ICANN approves the use of new domain suffixes

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) voted in favour of extending the website domain suffixes by private companies , which will allow them to replace .com with their own branding, such as .bank, .vegas, or .store.

“This is the biggest change to domain names since the creation of ‘.com’ 26 years ago,” said Theo Hnarakis, chief executive of Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services. Industry analysts speculated that corporate giants such as Apple, Toyota and BMW might be the first ones to make the change.

Hnarakis confirmed that “big brands with a clear marketing and customer education strategy (will be first) to exploit the name for competitive advantage”.

But he also warned that it won’t be a simple task to register for new domain suffix. “Brands need to act now if they want to apply for one of these new domain names as it is not as simple as registering a .com address. It is a complex task that needs thought and investment.”

In addition to adding more domain suffixes, the organisation also allowed for domain names in Arabic and other Asian languages.

By Charlie Fripp