Are you ready to sell New Top Level Domains like .WEB, .MUSIC or .SPORT? How about obtaining your own company's .BRAND? Thanks to ICANN's New Top Level Domain program, hundreds of new domain name extensions like these will soon be a reality. Eisner will offer an update on the timelines and processes involved in the introduction of new domain extensions, examine how these new extensions will change Internet users’ perceptions of what is found to the “right of the dot” and explain how to ensure your hosting business is prepared to profit from them.

1. New Top Level Domains:
The impact and opportunity
Adam Eisner
Director, OpenSRS
Product Management

2. About Me
 Director, OpenSRS Product Management
 With Tucows 7+ years
 12 years experience in web hosting, domain
names, Internet marketing

3. About OpenSRS
 One of the world’s largest providers of domain
names, SSL certificates and email
 11,000+ resellers worldwide
 Toronto-based, offices in UK, Amsterdam, USA
 A division of Tucows

5. Demystifying Jargon
 Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD): worldwide
domain under contract w/ICANN
 Range from popular (.COM) to obscure (.CAT)
 Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD):
represent countries
 .CA, .US, .ME, .CO, etc.
 ICANN: Internet Corporation for Assigned Names
and Numbers
 Internet addressing, new TLD process

7. How Did We Get Here?
 Paris, June 2008: ICANN approves
implementation of new TLD program
 2009 – 2010: Several revisions of the Applicant
Guidebook, studies on “vertical
integration”, competition and other issues
 Singapore, June 2011: Final version of Applicant
Guidebook approved, new TLD program
approved, program launches

8. Result: New TLDs are Coming!
 ‘Right of the dot’ will matter
 Three major categories:
 .BRAND TLDs: .OPENSRS, .GOOGLE, .FACEBOOK
 GENERIC TLDs: .SEARCH, .WEB, .BLOG, .HOST, .CLOUD
 COMMUNITY / SPECIAL INTEREST TLDs: .TORONTO, .PARIS, .ECO

9. Timelines
 January – April 2012: Applications accepted
 April 2012: Cards turned over
 November 2012: Applications approved
 Live in the root thereafter
 Additional round possible at a later date
 It won’t be soon

10. PAUSE: What This is NOT About

11. What are the Opportunities?
 Get your own
 Reach new customers by selling others

12. Getting Your Own
 Stand alone among what could eventually be
1000+ potential Internet extensions
 Don’t share the stage with anyone else
 Put your business name on the right side of the dot
 Imagine: all the good names are available!

13. Reinforce Community
 “Before the dot” is an anonymous, less
measureable experience
 “After the dot” can be
exclusive, private, premium, secure
 YOU control who can buy a name

14. Community & Control
“We need to provide a safe and reliable web space
that will give our customers the trust and
confidence to trade with us… we have website
anarchy at the moment, with hundreds of sites for
different businesses and products. With our own
registry, we could control our web estate.”

15. Owning Experience & Insight
 www.BrandName.com
 www.twitter.com/BrandName
 www.facebook.com/BrandName
 www.My.BrandName

16. Costs
 Application fee: $185k (if successful)
 Partially refundable
 More if there are contentions, auctions, clarifications
 Legal fees, marketing fees, etc.
 Brand names can get away with lower budgets

17. How to Apply
 Fill out an extensive application
 Details business model, technology providers, etc.
 Consult the Draft Applicant Guidebook if interested
 Secure your partners
 Running a registry yourself = bad idea
 Many requirements around reliability – no-one wants a dead
extension
 Applications reviewed in early 2012

18. New Customers: The Other Opp
 Hundreds of new extensions mean selling to
dozens or hundreds of new markets
 What would these extensions mean to the
segments you currently market to?
 What about new markets?

19. Spotted in the Wild

20. Spotted in the Wild

21. Spotted in the Wild

22. And All Sorts of Others*
 .WEB  .IRAN  .PHONE
 .GAY  .KOREA  .POKER
 .BERLIN  .BAY  .SPORT
 .NYC  .BIKE  .PEACE
 .MUSIC  .LOVE  .QUEBEC
 .BAYERN  .MADRID  .FAM
 .GMBH  .MLS  .ECO
 .GAMES  .MONEY  .CAR
 . HOMES  . MUMBAI  . BOARD
* Not a darn thing has been approved yet, though.

23. Size and Success
 It’s not easy.

24. gTLD Registrations Since 2001
All gTLDs
.COM
The other 21
Source: ICANN

25. A “Sellable” TLD …
 Is smartly priced (less than $30)
 Doesn’t have any wacky rules
 Follows the standard
 Resonates with end users

26. How Do I Sell Them?
 Most will partner with registrars
 Brands won’t sell to the public
 Integration should largely look the same as
today’s extensions – just with more choice

27. Putting it All Together
 New TLDs represent an opportunity to secure
your brand and community
 New extensions represent new markets and
opportunities

28. Thank You!
Adam Eisner
Director, OpenSRS Product Management
Aeisner @ tucows.com