New TLDs: Three things you might be confused about after watching the 1and1 commercial

Since 1and1 launched one of the first national television commercials hyping New TLDs in the beginning of September, we’ve been hearing a lot about the commercial from New TLD newbies. For many, watching the ad was the first time they’d heard about New TLDs and there were a lot of unanswered questions at the end.

We thought we’d take this chance to clear up the three most common sticking points:

1. You cannot make up your own gTLD. 

This is probably one of the most common reactions we’ve heard to the ad and it speaks more to a first perception of the new TLD program than the ad, which does specify a specific amount of available TLDs.

Unlike the T.I. song, you may not have whatever you like. While it would be so very awesome to pick your own domain name completely, for now you’ll have to choose from the new TLDs available for public registration. TwoTicketsToThe.GunShow, RobWas.Here and a number of other (sometimes completely inappropriate) freestyle domain ideas we’ve heard will have to wait.

2. You may not be able to register for all new TLDs listed. 

Many of the 1700+ registries that passed evaluation will operate as closed registries, which means you won’t be able to register for them because you may not be a part of the network—they’ll be market- or company-specified. For example: .REALTOR will only be open to licensed Realtors and .SAMSUNG will only be available to the businesses, individuals, and groups that Samsung designates.

Once you’ve narrowed down the New TLDs to only open registries, like those in the 1and1 commercial, there’s still the problem that many proposed TLDs are in contention sets with other applicants that might not open the registry to the general public, and so the purpose and use of those new TLDs are unknown as of yet. Basically, there’s a lot up in the air right now, and the dust still needs to settle before we know when New TLDs will be offered to the public, which ones will have open registries, and whether they’ll cater well to your needs.

3. Pre-registering does not guarantee you the domain. 

Pre-registration is important for the market—it lets a registrar know that you are interested so they’ll be able to court the new TLDs that are really hot and make sure they’re available to you. And pre-registration makes it much easier for you to purchase said domain when it comes time. What pre-registration does not do, however, is guarantee your selected domain, because new TLDs are not technically available for sale yet. (Read more about pre-registration here.)

You can sign up for name.com’s free watcher service, and we’ll track the new dots you’re interested in, keep you updated as they stream into the market, and allow you to pre-register, as well.