ICANN calls…Amazon Answers Alibaba with new GTLD acquisitions!
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as ICANN, is the non-profit organization responsible for ensuring secure operation and network stability in regards to the coordination of maintenance and methodology of multiple databases that host unique identifiers, as they relate to the namespaces of the Internet.
They are most notably known to the public for the Internet’s global Domain Name System, or DNS. Over the last 20 years, since the invention of the internet, the introduction of domain names or “extensions” has evolved and grown. We began with .com, grew to include poplar extensions like .org, .biz, .net, .info, .edu and many, many more as TLD’s or Top Level Domain Name extensions were populated for purchase. Again, the internet is ever-growing and expanding so that the naming system has been forced to evolve basic TLD’s into gTLD, sTLD, uTLD and ccTLD subcategories. The nice folks at ICANN are held accountable for this advancement.
With that in mind, ICANN hosted an auction recently, which was designed to offer up control of top-level domain names. Included in the mix was the .BUY domain. Contenders in the auction consisted of big names like Google, Donuts, and Famous Four Media. However, there were only two firms willing to shell out over $1.5 million for the rights to ownership. Amazon won the bid with a whopping $4.6 million!
What does the .BUY domain mean for its Amazon owner?
When you sell a product or service, your goal is to get the customers attention, and get them to BUY what you’re selling. The domain name itself directs them to buy something, it’s a very powerful marketing tool all on its own!
Any marketing guru will tell you that hidden or subliminal messages increase conversions and sales, oftentimes the most effective measures are painstakingly obvious, yet cleverly muted. These are the type of messages that might spark impulse purchases for one individual, while inspiring a very well researched purchase for another.
The bottom line is it simply increases revenue potential for Amazon, while selling namespace subdomains to businesses that wish to utilize the .buy domain.
Subdomains are usually sold at a low rate individually based on each individual, business, corporation, or other entity requires, for varying rates. Even if you purchase the name from a third-party domain name website or hosting provider, Amazon is the parent of your .buy name.
This TLD is keyword specific, relevant to all industries, recognizable, and marketable!
It’s open to interpretation for entrepreneurs from all walks of life, from home-made product lines to corporate sponsorships.
Imagine, if you will, that you own the “Seen on TV” company or brand, you currently own the www.seenontv.com domain name, which is a subdomain of the .com domain. You purchase the www.seenontv.buy domain name from Amazon as the owner of the .buy domain. You can then redirect the .buy domain name to your existing www.seenontv.com domain and save yourself from the added expenses of additional website design.
However, there’s the chance that someone else has already registered this name which would cause you to consider changing or altering your existing brand, or attempting to purchase the name from the current owner.
So while Alibaba was topping financial headlines on Wall Street, Amazon was scoring big at the auction!
Another TLD domain, .VIP sold at just over $3 million with incoming bids from six firms. But the real prize pony of the night was the .tech domain, it raked in over $6.5 million with six actively bidding firms up to the $6.2 million mark. Google was actively pursuing all three domains.
What domains lie in wait to be created or sold? Where do the limits of need and perception take us? Who will battle, and who will win in the end?
One thing is for sure the war for GTLD space is a lucrative one.