Internet addresses are all set to go past the traditional .com, .co and .org. And the Internet giant, Google, has already applied for a slew of domain names that are not only business or location centric but also have “interesting and creative potential”.
Google reveals it has applied for some 50 top-level domains such as “.google”, “.youtube” and “.docs”, as part of a major expansion of the web’s addressing system. The Internet giant also disclosed it has applied for a .lol domain that is a commonly used abbreviation for ‘laugh out loud’.
ICANN, the body that assigns top-level domains to websites across the globe, is scheduled to announce later this month which domains will be added to the current list.
“In 2016, it’s estimated that almost half of the world’s population will be online, yet nearly 50 percent of the websites we visit are found in the .com top-level domain (TLD), which was among the first TLDs created in 1984,” Google says in a blog post.
“Despite the great opportunities the web has enabled for people around the world, there is still a lingering question about the diversity of the domain space (given that the number of generic TLDs has only increased by 14 in the last 28 years).”
The search engine giant has mainly applied for TLDs in four categories – such as trademarks (like .google), those based on core business (.docs), domains that improve user experience and increase the identification of certain genres (.youtube) and fun options (.lol).
Google says it has attached high priority to security and abuse prevention, while creating a positive experience for Internet users. “We’re just beginning to explore this potential source of innovation on the web, and we are curious to see how these proposed new TLDs will fare in the existing TLD environment,” Google notes.
“By opening up more choices for Internet domain names, we hope people will find options for more diverse — and perhaps shorter — signposts in cyberspace.”
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