The first application round for new gTLDs will open on 12 January 2012 and ICANN expects in 500 to 1000 applications. Already, over 120 potential bids have been announced by a variety of companies, consortia, not-for-profit organisations and government-backed initiatives. Although many brand owners and members of the IP community have opposed the new gTLD programme, could its success or failure actually lie in their hands?

The formulation of the new gTLD programme has been vigorously debated within the ICANN community for over three years. The applicant guidebook has gone through seven versions (the final version is expected shortly). But when I ask my friends what they know about domain names, they are relatively uneducated: some are barely aware of anything other than .com, .net and their ‘home’ ccTLD .uk. And the trend towards navigating through Google and social networks instead of the browser address bar has only accentuated this. Surely the addition of 500 more TLDs from the first round alone will simply confuse the majority of users further. If this is the case, then the question becomes: how can we educate web users about new gTLDs so that they can recognise, understand and start using them?

I think the answer may lie with the big brands. A quick internet search (through Google!) shows that currently the most visited websites globally are google.com, facebook.com, yahoo.com, youtube.com and wikipedia.com. If companies like these apply for and obtain their own branded gTLD and move their primary website to the new gTLD, they will create a great deal more exposure for new gTLDs than a generic term owned by a consortium like .health could due to the sheer number of online visitors that the brand already receives. If web users see this new .google or .facebook, they will start to ask questions about the new-look URLs. Gradually, through further exposure from other popular brands and websites, they may come to understand the revolution ICANN hopes for.

If we consider the opposite eventuality – that none of the big brands apply for and adopt new gTLDs – then how are the public to be educated? I’m not sure I have an answer to this, which is why I think brands have such an important role to play in the mass adoption and recognition of new gTLDs.