By Mayra Etayo
I recently wrote a blog that I titled the same as this one (please read at http://wp.me/p33uy5-69) about one of the biggest news stories to hit the internet since, well, the internet.
I’m talking about the re-start of the internet. I’m not being Chicken Little about this. In the next months, we will be witness to the Dot Big Bang according to NetNames.com.
During the next year and a half, over 1,000 of the 1,930 new general Top Level Domains (new gTLDs) that have been applied for will launch. To put it in perspective, currently there are 23 Top Level Domains (TLD’s), which include: .com, .net, .org, .tv, etc. There are 220 country codes (ccTLDs) such as .uk (United Kingdom), .cl (Chile), .pr (Puerto Rico).
Over 80% of all registered domains currently sit under these TLD’s. With the addition of the new gTLDs, “Very soon, your web site won’t have to be dot com, dot biz or dot net. It can be dot whatever you want.” according to NetNames.com.
Six hundred new gTLD’s will launch within the next 18 months. It’s time we start delving into how this “rewinding of the internet clock” will affect us. So far, I’ve heard how great it will be for business to be able to own the domain name of their choice.
But I am full of questions.
· Will prices for domain registration change?
· How will the influx of new gTLD’s affect searches?
· How will the new gTLD’s change search engine optimization (SEO)?
· How will small business benefit from the new gTLDs?
· When will all the new gTLD’s come to the marketplace?
· Can we anticipate any delays of gTLD’?
Many of these questions will remain unanswered until we see for ourselves. Experts can make predictions, but until the actual changes occur, it will be difficult to know exactly how each of us will be affected.
For now, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) may be our best source for news and updates for everything gTLD. Their web-site also offers webinars on the topic. For more information you can visit: http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/webinars.
It boggles the mind (mine anyway) that everyone with a website, every marketer, every person conducting an internet search will soon have to learn to navigate the most profound changes since the beginning of the internet.
Over the course of her extensive twenty-two year career Mayra Etayo has worked with over 50 local, national and international companies including, American Red Cross, March of Dimes, and AMACO Oil, the Village of Key Biscayne, encompassing media relations and press conferences, community relations, events production, newsletters, and crises communications.
