New Web sites coming soon
Posted
Jun 26 2008, 12:56 PM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
We could see some strange new Web URLs in the future, now that the group that oversees them has changed the rules. Now, people can apply for any domain extension, instead of sticking with the familiar ".com" or ".org." For example, Coca-Cola could use ".coke" in its URL, or Yahoo could apply for the ".yahoo" domain.
It opens up a new world of Web site creativity, and will spur another gold rush for the hot domains. That could mean trouble for speculators like Marchex, which has spent millions of dollars buying up different ".com" domains in hopes the sites will become popular enough to support an advertising network. Shares of Marchex are down nearly 2% to $13.21 at 10:30 a.m. PST.
Marchex was counting on a certain logic to the Web. The idea was that people would become so used to ".com" that they would simply type words followed by ".com" into the browser address bar. Someone interested in digital cameras, for example, could type "www.digitalcameras.com" and find links to cameras by Kodak and Sony. Direct navigation, as it's called, was thought to be a plausible alternative to Google's search bar.
Direct navigation may become a relic of the Internet, however, when companies start throwing all kinds of domain names at us like "drink.bud," "kodak.camera" or "shop.ebay." And that could be good news for Google, because it'll all be so confusing that we'll have to rely on search engines even more to get us to the Web sites we want. (The new domains will cost at least $100,000, by the way, so forget about your plans to register "mycat.rocks".)
Marchex, by the way, is more than just a domain parker. The company has invested in editorial content and wants to own a network of meaningful destination sites that will attract advertisers. The new domain system won't affect that goal, but it puts a key element of Marchex's overall strategy in question. Marchex shares have climbed 30% this year, but the stock may have just peaked.
Related reading:
Web domains could expand broadly under new plan
ICANN threatens to change the rules of the domain name game
New Internet domains: What do they mean for me?
