The first .COM domain name was registered in 1985 and since then, the .COM market has become a very crowded, with over 120 million .COM names currently registered. The emergence of new gTLDs gives companies another option when looking to either create or upgrade their web presence. Many businesses have opted to change to a new gTLD. Below, we have profile eight of those companies.
Alphabet
One of the most famous new gTLD acquisitions is Google's purchase of
This company needed a web presence, and a google.com/alphabet URL wouldn't suffice. BMW owns
Nine months after rebranding,
Engage
In little over a year, this brand has changed domain names twice. After initially using the subdomain
This time, they opted for the shorter
The company may be using a new gTLD for their website, but their social media accounts still operate under the "ThinkEngage" username.
Canon
Recently, the news broke that one of the largest photography brands in the world had moved their web presence onto a new domain. This isn't a .XYZ domain or a .CLUB name, but rather it's the company's own .CANON TLD.
As of writing, the domain name
Barclays
Another big brand that has opted to change their online presence to their own new gTLD. The British multinational bank, which has assets totaling over $2 trillion, has moved from
According to a statement when the change was announced, "The mission/purpose of the .barclays TLD is to provide an authoritative, intuitive and cohesive communications channel to Barclays Bank PLC".
For a large multinational bank, this move makes sense, and will hopefully reduce potential security problems surrounding online fraud and the Barclays brand.
Upshot
Last year, a Chicago based agency announced that they had rebranded from
The .NET is a great domain name, but
Eric Block
An attorney from Jacksonville decided to change his online brand after hearing of the new .ATTORNEY domain extension. Having used
After launching the new website in March 2015, Mr. Block's site became popular thanks to the increased search traffic and marketing from the name change. Within one month of launching, the new website showed up on the first page of search results for “Jacksonville Attorney”, according to GlobeRunner.
The domain name
Quadriga
We recently spoke with Mike Ambrose, COO of XYZ, who is responsible for the .CARS TLD. He told us that the reception of the .CARS extension by the automotive industry (along with .AUTO and .CAR) had surpassed his expectations. One such company that has adopted the .CARS extension is Quadriga.
This large Belgian automotive retailer had developed a site called
Numerical Recipes
This software company rebranded from a .COM domain. Can you guess the name? The company's original domain was
Now, this company displays a basic website on a .RECIPES domain name; quite a step down from a two-letter .COM, but I'm sure that the money the company pocketed from the sale more than makes up for this.
Alphabet
One of the most famous new gTLD acquisitions is Google's purchase of
ABC.xyz. After restructuring in 2015, Google created a parent company called Alphabet, which is an umbrella company that houses all of Google's existing ventures and products.This company needed a web presence, and a google.com/alphabet URL wouldn't suffice. BMW owns
Alphabet.com, and ABC owns ABC.com, so Google opted for a new gTLD; ABC.xyz. The news of this rebrand did wonders for XYZ's marketing, and helped to promote the TLD amongst a wide audience base.Nine months after rebranding,
ABC.xyz has a global Alexa ranking of just over 44,000. Interestingly, since restructuring as Alphabet, Google's market cap has risen by $200 billion.Engage
In little over a year, this brand has changed domain names twice. After initially using the subdomain
engage.inhs.org, this Meditech partner switched to ThinkEngage.com for an undisclosed fee. However, after just a few months, the brand changed again.This time, they opted for the shorter
engage.xyz domain name, which cost them just $5,700 and was purchased from a domain investor that owns several other memorable .XYZ domains such as message.xyz and gig.xyz.The company may be using a new gTLD for their website, but their social media accounts still operate under the "ThinkEngage" username.
Canon
Recently, the news broke that one of the largest photography brands in the world had moved their web presence onto a new domain. This isn't a .XYZ domain or a .CLUB name, but rather it's the company's own .CANON TLD.
As of writing, the domain name
canon.com, which is used in many of Canon's advertising campaigns, redirects to global.canon. According to a press release from Canon, this website is just one of many .CANON sites that are going to be released in the future.Barclays
Another big brand that has opted to change their online presence to their own new gTLD. The British multinational bank, which has assets totaling over $2 trillion, has moved from
barclays.com to home.barclays, with another website developed on the similar home.barclaycard.According to a statement when the change was announced, "The mission/purpose of the .barclays TLD is to provide an authoritative, intuitive and cohesive communications channel to Barclays Bank PLC".
For a large multinational bank, this move makes sense, and will hopefully reduce potential security problems surrounding online fraud and the Barclays brand.
Upshot
Last year, a Chicago based agency announced that they had rebranded from
upshot.net to upshot.agency. The 20 year old company's move was profiled on Inc.com. Upshot's CEO, Brian Kristofek, told the website: “It’s fairly progressive right now to be doing this, but once domain names that are more creative and expressive catch on, everyone will be using them. For now, it paints us as progressive thinkers.”The .NET is a great domain name, but
upshot.agency seems to work just as well in this case, as the new gTLD extension is descriptive and tells the potential user exactly what the company does. The domain Upshot.com is owned by Oracle, and so has probably never been available for sale.Eric Block
An attorney from Jacksonville decided to change his online brand after hearing of the new .ATTORNEY domain extension. Having used
EricBlockLaw.com for a number of years, Eric decided to acquire jacksonville.attorney instead.After launching the new website in March 2015, Mr. Block's site became popular thanks to the increased search traffic and marketing from the name change. Within one month of launching, the new website showed up on the first page of search results for “Jacksonville Attorney”, according to GlobeRunner.
The domain name
jacksonvilleattorney.com is currently parked, and isn't owned by Mr. Block.Quadriga
We recently spoke with Mike Ambrose, COO of XYZ, who is responsible for the .CARS TLD. He told us that the reception of the .CARS extension by the automotive industry (along with .AUTO and .CAR) had surpassed his expectations. One such company that has adopted the .CARS extension is Quadriga.
This large Belgian automotive retailer had developed a site called
exclusivecars.be, but when the new .CARS gTLD was released, the company opted to switch to the domain exclusive.cars. For any car enthusiasts reading, they have a wide array of Ferraris on sale.Numerical Recipes
This software company rebranded from a .COM domain. Can you guess the name? The company's original domain was
NR.com. Yes, this two-letter .COM domain name, which was originally registered in 1993, was home to this company for over 20 years. The demand from China saw the company sell the domain last year in what is likely to have been a seven-figure sale.Now, this company displays a basic website on a .RECIPES domain name; quite a step down from a two-letter .COM, but I'm sure that the money the company pocketed from the sale more than makes up for this.
