gTLD innovation, contact us if interested. 

* conceived by Jovenet Consulting

** some are clearly imagined at Jovenet Consulting ;-)

New gTLDs: what said the press recently

Everyday, the online press, bloggers and new gTLD service providers talk about new gTLDs. Some TLDs were acquired recently, some .BRAND new gTLD applicants launched more new domain names and some community TLDs are still pending activation for some obscure reasons. Note that, added to the Newsletter, we launched www.gtld.events to announce new gTLD events.

1. The .HEALTH Sunrise Period;
2. New gTLD event: the GDS (Xiamen, China during 7th -9th July,2017);
3. Applicants in limbo as ICANN probes itself (.MUSIC - .GAY - ...);
4. Jovenet Consulting turns Five;
5. Another Cool $25 Million Bet on New gTLDs (.ART);
6. The .CLUB Registry turns Three;
7. How should I present .BRAND domains in advertising? (Part 2);
8. The .CREDITUNION Sunrise Period;
9. .PRESS Supports Press Freedom Day;
10. MansfieldBankOnline.com is now MansfieldBank.Bank
11. Event: the NDD.camp (June 26, 2017 - Paris);
12. Countries with Weird TLD Habits;
13. Can a New Domain Finally Bring the Art World Into the 21st Century?
14. Brand Control: The Next Stage for Digital (.NIKE - .BMW - ...);
15. Μόλις κυκλοφόρησε το νέο gtld .SUCKS
16. Buy Rightside: A Fast Growing Digital Toll Road;
17. The .STORAGE new gTLD was acquired;
18. The future of gTLDs (second round of applications just ahead?);
19. .XYZ domains can’t be registered in China;
20. MarkMonitor severs relationship with .FEEDBACK TLD;
21. The .CLOUD case study (Publication Date: 28 April 2017);
22. French: questionnements autour des modèles des nTLDs;
23. .NYC tech domain name auction kicks off at SnapNames;
24. HOT: the May 2017 update. All new gTLD reports have been updated;
25. .ART – the new digital dress code for the art world;
26. .AMAZON Final Hearing scheduled for 1-2 May 2017;
27. New gTLDs: someone said "STOP" (.RED - .BLUE - .PINK ...);
28. A silly premium strategy at .ART;
29. Domain Names to Become Insignificant within 20 Years or Less;
30. Oh, Those Wild and Crazy New TLDs;
31. Happening in May 2017 (.MARKETS and .TRADING): release of 35,000 ".markets" and ".trading" names at Registrars;
32. Domain Names Are Fading From User View;
33. Another forum post full of "new gTLD haters";
34. .ART will have 3.5 million premium domain names;
35. Dot-Com is Still King - of Domain Name Disputes;
36. More live .BRAND Websites: .STATEFARM / .MINI / .ABBOTT / .SBI / .SONY / .LIXIL / .SWATCH and many more...
37. HOT - The .ETH new gTLD;
38. 50K Domains Registered on The New gTLD .REALTY
39. Local Popularity & Global Influence: Nations and nTLDs;
40. ICANN - Shape the future of the New gTLD marketplace;
41. .AFRICA : La Chine très friande de la nouvelle extension africaine.

Find all these news in our Archives. Note that, due to the important volume of info published everyday, all titles cannot be added to the list above.

New domains won’t get cheaper: really?

I just read another negative article about new gTLDs and, if I admit that I did not read it until the end (long articles are rarely read until the end), I think it can be a good read on the SEO part.

The title is wrong

New gTLDs (and we are talking about "new domain names" here, not "new domain name extensions" ("new gTLDs" stands for "new generic Top-Level Domains" = first level domain = the domain name extension = different from the second level domain name which comes right before the last dot in a domain name. Got it? ;-)
But let's just not focus on a title but on the content of the article which seems to explain why new domain names "are going not going to be cheaper".

The story
The title is wrong because another registry just announced the opposite for its list of domain name extensions.

In the beginning of March 2017, a multiple Registry announced a price increase (read "Is this a death spiral for new top level domain names?") which caused many domain name investors to criticize that move: when you have purchased domain names, it is the registry who decides about the price. The registrar HAS to follow. He is the one to tell his client - the domain name investor - that he will have to pay more. So this is negative for everybody and in particular for the person to renew the domain names.

The reality
Very recently, another "multiple registry" (a company to operate several new gTLDs), announced the opposite: a serious price decrease. Boston Ivy is specialized in financial domain name extensions (".FOREX" - ".BROKER" - ".MARKETS" - ".TRADING") and published this:

1. domain ending in ".broker": legacy price = $500. New price = $20
2. domain ending in ".forex": legacy price = $1,000. New price = $30
3. domain ending in ".markets": legacy price = $40. New price = $10
4. domain ending in ".trading": legacy price = $50. New price = $12

Why investing now is a good move

So yes...domain investors can keep investing in legacy ".com" domain names at huge prices but targeting financial TLDs, in particular when there are so few domain names registered, can be a good move and the reason is simple: short and generic domain names - the most valuable domain names when it comes to investing in domain names - are available to register.

The announcement is available here.

What you missed in our previous Newsletters:

1. The Changing Conversation Surrounding gTLDs;
2. Randstad.tech
3. HOT - New gTLDs, the series (Chapter 1);
4. The .AFRICA Sunrise Period (Sunrise Period: 04 April 2017 to 03 June 2017;
5. When will the next round of the new gTLDs take place?
6. New gTLD Success Will Be Measured Only by Use;
7. Why PR Pros Should Consider a Not-Com Domain;
8. A Complaint about ICANN’s New Complaints Office;
9. .AFRICA Case Update;
10. Confusing - New TLDs aren’t dead, but some business models won’t work;
11. Boston Ivy Gets Competitive With Its TLDs, Offers Registrars New Wholesale Pricing;
12. For new gTLD service providers - Preparing for "Round 2" of the ICANN new gTLD program?
13. Ending soon: the .ECO Sunrise Period: Sunday, 2 April, 2017 - 16:00;
14. HOT - .BRAND Specialized Reports (download the .BRAND SEO report);
15. The dotAfrica (.Africa) gtld delegation has been faced by so much controversy for some time now;
16. New gTLD registries want a $17 million ICANN rebate.

New gTLDs: 3 conferences are coming

Let's talk .NYC : Thursday 23 February
Lets meet and talk tech, NYC, domains and auction. We have some great info on how .nyc is doing, what's coming next and much more. You can be investor, developer, fan or just curious about .nyc domain.
Register

DomainX: Sunday 9 April
Since inception in 2014, DomainX™ has been a dedicated annual domain name conference with multiple yearly events across the globe to network, spread awareness and educate public about domain names and the industry.
Register

Domaining Europe: Sunday 14 May
DomainingEurope is an event, where many Top Level Decision makers from the global Domain Industry meet,make Business and share new tendencies, tools and knowledge.
Register

More dates to be announced in coming Newsletters.

Update: 4 new gTLDs were delegated

Four new generic Top-Level Domains were delegated. It means that they will soon start to spread on Internet and you will see websites with domain names ending in:

1. .FUN (there were 3 applicants for this application);
2. .PHONE (there were 2 applicants for this application and a similar TLD already exists: the .TEL domain name extension which has more than 100,000 registrations);
3. .DATA (there were 3 applicants for this application);
4. .MOBILE (there were 3 applicants for this extension and a similar TLD already exists: the .MOBI new gTLD).

The dates for Sunrise Periods should be announced soon at the Trademark Clearinghouse.

What you missed in our previous Newsletters:

1. 3 new gTLDs coming? (.PHONE / .DATA / .MOBILE);
2. Are ".com" domain names dying?
3. Not-Coms See Major Growth in Web Traffic Rankings;
4. New Afnic issue paper "Brands and the new Corp TLDs";
5. Perfect Usage of a .Christmas Domain;
6. Update - In which extension(s) should companies secure their domains?
7. Will 2017 finally be the year of the new gTLD?
8. The .CHARITY Independent Review Process;
9. What is a .BRAND;
10. NewG talk #17;
11. Declaration on .AFRICA new gTLD;
12. .Com Domain Registrations Back Under 128 Million.

Domain name registration volumes: 

• New gTLDs related to COMPANIES; 
• New gTLDs related to the LAW (the .LAW is in the blue); 
• New gTLDs related to FINANCE;
• New gTLDs related to COLORS;
• New gTLDs related to SPORT;
• New gTLDs related to ALCOHOL;
• New gTLDs related to REAL ESTATE (many are in the red: end of the year?

Our reports are available here.

Since most new gTLDs have launched, reports will be updated on a monthly basis starting January 2017.

Note to our readers: starting January 2017, the content of our Newsletter will be sent by email only. It will not be made available online anymore on www.newsletter.domains.