The Internet name and number distribution agency has passed the new top-level domain name extension program

According to foreign media reports, the Internet name and number distribution Agency (ICANN) yesterday approved the adoption of the new top-level domain name expansion program. This is one of the biggest changes in the Internet industry since the last century of the 80. And with companies and other organizations likely to start a scramble for cancer,.chocolate or even any of them to register for a domain name, 2012 will be a prelude to a new round of domain name registration.

At a special meeting in Singapore, ICANN voted for a big increase in the number of domain names. The domain name proposal eliminates all restrictions on the domain name suffix, and any word can be used as a domain suffix, and vendors can use their brand as a domain suffix.

Currently, there are 22 "class-Top domain Names" and 250 national domain names such as. uk,.de or. ca, including. info and. org. Under the current domain name registration system, even if not registered, the entire industry also has thousands of domain names to be registered, the purpose is to prevent "online malicious registration" event.

ICANN said it would soon inform the world of the decision. It will accept applications for the new top-level domain during the period from January 12, 2012 to April 12. In addition to the 185,000-dollar application fee, the domain name applicant must also provide proof of ownership of the domain name being applied. ICANN will outsource the verification of domain name ownership to hundreds of consultants. The new domain name is expected to be approved by the end of 2012. This means that there will be hundreds of top-level domain names in the near future, as well as the emergence of complex web sites such as Coke.zero or Italian.food.

Every year, all companies in the industry have to invest hundreds of thousands of or even millions of of dollars in the protection of the domain name to be registered, in order to prevent the conduct of domain name transactions, financial fraud or the sale of fake and shoddy goods by individuals to carry out malicious registration.

Josh Bourne, executive partner of Fairwinds Partner, a U.S. domain name consultancy, points out that ICANN's domain name verification measures may help curb the occurrence of malicious preemption. But these measures cannot prevent the scramble for domain names between companies that can provide proof of ownership of the same domain name.

"For example, the consumer goods producer Unilever (Unilever) and the world's largest confectionery manufacturer, Mars Inc., who will get the right to use the Dove domain name?" said Mr Bourne. Unilever produces Dove soaps, while the company produces Dove chocolate.

Domain Registration Golden opportunity

Bourne said the application process was limited and closed. This means that, in order not to provoke peer competition, companies are likely to keep their domain name application process Confidential. In addition, Bourne said, the next round of domain name applications may have to wait a few years, so even those who do not want to take the risk of the company can not afford to miss this opportunity to register the serious consequences of this domain registration.

"Even if you don't want to use it in the short term, the safest option is to register the domain as soon as possible," says Bourne. "He noted that because of the domain name registration clause to avoid registration too similar to the detailed provisions of the domain name, so for some brands, preemptive strike is particularly important."

As an example, once the world's largest logistics company distribution experts United Parcel Service Company (United Parcel Services Inc., UPS) successfully applied for registration in the first round. UPS domain name, then for example five years later, the world's leading financial services agency UBS AG Again want to apply for registration. The UBS domain name, "The answer will be no, because the previous one has registered a. UPS domain name, and these two domain names are very similar." ”

In addition to the need to pay the application fee, the domain owner must pay an annual cost of approximately USD 25,000 for each domain, as well as technical maintenance costs ranging from USD 50,000 to $75,000 a year, he added. Bourne said that the use of each domain name ten-year cost of spending may be up to 2 million U.S. dollars. For global large consumer goods producers, which have dozens of brands, the fee is likely to reach millions of or even tens of millions of dollars.

The new domain name rules have far-reaching implications

Jeff Ernst, the lead analyst at the market research firm, Forrester, says the new domain name has also brought huge business opportunities to the company's marketing.

"Starbucks may want to create a network community with a domain name of. Coffee for coffee fans," Ernst said. This will help the company to establish a very good customer relationship. ”

Bourne points out that another great use of the new domain name is being used to repay the company's loyal customers. For example, let the company a brand of the most loyal customer base exclusive of the brand name of the e-mail address or website.

Ben Crawford, chief executive of CentralNic, the london-based Internet domain name registration service provider, said that the number of domain names registered worldwide with a. com suffix is around 100 million, accounting for about 50% of the global number of registered domain names. Once all the restrictions on the domain suffix are removed, it means that any language can be used as a domain suffix, such as Chinese characters or Cyrillic letters (Cyrillic). This new rule will have far-reaching implications.

"Non-English domain names are likely to be the main drivers of the number of domain names registered over the 1 billion mark," Crawford said. The internet is becoming more and more globalized. ”

In spite of the huge business opportunities, it is likely that companies will not move their existing Web content to a Web site with a new domain name suffix, Bourne said. That would mean losing the search rankings that companies have built on search engines such as Google.

"It takes a high risk to move content that already has a high weight in Google's search rankings to a new Web site, something that has never been heard before," says Bourne. He also noted that it was not possible for the company to replace all employees ' e-mail addresses by using the new domain name suffix.