When it comes down to brand protection, there are plenty of reasons to go for the .com.<\/p>\n
It’s the oldest, most established TLD, with the largest user base. It’s part of the “online” culture since at least 1994, and it’s easy to pronounce in most languages, including the Asian, Middle-Eastern and African dialects.<\/p>\n
Now that we got that out of the way, dot .com is not the only way to build, promote and establish a brand.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of alternatives, including secondary TLDs such as .net, .org, .info and .biz, along with more than two hundred ccTLDs; the options will expand later this year, as we are switching to an era of TLD-agnostic brands with the introduction of gTLDs.<\/p>\n
Eventually, even if this sounds like science fiction, the online experience and communication will most likely shift to a system that encompasses haptic, audiovisual and holographic technologies, where our destination on the Internet will be reachable without having to specify a particular URL.<\/p>\n
But let’s focus on now, as it unfolds in 2014 – a pivotal year in how the Internet name space expands: this is the beginning of an era, so those who anticipate results in a quarter or two might be disappointed.<\/p>\n
This isn’t an 100m race, it’s a marathon; the change in how companies interact with their brands and their customers is a long term investment that involves lots of strategic research.<\/p>\n
This isn’t a leap of faith, and it’s not for everyone – definitely not for those that anticipate life and business to be a series of predictable events.<\/p>\n
Brands drive consumerism, which drives consumption, that fuels innovation. This year we have the chance to both witness and participate in the largest shift of Internet technology since – well<\/em> – ever.<\/p>\n Ride the wave, or risk relinquishing its rewards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When it comes down to brand protection, there are plenty of reasons to go for the .com. It’s the oldest, most established TLD, with the largest user base. It’s part of the “online” culture since at least 1994, and it’s easy to pronounce in most languages, including the Asian, Middle-Eastern and African dialects. Now that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-domains","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n