Last year, the Internet opened up the doors on generic top level domains (gTLDs), letting anyone create their own ".anything" space on the web — provided they pony up $185,000. Now those generic domains have passed their first big milestone.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) announced that there are now 100 generic TLDs that have been "delegated," one of the final steps before the domains can begin taking registrations. Among the new domains are .rich, .sexy, .ninja, .pink, .email, .buzz, .coffee and .domains. ICANN has posted the full list, along with the names of all the registrants.
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Many of the registrants are relatively new registry companies created specifically to harvest and manage gTLDs. United TLD Holdco, for example, registered seven domains; United is part of Rightside, which plans to roll out a "domain name services platform." Another domain registry called Donuts bought some of the domains, such as .cab, via subsidiaries. Donuts says it has raised more then $100 million from various investors to create new business around the domains.
Although none of the company names are well-known, Google is represented by its domain-name registrar company, Charleston Road Registry. The sole domain it has on the list of 100 is a Japanese-character name, the Japanese word for "everyone." Google (through Charleston) actually has several gTLD applications pending, including .google, .android, .youtube and even .tech, although those haven't reached the delegation stage yet.
By comparison, Apple has just one application, for .apple. Microsoft has applied for .microsoft, .bing, .skype and .docs, among others. However, those lists may be incomplete, as some registrants are Delaware holding companies whose actual owner is unknown.
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