With the news that businesses will now have the opportunity to snap up brand-specific Internet domains through ICANN’s latest gTLD program, no more will domain squatters have a strangle hold on the dot com. That is, if companies have the cash to fork over 200 grand for their brand. Let’s face it, owning Bob dot bob could be a game changer, but the cost may be prohibitive.
The ICANN gTLD “dot brands” are the most recent convention being talked about on the World Wide Web, the move gives some companies the chance to use an internet domain that is specific to their brand name, meaning companies such as Pepsi or Nike will no longer be limited to using a .com or .org domains. Instead, they will be able to host their online operations on .pepsi or .nike domains, and etc. And, experts say that the gTLD brands offer a number of advantages, such as a better (branded) experience for customers, as well as obvious SEO benefits.
Who's looking out for the little guy? - Courtesy © laurent hamels - Fotolia.com
ICANN has announced that there will be a three months grace period, during which businesses will have first option to register domains specific to their brand name, from January until April next year. A $5000 deposit is made, then when the dozens of pages of documentation are done, and the red tape crosses – Bobsrealty dot property can own a very powerful brand. Dot Branding, as industry insiders term it, will probably be changed forever.
However, there has been criticism from some quarters about the scheme, particularly regarding the costs of registering a gTLD. With application fees in excess of $185,000, plus additional fees likely to follow, the dot brands have been lambasted by some as nothing more than a money making scheme for ICANN, who have priced small businesses out of the equation. For the medium sized business, an article on Search Engine Journal suggests a solution however.
SEO and SEM expert Ann Smarty, reported on the latest ICANN initiative, and in so doing mentioned a couple of companies on the leading edge of Dot Branding. One, VAYTON Brand Capital, offers an interesting service for new DotBrands. In short, a way around the excessive costs thanks to special intellectual property rights legislation in Luxumbourg. According to Vayton, companies can essentially take tax incentives for their Luxembourg registered brands, and use these to “auto-finance” their new domains. For those who do not know, Luxembourg offers some of the strongest protection laws for intellectual property assets in the world, not to mention tax savings of up to 80 percent for businesses operating from there.
Companies like Vayton, Dot Brand Solutions, Brand Shelter, and many others have loads of information about these new domains. For those whose companies rake in enough to “save” $200,000 in tax write-offs in Luxembourg, it might be a good idea to contact VAYTON. As for the rest of us? At least we won’t have to worry about domain squatters, but then me operating out of Bob dot microsoft probably won’t happen – EVER.
I leave you with video from ICANN which explains a bit more about these new gTLDs.