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New wave of Internet domain names gets unveiled

The organization that assigns Internet addresses releases its list of newly approved web suffixes today, from .doctor to .bank. Many predict the proliferation of these suffixes will touch off a virtual land grab.

David Brancaccio: The outfit that assigns internet address .com and .TV plans to auction some new ones to the highest bidder. Today we are learning who is applying for .what.

Marketplace’s Queena Kim reports.


Queena Kim: Bhavin Turakhia is in the market for 31 new top-level domain names.

Bhavin Turakhia: We’ve applied for dot-web, dot-home, dot-bank.

Turakhia is CEO of Directi, a web services company that paid $185,000 per name just to apply. Directi hopes to create addresses that are more specialized than the typical .com address, and more expensive.

Turakhia: If I’m looking for a doctor, I know that an official doctor’s website will be a .doctor domain name.

Warren Adelman is CEO of GoDaddy, a company that registers domain names. GoDaddy applied for three names. Adelman thinks the Internet needs more addresses, but he says, at 1,000 a year, ICANN is releasing too many. People will be confused.

Warren Adelman: The flight will be to dot-com for familiarity and security.

Google seems to know the joke might be on the buyers. It’s applied for dot-lol.

In San Francisco, I’m Queena Kim for Marketplace.

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