Three Years of Beyond the Dot: A Retrospective of the New gTLD Program
1. Three Years of Beyond the
Dot: A Retrospective of the
New gTLD Program
Nao Matsukata
President & CEO, FairWinds Partners
June 18, 2014
#beyondthedot
5. BACKGROUND
YESTERDAY & TODAY
A Comparison of the DNS Space since
ICANN’s First Public Meeting in Singapore
ICANN 1
1999
ICANN 50
2014
Number of Participants 100 2,200 Registered
Number of Internet users
171 million 2 billion
Number of domain names
registered
< 64 Million > 271 Million
LexisNexis Newspaper search
for “ICANN” in the past year
75 401
11. ICANN’S DECISION TO LAUNCH
THE MARKET
• In 1999, Network Solutions, Inc. (NSI) was the only
registrar for .COM, .NET, and .ORG.
• In 2000, Department of Commerce allows for an unlimited
number of registrars.
• By 2005, there were almost 300 operational registrars
accredited by ICANN.
• GoDaddy was bought by private equity in 2011 for a
reported $2.25 billion.
• Today, there are over 900 registrars, including Go Daddy,
eNom, Tucows and Melbourne IT.
12. ICANN’S DECISION TO LAUNCH
SUPPLY
3-letter .COM domain
names ran out in 1997
(17,576 possible
combinations)
4-letter .COM domain
names ran out in 2013
(456,976 possible
combinations)
5-letter .COM domain
names have also
decreased in availability
(11,881,376 possible
combinations)
3 4 5
13. ICANN’S DECISION TO LAUNCH
DEMAND
$11M $2.45M $1M
$.5M
$.287M
Big ticket .COM domain sales
Hotels.com sold
for $11 million
in 2001
Investing.com sold
for $2.45 million
in 2012
PersonalLoans.com sold
for $1 million
in 2012
14. ICANN’S DECISION TO LAUNCH
TIMELINE
ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) opens New gTLD Program policy
discussions
GNSO completes policy development process
ICANN Paris, ICANN Board approves the GNSO recommendations for introducing new gTLDs to
the Internet’s addressing system
First draft version of the Applicant Guidebook published
Fifth draft version of Applicant Guidebook proposed with the assumption that it would be the final
version
ICANN approves the New gTLD Program at its 41st Public Meeting
New gTLD application period opens, final version of the Applicant Guidebook published
December 2005
September 2007
June 2008
October 2008
November 2010
June 2011
January 2012
15. ICANN’S DECISION TO LAUNCH
GLOBAL GOVERNMENT REACTION
• GAC weighs in with Scorecard of 12 Issues
– Procedures for the review of sensitive strings (ICANN)
– Market and economic impacts (global)
– Use of geographic names (legal)
• Who owns .AMAZON?
16. ICANN’S DECISION TO LAUNCH
US GOVERNMENT REACTION
“I think we have to get used to dot-hotels, I think we have to get used to
dot-auto. I start from that position, but I listen. And I think a surge of new
names and addresses can create opportunities.
The potential for fraud, the potential for consumer confusion can lead to
fraud without a knowing act, cybersquatting, all of these are massive…
Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV)
United States Congress Reacts
Obama Administration Reacts
18. ICANN’S DECISION TO LAUNCH
DOMAIN INDUSTRY REACTION
Raised more than $60 million;
applied for 54 new gTLDs
Raised $33.6 million in Jan
2014; applied for 92 new
gTLDs
Raised more than $100 million
in first financing round after
creation in 2011; applied for
307 new gTLDs
Uniregistry
Minds +
Machines
Donuts
20. EVALUATION & MEASUREMENT
PROGRAM GOAL
In ICANN’s words…
“New gTLDs have been in the forefront of ICANN’s agenda since its creation.”
As part of its commitment to “promote competition, consumer trust, and
consumer choice in the DNS marketplace,” ICANN introduced the New gTLD
Program to “open up the top level of the Internet’s namespace to foster diversity,
encourage competition, and enhance the utility of the DNS.”
– ICANN, 2009 Affirmation of Commitments and
Preamble to the New gTLD Applicant Guidebook
21. EVALUATION & MEASUREMENT
DELAYS AND KEY CHANGES
DELAYS
Application period closes 48 days late
First new gTLDs are delegated approximately 150 days late
First ICANN auction takes place approximately 270 days late
KEY
CHANGES
Name collision delays certain applications, limits available domains
Closed generics must open up
Registry Agreement: PIC requirements and Specification 13
22. EVALUATION & MEASUREMENT
PUBLIC AWARENESS
74% of
Internet users
do not know
about new gTLDs.
44% of Internet
users surveyed
indicated that new
gTLDs either
probably or
definitely would
cause confusion.
70% of Internet
users say they will
trust branded
gTLDs.
74% 44% 70%
23. EVALUATION & MEASUREMENT
MEDIA COVERAGE
“Why Brands Will Win from New gTLDs”
“.BRAND applicants won a significant concession [Spec
13] at the ICANN meeting in Singapore […] “once
consumers begin to use and recognise branded
domains […] brand owners could be the winders from
the gTLD expansion.”
“We’re all used to the traditional TLDs, such as .net, .com and
.org, and the point of the initiative is to add a bunch of new
gTLDs to create more options because the Internet is running
out of good domain names to use. Now if I own a tattoo
parlor, I can register company.tattoo. Or if I’m a tax advisor, I
can register company.tax.”
24. EVALUATION & MEASUREMENT
SIGNIFICANT OUTCOMES TO DATE
• Uniform Rapid Suspension System (URS)
• Trademark Clearing House/TM Claims
Trademark protections have changed
• .NINJA, .GURU, .NYC
Increase in consumer choice and competition
• Additional IDNs
• ICANN Meeting Fellowships
Greater global awareness
25. ICANN’S DECISION TO LAUNCH
TOTAL NEW GTLD APPLICATIONS
Brand Terms
34%
Generic,
Geographic and
Other Terms
66%
Applications
Total Applications:
1,930
Applications for Brand Terms:
664
Applications for Generic,
Geographic and Other Terms:
1,266
26. ICANN’S DECISION TO LAUNCH
7 of the top 10 most innovative companies applied for a total of 194 new extensions, including
Apple’s .APPLE, Amazon’s .IMDB and Google’s .CHROME
CBS Valued at $34.5 billion, employs over 21,000 people (.CBS, .SHOWTIME)
AXA Valued at $43 billion, employs over 150,000 people (.AXA)
Ford Valued at $67 billion, employs over 180,000 people (.FORD, .LINCOLN)
AbbVie Valued at $86.6 billion, employs 21,000 people (.ABBVIE)
Walmart Valued at $241.7 billion, employs 2.2 million people (.WALMART, .GEORGE, .ASDA,
.SAMSCLUB, .GROCERY, .一号店 )
29. CONCLUSIONS
ICANN AND INTERNET GOVERNANCE
“We will support a free and open
Internet.”
- President Obama
Remarks to the UN General Assembly
September 23, 2010
30. WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Visit www.beyondthedot.com
to learn more about new gTLDs
Follow the conversation and
ask questions on Twitter using
#beyondthedot
