Major brands now have the option to operate their own corners of the World Wide Web, a development that is expected to foster greater competition and innovation online, while allowing organizations to strengthen ties with customers and other stakeholders, according to Reuters.
Major brands now have the option to operate their own corners of the World Wide Web, a development that is expected to foster greater competition and innovation online, while allowing organizations to strengthen ties with customers and other stakeholders, according to Reuters.
On Thursday, ICANN – the body that oversees top-level, international domain names on the Internet – began accepting applications from organizations that want to name and run their own domains. For instance, instead of .com or .org addresses, you may soon see .apple or .ibm.
Domain names are a crucial element of corporate and organizational branding and many companies end up purchasing numerous domain names related to their corporate identity or products in order to protect them, even when they have no intention of building them out. But only big players are likely to stake a claim to this new virtual real estate. The application cost is $185,000, and Reuters estimates startup costs in the realm of $500,000 with ongoing operations costing $100,000 a year.
Benefits of the new domains could include greater security. Scammers are unlikely to spend a quarter million dollars to set up .bankofamericas or .fedextracking. In addition, product makers like Apple that position themselves as lifestyle brands could grant .apple emails or domains to loyal customers.
Likewise, environmental groups may soon find themselves with a new – more authoritative – home on the web. Canadian company Big Room is applying to run the domain .eco, backed by groups like Greenpeace, WWF International and the Green Cross.
"The environmental community has never had a home on the Internet before," Big Room co-founder Jacob Malthouse told Reuters. "We see .eco as an opportunity for smaller organizations or smaller businesses. Maybe a .org doesn't really communicate what they do, or .com doesn't communicate it."
Big Room does not intend to auction.eco domain names. Rather, the group says it will certify only genuine environmental organizations, thereby screening out the greenwash.
Bart King is a PR consultant and principal at Cleantech Communications.
Published Jan 13, 2012 6pm EST / 3pm PST / 11pm GMT / 12am CET
Bart King is the founder and principal at New Growth Communications. He specializes in helping sustainability leaders develop thought leadership content and strategy