The Problem with the New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

Over the last year the number of generic top-level domains (gTLD) has been greatly expanded. gTLDs are what you see at the end of a domain such as .com, .net, .org etc. This was clearly felt to be too limiting and so a whole raft of new gTLDs were proposed and adopted. These include .london, .furniture and even .blackfriday. You can find a fuller list here.

To me these were interesting but not ultimately useful until I started on a new side project and needed a new catchy domain. After going through countless .com domain variations and finding that … Read the rest

The Fascinating World of Top Level Domains

Yesterday was another big day for the Internet when details of who had applied for what ” gerneric top level domains” (gTLD). A top level domain is the bit that comes after the final period in a domain name, so .com, .co.uk.org etc. A process was begun a while back to open out the allocation of gTLDs and allowing anyone to apply for a gTLD so I could apply for .neil, for example. In practice only those with deep pockets could apply and it is fascinating to see who has.

Ignoring that this could be incredibly confusing for users the … Read the rest