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You've
been hearing about
ICANN's impending (it always seems to
impending) launch of hundreds of new
gTLDs for many years now, but
new gTLDs come in more than one flavor. Several
new ones have been launched over the past
decade, including .info, .biz and
.mobi, and several others have been re-launched
as new global TLDs after starting life as
country code TLDs (ccTLDs). Well-known examples
of the latter group include Colombia's .CO,
Montenegro's .ME and one of the earliest
ones from this category - Samoa's .WS.
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Land
rush opened today for a new entry that
was birthed from ccTLD roots, .PW,
an extension that in the past served as the
country code for the Micronesian island nation
of Palau. Under a new licensing agreement
the Directi
Group has become the new operator of
the .PW registry and is now marketing it as a globally
open TLD they are branding as the Professional
Web. Directi’s offering has proved
to be popular with registrars worldwide as
90 of them from 31 different
countries signed on to offer .PW domain
registrations to their customers. |
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Chris
Sheridan
eNom, VP, Business Development |
Directi’s
own ResellerClub,
a major registrar services reseller, is, as you
would expect, marketing .PW, to tens of
thousands of customers. An even bigger fish, Demand
Media’s eNom,
the world’s largest ICANN Accredited wholesale
registrar, is also part of the .PW line up. Chris
Sheridan, eNom's VP for Business
Development, said “The market is looking for
fresh and well-priced inventory and quality
generic names are always in demand. We look
forward to promoting .PW across our 8,800
strong reseller base as a well-priced
alternative before the new gTLDs arrive.”
With
so many new TLDs due to hit the market at once,
it is certainly wise for the .PW camp to get
their name out there now before the crowd
arrives. They may also benefit from the
impending horde of new gTLDs, simply because
they have been written about so much that
at least some potential new registrants are now more
aware of the fact that there are other options
to the right of the dot. |
The
big question for .PW and all of the new gTLDs to
come is just how many domain registrants
will be willing to try something new rather than
retreat to the perceived safety of older, more
established brands like .com, .net
or their local country code. As always in this
business, the time they are a-changin', and
things are about to get even more interesting as
the new gTLD drama plays out.
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