Promoting and protecting your brand in a brave new world

The new gTLds promise a totally transformed domain for brands. Ari Goldberger and Jason Schaeffer evaluate the defence mechanisms available in the new environment.

The new gTLds promise a totally transformed domain for brands. Ari Goldberger and Jason Schaeffer evaluate the defence mechanisms available in the new environment.

On January 12, 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will begin accepting applications for new gTLDs. gTLD stands for ‘generic top-level domain name’—the letters to the right of the ‘dot’ in a URL (website address), as in .com.

For many Internet users .com is the most common and recognisable gTLD and for nearly two decades .com has commanded a premium position for consumers and brand owners alike. In business terms two decades can be regarded as a long time; when applied to the Internet, it’s an eternity.