SEMANTICS
speaks to your affinity than one that’s lumped in with everything else.
What we’re seeing with new gTLDs is not just that they’re being registered in large numbers across the broadest possible geographic area, but that registrants are actively using them to create
specificity and differentiation. Rather
than simply buying and parking new domains, or routing them to existing .coms, a substantial portion of registrants are making quick use of them in exactly the manner they’re intended to be used.
Te specificity of new gTLDs affords website owners something not possible in .com: memorable and meaningful names to which they have a connection or affinity. As GoDaddy—the internet’s largest domain name registrar—has said: “We’re purposefully moving from a phase when choice was very limited ... to a new namespace where domains can clearly indicate what you do, what your mission is or what problem you might solve.”
Te power of affinity can be seen in markets where .com was once dominant but is now a distant second to domains that show national identity (such as .de for Germany; .uk for Britain; .au for Australia). Millions of businesses in those countries abandoned .com in favour of TLDs that highlight national identity. Half the world’s domains are now in such country-code (cc) TLDs. Why? Because businesses and their customers have more affinity with their countries than they do with .com.
A .de address may not say much about a website, but it at least gives it some geographic context. German users can assume that a website with a .de address is very likely based in Germany, written in German, and at least somehow relevant to German users.
But ccTLDs offer only the broadest sort of affinity. Today, Berliners can register their addresses in .berlin, an appealing option if the more than 135,000 .berlin registrations to date are to be believed.
Tis preference for affinity isn’t simply geographic. Businesses and individuals have other,
powerful affinities. Forward-thinking pizza companies want to show customers their
www.trademarksandbrandsonline.com 35
Chepko Danil Vitalevich /
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