gTLDs Under the Microscope in Q1 2021: .kpmg Back in Focus and a Look at Past Launches

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gTLDs Under the Microscope in Q1 2021: .kpmg Back in Focus and a Look at Past Launches

	By Chris Niemi Manager, Domain Services at MarkMonitor
	April 07, 2021 Views: 10,491 Add Comment

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With the end of March upon us already, we take a fresh look at .kpmg and its ongoing .brand usage strategy in our first quarterly report of the year. A review of Alexa.com rankings for .brands and other new gTLDs is included as well as an examination of the factors that have affected registration rates for new gTLD launches from 2019 and 2020.

Our MarkMonitor team of experts also analyzes the ICANN Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process to see what effects this could have on .brand TLD applicants in the next application round. With our usual roundup of .brand activity and the upcoming schedule of industry meetings for 2021, this quarterly report is required reading to stay abreast of new gTLD industry developments.

.kpmg .brand usage and Alexa.com rankings in the news

We last reviewed KPMG’s use of .kpmg in our Q3 2019 version of our New gTLD Quarterly Report. In this report, we revisit KPMG’s subsequent .kpmg usage and look at Alexa.com rankings of websites built on new gTLDs and .brands. Can you guess where home.kpmg ranks on the Alexa.com global top 10,000 websites list?

What’s the ‘x factor?’ 2019 and 2020 launches in review

While launches of new gTLDs are expected to occur throughout 2021, we review launches from the past two years to identify factors that might contribute to the likelihood of these “to be launched” TLDs having large numbers of registrations. Read the report to see our findings on everything from .dev to .hair.

Four key takeaways for brand owners from the ICANN Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process

At the start of this year, ICANN’s Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) Council unanimously approved the Final Report on the new gTLD Subsequent Procedures Policy Development Process. The result of a five-year project, the Final Report delivers policy recommendations and implementation guidance to the ICANN Board with the aim of improving the .Brand application process.

Totaling 378 pages, the Final Report contains 41 topics spanning from registrant protections to dispute resolution to registrar support. To help you understand what the Final Report means for brand owners, we identified four key takeaways that prospective .brand applicants need to know:

Relaxed requirements may make managing .brand TLDs less burdensome
Applicants may have more flexibility to update their application after submission
Increased application transparency may benefit both the community and applicants
Improved efficiencies offer hope for a streamlined application process

.brand TLD news, industry meetings and next steps

Read the new report (available here) to see more information about .brand registration trends as well as a calendar of domain industry events in 2021.

By Chris Niemi, Manager, Domain Services at MarkMonitor

Chris is highly experienced in TLD operations, having held multiple roles and led several multi-disciplinary teams that have provided everything from specialized domain-related ancillary services to client-related research projects and global ccTLD support. Chris is a subject matter expert on the New gTLD Program and .Brand TLDs and has managed multiple TLDs through all aspects of the program (application, evaluation, delegation, and launch).

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