ICANN Is Playing Fast-and-Loose With Domain Names. Here Are 10 We Would Like to See

Nitasha Tiku — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:47:16 -0400

ICANN's long-awaited ruling came down today in favor of increasing the number of domains on the Internet beyond just identifiers for countries and suffixes like .com or .org or .gov. The move is liable to set off an "internet land rush," says the Washington Post. Any combination of letters, including non-Latin character, is up for grabs with only one check in place: every new domain suffix comes with a $185,000 application fee and a $25,000 annual maintenance cost. So really it's more of a check on what's in one's bank account, than whether the internet could benefit from a .rupertmurdoch or .walmart. AllThingsD's John Paczkowski predicts: "This is going to be a massive brand identity land grab and one that’s unlikely to do much good for consumers, but plenty for ICANN and its coffers." But rather than divvy up our beloved Internet according to who can pony up the fees, Betabeat would like to make a plea for honesty in domain names. Here are some helpful suffixes we'd like to see at the end of our URLs next year.

1) .contentfarm

Think how easy it would be to identify Demand Media properties or figure out which AOL-HuffPo blogs are just there for the SEO?

2) .vanityproject

With all the big paydays for tech investors and founders , we predict this segment of the internet will show considerable growth over the next quarter.

3) .futurepivot

That way when users hate your first idea, they'll know to check back again in few months.

4) .grouponclone

A handy guide for any public investors when Groupon IPOs.

5) .bs

C'mon, Bahamas. Give up this suffix for the greater good.

6) .dinosaur

How to tell your new media from your old.

7) .spam

Great SEO is like poetry, sprinkled with Google Ads.

8 ) .domainsquatter

Speeds up the process from squatting to bribe.

9) .bigbrandtypo

Yes, we're looking at you, Twiter.com

10) .xxx

Poof, like that, half your internet, all in one vertical.

Betabeat » ICANN Is Playing Fast-and-Loose With Domain Names. Here Are 10 We Would Like to See

ICANN Is Playing Fast-and-Loose With Domain Names. Here Are 10 We Would Like to See