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Coming to a URL Near You: Custom Website Domains

June 20, 2011 •IADT Online, Web Design and Development • 0 Comments

Bored of seeing the old “.com” or “.org” on website addresses? Major companies are ready for a change, too – which is why many are considering shelling out loads of money for customized website suffixes. You could be seeing these new web domains - .nyc, .paris and .canon potentially among them - rolling out next year, CNN reports.
 
The rules for the expansion of generic top-level domains were discussed by global Internet regulators on Monday, opening the doors for the new suffixes. This idea has actually been in process for over a decade, but the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has allowed for only a handful of new domains to be released since 2000. Now, plans are being finalized to allow for almost anyone to apply for a customized domain. Companies that are interested in this opportunity will be charged $185,000 per domain application, plus additional fees for setup and maintenance.

This customization not only helps with branding but also can amplify the validity of the organization. For example, companies would be able to tell their customers that only websites ending in their specific domain are their official sites. Brands in competing industries who apply for the same in-demand general domain (i.e., .sport or .law) can likely expect to fight for their in-demand keywords in an auction.

Tech blog Mashable reports more on the potential impact of the new top-level domains here. What do you think the value is in this new development for brands? Is it worth such a big investment?

-Lucille Moon-Michel, Web Design & Development Faculty, IADT-Online

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