New gTLDs: four things we've learned

Heading into the launch of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), we knew what to expect. We knew, for instance, that years of artificial scarcity had created pent-up demand for new, relevant internet addresses, and that the initial response would be strong. But despite our combined decades of experience in internet addressing, a few things surprised us, and helped paint a picture of how the next generation of internet addressing is shaping up.

The first new gTLDs approved by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) technically went live in 2013, but none was made available to the general public until January of this year, when Donuts opened seven domains—.bike, .clothing, .guru, .holdings, .plumbing, .singles and .ventures—for general availability.

Since that launch, Donuts and other registries have made new domains available to the public on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis, and many more are now in the pipeline, waiting to go live. Although we won’t be able to evaluate the full impact of new gTLD programme until the launch process is completed, and perhaps for several years after that, early marketplace activity paints an interesting picture.

Buy global, brand local

After the first round of Donuts gTLDs were launched in January, we were struck by the immediate popularity of location-based names. State names, city names, and even neighbourhood names are by far the most popular early registration options in the new gTLDs.

Of the 20 most commonly registered addresses in all currently active Donuts domains, 16 are geographic in nature. We knew geographic names would be popular, but we didn’t know just how popular they would be across the widest possible range of domains. City names such as Washington, Tokyo and Moscow are being registered in all new domains at a high rate. That is also true for service-related domains such as .photography, .camera and .contractors, and for more general interest gTLDs.

Find your niche(s)

Donuts’ portfolio of new domains ranges from the hyper-specific (.florist and .contractors) to the broadly general (.today and .photos), with many gradations in between. Donuts’ vision of expanding the domain name system (DNS) has always hinged on providing registrants with a broad range of options to create relevance and identity in a manner that best suits their individual needs. Inherent in that approach is an understanding that different domains would require different metrics for success.

There are fewer potential registrants of .plumbing addresses than of .company addresses, but if .plumbing fulfils its potential as a key resource of the plumbing community, we will consider it a success.