Over 250 new gTLDs and gTLD registries have come online over the last several months. Over six hundred thousand new domains have been registered on the new gTLDs, but the rollout has not been without controversy. New gTLD lawyers who are monitoring the situation note that many of the newly registered domains with these new registries are actually “reserved domains” by the registries themselves. It is unclear what percentage of the domain registrations are legitimate third-party registrations and how many domains are actually reserved by the registries because they are premium domains or because the registries believe they are going to be profitable down the line. Along this same line, many domainers are noting that many of the best domains on these new gTLDs are being held back by the registries. Instead of tens of thousands of new generic dictionary word domain names becoming available, domainers complain that the best domains aren’t being made available to the general public by the registries.
There is no question that a significant number of really good generic dictionary single-word and double- word domains are being registered by domainers and end-users on these new registries. There is also no question that many of these new domain extensions make a lot more sense than dot-com. However, the average Joe, in all likelihood, has no idea that new domain extensions have been approved by ICANN or that new registries are coming online. It will take some time before the general public is aware of the new registries and, thereafter, attains a level of comfort which starts driving registrations and value in the new extensions.
New gTLDs will be rolling about once per week now for the next year or so. If you are looking for statistics on domain registrations for new gTLDs, I recommend one of two sites, www.ntldstats.com and www.registrarstats.com.
Comments