Google announced the release of eight new top level domains (TLDs), including one which may have a high commercial potential for law firms, others that are useful for academics and two top level domains that are based on file extensions, which might be problematic from a security standpoint

Top Level Domains

The eight new top level domains (TLDs) are appropriate for different purposes.

The eight new TLDs are:

1. .dad
2. .phd
3. .prof
4. .esq
5. .foo
6. .zip
7. .mov
8. .nexus

The .mom domain has been available to register since 2015.

One has to wonder why it took so long to come out with a .dad domain. Whatever the reason, here’s your chance to buy WorldsGreatest.dad!

How Much Do the New Top Level Domains Cost?

The domain names are available to register today,  May 3, 2023.

For the next week the prices will be dropping in six phases until it reaches the base price of $30 per year on May 10th.

The earlier one registers a domain name the more expensive it will be.

Thus the most valuable domains will initially cost more.

Google’s Domain Registrar Six Price Phases:

• Phase 1 – May 3 at 12:00 PM
  $11,500 + $30/year
• Phase 2 – Starts May 4 at 12:00 PM
  $3,500 + $30/year
• Phase 3 – May 5 at 12:00 PM
  $1,150 + $30/year
• Phase 4 – May 6 at 12:00 PM
  $350 + $30/year
• Phase 5 – May 8 at 12:00 PM
  $125 + $30/year
• General Availability – May 10 at 12:00 PM
  $30/year

.Esq Top Level Domain

Arguably, the TLD with the most commercial potential is the .esq TLD. Esq is the shortened form for the word esquire, which is a courtesy title given to lawyers.

Domain names with keywords in them are great for quickly communicating to users what a website is about.

A local-based legal service can use a domain name with a geographic area and their field to quickly communicate that the business serves the user’s area.

But many of the most desirable legal-related domains with meaningful words in them are already taken.

For that reason, the .esq TLD may present an opportunity to acquire a domain name that is appropriate for a lawyer.

Many desirable domain names are available right now.

But they are available at early access prices, which means they cost at least $11,500 to register and then $30/year thereafter.

Here are some examples I found this afternoon:

This is another available domain:

Some may believe that a domain name with an exact match for the desired keywords are helpful for rankings.

But that’s not the case.

Exact match keyword domain names are not required for ranking well in Google.

Bill Hartzer (LinkedIn), CEO of Hartzer Consulting observed:

“I think inevitably many people will have questions about whether or not Google will give any extra ranking weight to these new TLDs.

I believe it to be the case that all TLDs have a chance to rank, and don’t think there’s any reason for Google to give more weight to a certain TLD or domain that’s using a TLD that Google offers as a registrar.”

What counts, for ranking purposes, is the content and external signals like links.

The value of an exact match keyword domain is in the unique way it can stand out among other listings in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Also, conversion rates may improve because a keyword domain matches what the user is searching for, thereby attracting visitors who are more of a match to what is offered at the website.

Jeff Ferguson (LinkedIn), CEO, Amplitude Digital; Adjunct Professor, UCLAA, offered his opinion of the new TLDs:

“The phd, prof, esq set is an interesting combination for the professional set.

As an adjunct professor at UCLA, I can see having something like that useful in a variety of ways.”

TLDs Most Likely to Pose Security Issues?

The two TLDs that seem to possibly be problematic are the .zip and .mov TLDs.

Dot zip and dot mov are file extensions. One is for a compressed file and the other is a file extension for a movie format. Of importance is that these kinds of file extensions are used to deliver trojans and malware.

Jeff agreed and commented that it seems like a “curious choice” to create TLDs based on file extensions, particularly for extensions that can carry a malicious payload.

He remarked:

“Why would they do anything for an existing extension?”

Nevertheless, many of these new TLDs offer a rare opportunity to register elusive domain names that may be useful for commerce, professional purposes or even as a gift (in the case of the .dad TLD).

Read the official announcement from Google:

8 new top-level domains for dads, grads and techies

Featured image by Shutterstock/Luis Molinero