1930 New TLD Applications Will Be Announced

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Joe Alagna

New gTLD SummaryThe Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) received a total of 1930 applications, after refunds, for new generic top-level domains.

– 1846 of those are “standard” applications.
– 84 are designated as “community-based”.

Of the 1930, 66 have designated themselves as geographic name applications.

116 applications are Internationalized Domain Names, or IDNs, using non-Latin scripts.

Three applicants seek support through ICANN’s Applicant Support Program.

Applications were received from 60 countries. Using ICANN’s definitions of the world’s regions, which can be viewed on our website:

– 911 applications came from North America.
– 675 from Europe.
– 303 applications are from the Asia-Pacific region.
– 24 are from Latin America and the Caribbean.
– 17 from Africa.

Some domain names have been applied for by more than one applicant. There are 230 domain names for which at least two applications were submitted, involving a total of 751 applications.

Posted in Domain Name News, Domain Names, ICANN, New Top Level Domains, Registrars | Tagged , | Comments Off on 1930 New TLD Applications Will Be Announced

New TLD Window Closes – History Being Made

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Joe Alagna

Ok, it hit me once again; I am obsessed with domain names. It is 4:44:22 PM PST and all I can think of is the deadline coming up in fifteen minutes and thirty-eight seconds.  I had to walk away from my desk and take a break because of the anxiety. But it’s not a negative anxiety; it’s an anxiety of excitement that the first real step and deadline for an entire new world of top level domains is about to occur (will have occurred by the time you read this).

I felt the same way when I was bidding on Alagna.com.  I really wanted my surname in .com! Now I feel that way on behalf of our clients and partners.  I’m exhilarated by this and the minute hand on any clock I look at seems to have this dead weight attached to it.  The last ten minutes seem as long as the past year.

Just for fun, and to tip my hat (I really don’t wear hats) to the idea of digital archery, I’m going to try and post a tweet at exactly 23:59:00.

Update: I hit the time +1 second (24:00:00). Time will tell if that would have been a good digital archery hit

Congratulations, first to all my co-workers for the hard work they’ve done,  then to all our clients and partners; and finally to all applicants, who I know have been working very hard towards this historic moment.  Good luck to you all! You are truly part of a historic event online.

I know we have bigger, more difficult challenges ahead, but for now, I just wanted to congratulate everyone, including the people at ICANN on a great start.  So what is next?

P.S.  I posted my tweet at exactly 5:00:00 PM PST (12:00:00 AM UTC).  If it were digital archery, I would have been 1 second late. Hmmm…

Posted in Domain Name News, Domain Names, ICANN, New Top Level Domains, Registries, Uncategorized | Comments Off on New TLD Window Closes – History Being Made

New TLD Deadline Only 18 Hours Away

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Joe Alagna

I received this update just now.  It states that there are still 500 applications incomplete… Wow! We’re at 18 hours and counting down and there are still 500 apps not done!   I think tomorrow will be a busy day for a lot of people.

This is a big day for the future of the Internet. This deadline represents the last chance (at least for several years) that companies have to own their own space to the right of the dot.  It represents the beginning of possibly hundreds of new registries and top level domain endings that have never been seen before.  I want to wish all applicants good luck and success as we approach this historic deadline!

Someone gave me an analogy that I completely agree with (I wish I could remember who it was; if you read this, please remind me so I can give you credit).  He said that the ICANN process is like a glacier.  A glacier is always moving.  You can’t miss it.  There’s no excuse if you let it run you over.  And when it passes, everything in its path is changed. He pointed out that in some ways, we can take comfort in that because it is stable enough for businesses to count on for the foreseeable future. I love that analogy.  It’s very true about ICANN.

Below is the text of the announcement:

—

TAS Interruption – Update (29 May 2012)

 Statement by Akram Atallah, COO

 29 May 2012

 The TLD Application System, or TAS, is scheduled to close tomorrow, 30 May 2012, at 23:59 GMT/UTC.

 As of today, over 500 applications remain incomplete in TAS – either a complete application has not been submitted, and/or the full fee has not been paid. If you have not completed your application, we urge you to do so in TAS as quickly as possible.

 If you are experiencing difficulties in submitting your application, please contact the Customer Service Center for assistance at: https://crm-gtld.icann.org/portal-icann/

 ICANN has established the following target dates for the New Generic Top-level Domain program. More information on plans for the announcement of applied-for domain names will be provided soon.

 We appreciate the patience and understanding applicants have shown throughout the application process.

 Target Dates for the New Generic Top-level Domain Program:

http://www.icann.org/en/news/announcements/announcement-2-29may12-en.htm#target-dates

—

Posted in ICANN, New Top Level Domains, Registries | Comments Off on New TLD Deadline Only 18 Hours Away

Van Couvering Acknowledges M&M Strategy

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Joe Alagna

Antony Van Couvering acknowledged a bit of M & M’s strategy today in a comment over at Domain Name Wire…

Someone wrote that TLDH’s company is worth about $60M.  He commented that they are working with a few Geo TLDs in addition to their vertical ones.  What isn’t addressed in any of this is whether they will get them.  But it is likely a good strategy to have some geo tlds in their mix as a hedge against the possible failure to  be awarded enough vertical generics.

Of course, they’ve been the most public of any portfolio applicant but his thinking is characteristically insightful.

Here are Antony’s comments…

TLDH is a public company, so I am constrained about how I can talk about valuation. But let me provide some comparables about a subset of TLDH’s portfolio — geographical new gTLDs.

New Zealand’s ccTLD, .co.nz, has 400,000 registrants in a population of 4 million. That’s 10%. Great Britain (.uk) has 10 million names in country of 60 million – 15%. Germany, .de, has 15 million names for a population of 90 million – 18%. You will find that throughout the developed world, ccTLDs have registration that correspond to between 10 – 20% of their populations. These sales have occurred over many years, but the bulk of them have occurred recently.

Now consider some of the new gTLDs in the developed world where governments have given TLDH their stamp of authority. Bavaria – .BAYERN – has a population of about 12.5M. North Rhein Westphalia – .NRW – about 18M. Greater London Area – 14M. Greater Miami – 5.5M. Greater Budapest, about 2M. Total more than 40M people.

We think city and regional TLDs, with government approval, are highly analogous to ccTLDs. With proper execution, a company with a geo-TLD market ought to be able to approach the 10% penetration achieved by ccTLDs within a few years (remember, current ccTLDs have done essentially zero marketing). You do the math.

It’s our view that our current share price and market valuation is more than supported solely by the developed-world geographical gTLDs whose governments have chosen to work with us. In addition, geographical gTLDs are not the only new gTLDs we’re applying for.

I hope that helps.

Antony Van Couvering
CEO, TLDH

 

Posted in Domain Name News, New Top Level Domains | Comments Off on Van Couvering Acknowledges M&M Strategy