DotAnything 101: Demystifying New Domain Extensions
After months of discussion and debate, ICANN, the governing body that oversees the use of domain names, has finally approved the creation of suffixes based on brands, hobbies, political causes, and just about anything else. This means that major brands like Apple can create addresses ending in ".ipad," Citi and Chase could compete over ".bank" and cities like New York can—and are— leveraging “.nyc”. However, starting a new registry to manage a new gTLD (generic top level domain) will be expensive ($185,000 for the application alone), and many people still have questions about if, or how, these new extensions will ultimately benefit their brand. This session will discuss the most important things entrepreneurs, business owners, and marketers need to understand in regards to the new gTLDs, the impact they will have on search and SEO, and the unique ways companies and organizations can use them not only to increase brand awareness but also to improve customer loyalty.
Presenters
Jeremiah Johnston has served as general counsel at Sedo (www.sedo.com) since 2004 and represents the company as a founding member of the Internet Commerce Association (ICA), sitting on the Board of Directors in the role of association president. Johnston is a 2008 "Up & Coming Lawyer" honoree by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and was chosen as one of the Boston Business Journal's "Forty Under Forty" for 2009. Domainer's Magazine named Johnston its domain educator of the year for 2010 for helping spread the word on the value of domain names as Sedo spokesperson during his tenure as company COO.