Information-Age.com just published a story written by Russell Haworth, the CEO of Nominet which runs the .UK registry about the Branded Internet.
The story talks about the beginning of brands using their new gTLD domain names in lieu of their .com’s starting with Barclays recent announcement of the launch of branded domain names .barclays and .barclaycard.
Here is the sentence that caught my eye:
“There are some interesting whispers from the media and entertainment industry too: Google is rumoured to be considering switching over to .google in Q4 this year, and its YouTube brand is considering the same, with the launch of celebrity anchor sites (e.g. rockgod.youtube) to help communicate the transition to consumers.”
That of course would be huge for the new gTLD program if Google were to make the move to the right of the dot.
Mr. Haworth ends the story asking “are we moving towards a branded ‘after-the-dot’ internet? ”
His answer is “both yes and no. The prospect of their own domain will have huge appeal to big brands. But this group only make up a small proportion of websites registered.
For most, generic domains like .com or country-code domains like .uk – which hosts around three million businesses – will remain the best option.”
“The beauty of the internet is that it caters not only to large corporations and global brands, but also to small businesses, bloggers, and individuals starting out with nothing but a brilliant idea.”
– See more at: http://www.information-age.com/it-management/strategy-and-innovation/123459680/beginning-branded-internet#sthash.befQsLt5.dpuf
