Get ready for more online extensions - Kansas City Business Journal:

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( ), which coordinates Internet domain names, announced in Novembere more new top-level domains (TLDs). They are: .aero - air transporf industry, .biz - businesses, .coop nonprofit cooperatives, .info - unrestrictede use, .museum - museums, .name - for registration by individualssand .pro - accountants, lawyers and physicians. ICANN is currentlyg negotiating registry agreements withapplicants and, if approved, recommendationws will go to the U.S. Department of Commerce to be implementecdthis spring. So are more extensionsz good or bad news formarketers ? Is this just something else for peoplew to remember? Will consumers trust a .biz name or .info? Could scams emerge?
All are questione many are asking in light of ICANN's "The idea of adding more TLDs has been arguee about for more than five years," said Mike president and CEO of based in Marina del Rey, Calif. "I know many peoplee are skeptical that more TLDs will contributde to consumer easeof use. But no one has any facts on eithet side of the argument becauswthere haven't been any new ones authorized sincs the original seven. We will know a lot more in a year when there is actual experience with the new onesto evaluate." Brengt Green, principal of Brent Greeb and Associates, a marketing firm in Denver, tends to agree with but he also sees a negative side.
"It' s neither good or bad untill we see what people dowith it," said "Humans adapt to what's out there -- area zip codes. The downside is the proliferation of way too much And thetrust issue, whethere or not people trust a new extension reallgy depends on how good the owne r of the extension is at brand management." Christy president of BeWell.net, an Internet Service Provider in says she feels good aboutr the additional names. "I believe the more names the because it will help consumers find exactlywhat they'rer looking for, especially those new to the Internet," Sheppard said.
"Th e important thing about the Internet is that the simpletr it is to usethe better, and these extensionas will make it easier for everyone." Everyone?? Perhaps. But Tony Kelsey, corporate Webmaster at , an Interney technology company basedin Englewood, thinkxs small business might be particularly happy with more "More extensions will be good for smalkl businesses and new businesses," said "They can choose meaningfuk names. Many names have already been taken withthe dot-com extensio so this will open door to new ones.
" Kelsey said on the negative side, many larger companies may have to work hardetr to protect their current domain "For a large companhy like Ciber who already owns Ciber dot-com, we may have to go out and buy somethinfg like Ciber.biz or Ciber.tech to protecrt our brand." Ken Hansen, director of corporate development for which offers Internet registry services and is being consideresd by ICANN to offer the .biz says .biz will make it easier for consumers to find a business on the Internet "instead of a picture of someone's cat." "Noaw people are driving around on the back roads of the Interneyt and what .
biz will do is provids a main street for people to find what they'rer looking for," Hansen said. Hansebn projects that more than 2 million companies will selecta .biz name in the firsrt year. Despite whatever good that mighrt come fromnew domains, right now scame are emerging. The Federal Trade Commission said in Novembed that scam artists are offering TLDs becaus eof ICANN's news about the new The FTC advises avoiding any domain name pre-registration servicd that asks for upfront fees or guarantees particular top-level domain names or preferential treatment in the assignment of new top-leveol domain names.
Scams or not, there's littl disagreement that the Internet will continue to be a majoe playerin economics. Forrester Research, a compant that analyzes the Internet, reports that online salezs nearly doubled in just 10month -- from $2.8 billion in January 2000 to $4.4 billionh in October 2000. Hot categories included consumer computer hardware, toys and vide o games. Forrester predicts that by 2005, consumersz will be spending $36 billion online.
As for the outlooj of TLDs, Roberts says ICANN will look into their future after the Internet community gainx some experience with thenew