Toll free numbers and the Internet have more in common than one might think.
Dot-com is to Internet addresses what a 1-800 number is to telephone numbers, say many experts. And although a 1-800 number is a great, easy-to-remember tool for a business’s identity, availability is scarce. Dot-com addresses are no different, and the only solution to the drought is to develop alternatives.
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The “dot-com” after an Internet address, like dot-org, dot-net and other suffixes, is called an extension, and it’s no news that extensions such as dot-tv, dot-cc, and dot-ws, have recently become available like new real estate developments on the Information Superhighway.
Pete Silver, founder and editor of Miami-based The Marketing Communications Report and owner of over 60 dot-com Internet domain names, said the similarity of dot-com to the 1-800 number is uncanny.
“There’s a strong parallel between these numerous extensions, and what happened to phone companies when they went from 1-800 to 1-888, to 1-877, to 1-866 and soon 1-855,” said Silver. “The problem is that unless people see the exact extension right in front of them while they are looking for it on the Internet, the chances are that they are going to go straight for the dot-com in their search.”
Silver said the dot-com has a permanent place in the public’s consciousness, and there are only a few reasons that a company would need an extension like dot-ws, which stands for Web site.
“One important thing is for companies to lock up all the domains relative to their company’s identity,” he said, “so they’re not held for ransom.”
Brad Copeland, corporate communications manager for Pasadena, California-based New.net, said there are better reasons for wanting an extension other than dot-com.
New.net is in the business of registering domain names with unique extensions, such as dot-inc, dot-med, and dot-tech. The difference between the extensions New.net provides and the newer extensions available through a service such as Register.com is that the New.net names are viewable only to Internet users who are members of the company’s partner Internet service providers or Internet users who download a small browser plug-in. The company’s efforts have not been sanctioned by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an organization which oversees generic top level domains (GTLDs) ending with extensions such as dot-com, dot-org, dot-net.
Copeland said although there are a lot of possibilities with extensions, New.net will only register “in a way that’s logical and a response to market demand.”
“We don’t see (these extensions) as replacements for dot-com,” he said, “but rather an alternative for individuals looking for unique Web addresses. “
Copeland mentioned the similarity between dot-coms and 1-800 numbers also. He said that when 1-800 numbers spell phrases relative to their business, such as 1-800 USA LOAN, it’s easier for a users to know what sort of business they’re dialing. The extensions provided by New.net function the same way, he said.
“This just allows people to get a bit more information as to what sort of thing they’re getting into,” said Copeland.
ICANN-sanction domain extensions include: .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov, .mil, .tv, .cc, .ws, .jp, .de, .ca, .be, .co.uk, .vu, .dk, .st, .sh, .ro, .org.uk, .co.il, .co.nz, .to, .co.za, .com.ro, .ms, .org.il, .net.nz, .it, .ac, .as, .kz, .tc, .org.nz, .ly, .fm, .gs, .com.ph, .ph and .vg.
New.net names include: .shop, .mp3, .inc, .kids, .sports, .family, .chat, .video, .club, .hola, .soc, .med, .law, .travel, .game, .freee, .ltd, .gmbh, .tech, and .xxx.
