Brands lukewarm to dot-brand domain names: #8 of 2017
This is the third in a series covering the top stories on DNW in 2017, as ranked by pageviews.
The seventh most-viewed story on DNW in 2017 was regarding McDonald’s bailing on the fresh top level domain name program. The firm had applied to operate .mcd and .mcdonalds. In the summer it informed ICANN that it no longer wished to operate these two domains.
McDonald’s joined a modest but growing list of firms that applied for so-called .brand top level domains but later decided against running them. Other firms that withdrew in 2017 include HTC (.htc), Pampered Chef (.pamperedchef), Richemont Group (.montblanc, .chloe), The Boots Firm (.boots) and Orient Express (.orientexpress). Others withdrew in 2016.
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There are two things to consider regarding these firms’ moves.
First, it’s not surprising that some .brand owners have had second thoughts regarding fresh TLDs given the low overall demand for domains registered fresh top level domains. Like many generic fresh TLD applicants, some of these firms expected fresh TLDs to make a bigger splash. They applied thinking they’d be a bigger deal than they ended up being, so it makes sense to re-evaluate the costs of running the domains. Others applied on the mistaken belief that defensive top level domain registrations were necessary.
Second, the withdrawn applications represent just a modest percentage of the total .brand applications submitted.
Elsewhere, use of .brand domain names is expanding. Top level domain registry Neustar switched its website to .Neustar and firms like Amazon are promoting sites such as BuildOn.aws.
Another positive sign: firms that didn’t apply for .brands in the first round are asking ICANN to open another round so they can apply. That’s a signal of demand, at least from an applicant perspective.
Like all fresh domains, .brand top level domain names will only grow in awareness. Whether it makes sense for firms to make the expense required to run them remains to be seen.
