The Scoop on New TLDs

In the past few days, Canon has got the web buzzing. Have they released a new high-tech printer or million-megapixel camera? No, nothing like that. It seems that Canon is (if all goes as planned) going to be the first company to own their very own top level domain (TLD). In other words, they’ll replace .com with .canon for their site. But wait… it’s clever and all, but at first glance it doesn’t seem that practical. Isn’t it easier to just type .com than .canon? Theoretically, you wouldn’t have to type either to reach their homepage, which would reside at “http://canon” without the need for any other extension. What’s more, their email addresses would be simplified to something like, “info@canon”.

This announcement comes on the heels of the 37th ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) meeting in Nairobi, Kenya, where it was decided that ICANN’s New gTLD (generic TLD) program would move forward. In a nutshell, what that means is that as early as mid-2011 we can expect to see new gTLDs popping up everywhere. These new TLDs will be purchased by corporations, and organizations, and will also include geographic regions, such as .florida, .asia, or .canada. If you want your company to have its own TLD, you’re looking at about $185,000, assuming there are no disputes for the name, which could launch multi-million-dollar legal battles. In other words, the program is pretty much for the major corporations.

This entire issue raises so many questions, we can’t possibly address them all here, but the most basic question is whether opening TLDs for purchase is a good idea or not. After all, is it really necessary? All the latest browsers let you put a company name in the address bar and get to the right site a majority of the time, or at least get search results that will get you there. Of course this is sort of a low-tech solution, as it’s powered behind the scenes by a search engine, but it works. For corporate domains, it doesn’t seem like there is any advantage to web users. And it will require a serious fix for any email client or form validation script that wants to see a .com, .net, etc. extension to validate an email address. But there might be a couple of scenarios where entrepreneurs can benefit.

Those instances have to do with the new TLDs that will become public. If (when) Coca Cola buys .coke, you won’t be able to purchase Blogtrepreneur.coke. That protects their brand, first of all, and secondly, why would you want it? On the other hand, a .blog extension would make a lot of sense for any blogger. The same could be true for other possibilities, like .restaurant, .magazine, or .auto. And if you have one of 47 Bob’s Auto Repairs in the US, you might welcome a .chicago extension. Basically, in the big set of encyclopedias that is the Internet, new TLDs can organize things better than they are now. It’s like taking the book with all the “A’s” in it and putting “Animals” in its own book, and “Airplanes” in another. Your TLD extension will help describe your business further, making searches far more relevant and targeted.

So, while we’re not 100% sold on the idea, it has some merit, and it’s coming, like it or not, so the best anyone can do is make the most of it. What are your thoughts? Are new TLDs a good thing or bad thing? How do you think it might help your business? Join the conversation in the comments below!