OPTIMIZED SYSTEMS

Tailored Domain Names to Reshape Internet

Alison Diana | Date: 08-08-11 | Comments

Recently approved general Top-Level Domain names will allow URL addresses to include brand names, product categories and more.

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Tailored Domain Names to Reshape Internet
Next year, organizations will be able to augment or replace their existing URLs, such as .com, .net, or .org, with tailored domains that feature their own name, brand, product category, or area of business. But this personalization process is complex, lengthy, and comes at a price.

ICANN�the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers�published a 320-plus page application guide for generic Top-Level Domains, or gTLDs. The process is solely open to organizations and companies, not individuals, and ICANN plans to ensure representatives� 10-year record checks come back unblemished.

Applications will take at least nine months to process, said Elisa Cooper, director of marketing at MarkMonitor, an ICANN-accredited Internet domain registrar, during a July 2011 webinar about gTLDs. ICANN will accept applications for new gTLDs from Jan. 12, 2012 to April 12, 2012.

�The application itself is just 50 questions, which doesn�t sound too bad, but when you see these questions and you see what they�re expecting it becomes apparent just how complex it is,� she said, noting that the completed document can be between 225 and 250 pages long.

In addition to countless hours and days amassing paperwork, organizations also must shell-out large sums of money. Submitting an application costs $185,000 per gTLD, with no discount for multiple domains. ICANN offers partial refunds: Organizations that back-out before the evaluation is complete can get up to 70 percent of their application fee refunded. However, those who proceed through the process but are rejected receive back only 20 percent of the application amount. Other fees�such as a $50,000 bill for an extended evaluation or an hourly rate of $32,000 to $122,000 for dispute resolution�may also arise.

The bucks don�t stop there. Organizations then must pay to fund the domain for as long as it�s around.

�ICANN has opened the Internet�s addressing system to the limitless possibilities of the human imagination. No one can predict where the historic decision will take us,� said Rod Beckstrom, ICANN�s president and CEO, in a statement.

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