.rest and .bar is looking to integrate more meta data into the content on the TLDs.
Daniel Negari, who has .xyz and .college. They are trying to give people from emerging markets to register a domain that meets their needs.
.luxury is a different business model. They want to make an internet for the luxury industry, different than the rest of the internet. They want to aggregate the luxury industry online. There is a place for mass products, but there is a place for people who want to reach those that dream, want to live on the top, or who are living on the top. The sunrise is beginning in a few weeks.
Question: What is going to be different about this new names? How are consumers are going to interact differently?
CEO of .Luxury: Companies and brands are going to have multiple domains. They can get a name that has meaning and relevance. This is about branding and they are trying to build a brand behind .luxury. They want consumers to want to know where to go to find what’s luxury in Las Vegas, and what is luxury in other places.
What is going to be different online? How do you use a domain name differently? You have to innovate.
There has been an audience that has been ignored, and there has not been a name space for Spanish content. Dot uno wants to become the Spanish internet. Rep from .uno: The content exists, but the content for Spanish does not exist. They are trying to create more content for Spanish. They are focusing on Hispanics in the US. They don’t have content online. The big vision is to get Spanish content online. The content exists, but not in Spanish. He is asking companies to translate the content but put it in Spanish on a .UNO domain name.
Is there going to be a competitive generic?
Daniel Negari from .XYZ: .xyz is trying to give internet users another chance to register a domain. They want a short, easy to remember domain. They want to be a true generic and is launching it for everyone. It’s easy to remember, short, and if you talk with non-industry people, the .com is taken so they can get the .xyz. They are going for low cost high volume and suggesting a price of $10 or less for an .xyz domain name. They are trying to build a community with .xyz. Beyond getting a short domain name, there are going to be other services offered. They are going to be offering lots of innovation with .college and they might use it for training purposes. Clubs may use .college. They are there to give people a low cost product that they like.
Niche names represent a large market, as well.
Rep from .ski: they are working with registrars to make the market aware so the market is educated. They are working with a registrar to introduce the ski industry with events that they go to. They want to educate the market, resorts, brand owners, businesses, and they want to have a place where users can share their Go Pro videos. They are taking registrars to the ski industry events so they can extract the value from them. .ski is not only snow skiers, but also water skiers. Snow sports is the largest market, and there are 25 million skiers globally. 200 countries that have snow sports. Consumers pay $400 a year on skiing. The industry is hugely tech savvy, especially if you are going to put a camera on your head and post it online.
How are the registrars adapting to the selling of the new gTLDs?
Greg from .bar and .rest: They are working hand in hand with registrars and approaching restaurants around the world. Restaurant trade shows and looking for registrars to help promote their names. A restaurant owner is not as tech savvy as other gTLDs such as .ski.
Utility is important, and buyers of domains know how to buy a domain but they don’t know how to necessarily use it and build a site.
.luxury rep: it is how it used, and not necessarily just the particular domain. It can be used for product launches, and their goal is to have a few founder users across the vertical. Their launch strategy is around a few founder users.
Daniel from .XYZ: They are doing a lot of awareness marketing with registrars, and their focus is on awareness marketing. Their market is generation X, Y, Z. For them, the awareness they have done so far proves that there is value that they bring to the table. If they see it at Godaddy, they have seen and heard about .xyz and they will go buy a .xyz domain name. The consumers want to know they can get a domain name.
None of the reps will name any names or brand applicants. The brand applicants will not tell anyone their brand strategy.
Rep from .UNO: they want to have people know that they can expect Spanish content on .UNO. They are embracing the small business owners.
Rep from .ski: they are using celebs and sports stars across the industry. They are using registrars who want to sponsor sports stars and have marketing opportunities with these gTLDs. They are using them as marketing tools.
The registrars are enthusiastically behind it all, and they want to sell all of the new gTLDs.
What are the new gTLDs doing with the domain investors? There is value there, and the domain name investors are skeptical, but they are looking at the names and investing.
Daniel Negari from .xyz: Domainers are not their target market. There are advanced auctions with NameJet, and you can go to Namejet and participate in the aftermarket before the domains are available. They are embracing it. One name that sold was blackfriday.xyz and it was an auction agreement. That smart investor could then sell the domain once it’s available. They get love mail, hate mail, and other mails. Domainers don’t want them to devalue the market. They are an open registry and they are going to let the market naturally develop. They are not going to hoard all the premium domains themselves.
They encourage the domain community to keep criticize the new gTLDs.
Note from Bill:When Daniel Negari said that he wants criticism, I understood it that he wants criticism so he (and the new gTLDs) can make changes to how they’re operating and making their policies, not whether or not the gTLDs are good or not or whether they should actually exist or not).
