The internet domain landscape has been under a storm with new domain zones launching every month ranging from .accounting to .travel. Now, this wave is coming to the yachting industry with a .yachts domain zone. Before 2014, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) handled all domain extensions but those have now been opened up to private entrepreneurs who have been able to create domain zones that they create on their own. Despite a buzz in the media at the time, adoption of new domains has been slow. By the end of 2014, only 8 million websites used of the new extensions. In 2015, this number as only grown to about 10 million websites according to Domain Name Wire. The most widespread of those thousand new extensions is .xyz, primarily used in tech.
According to digital marketing specialists, the reason for such a low adoption rate is the fact that a new domain name can be confusing to users who have grown accustomed to the .com (currently holding over 115 million websites). It also reflects that a website is new and hence doesn't create a sense of trust with the user according to Moz who found that 67% of marketers were unlikely to trust an insurance quote from a website that ended in .insurance based on the domain name alone.
The .yachts extension was registered by DERYachts, LLC through an application made on the 13th June 2012 to ICANN. The company is a fully owned subsidiary of Dominion Enterprises, a web company that operates directory-style websites such as Yachtworld and Homes.com. The back-end providers for the domain zone are Afillias which also operate the .info and .mobi domain spaces amongst others.
In its application, Dominion Enterprises states that they would initially reserve domain names such as motor.yachts, super.yachts, etc... to properties they currently own and solely allow their existing clients to register a .yachts domain. General availability of the domain space will start on the 6th April 2016 at which point any yacht-related company will be able to purchase such a domain name.
According to digital marketing specialists, the reason for such a low adoption rate is the fact that a new domain name can be confusing to users who have grown accustomed to the .com (currently holding over 115 million websites). It also reflects that a website is new and hence doesn't create a sense of trust with the user according to Moz who found that 67% of marketers were unlikely to trust an insurance quote from a website that ended in .insurance based on the domain name alone.
The .yachts extension was registered by DERYachts, LLC through an application made on the 13th June 2012 to ICANN. The company is a fully owned subsidiary of Dominion Enterprises, a web company that operates directory-style websites such as Yachtworld and Homes.com. The back-end providers for the domain zone are Afillias which also operate the .info and .mobi domain spaces amongst others.
In its application, Dominion Enterprises states that they would initially reserve domain names such as motor.yachts, super.yachts, etc... to properties they currently own and solely allow their existing clients to register a .yachts domain. General availability of the domain space will start on the 6th April 2016 at which point any yacht-related company will be able to purchase such a domain name.