Looking for that perfect name for your Web site, one that’s short, snappy, and easy to remember?
Well, unless it has more than three letters, turns out you’re out of luck – at least for now.
As of last week, all possible three character combinations had been registered, without exception. With 30,000 domain names being registered daily and the massive quantities of dollars being spent by corporations on acquiring short, easy-to-say identities, it comes as little surprise that the .com-name market is beginning to bulge beyond its limits.
“I’m not surprised,” says Network Solutions spokeswoman Cheryl Regan. Three-letter domain names are “brief, to the point, and there’s a great deal of value in them.”
Brooklyn Union Gas – whose Web address is http://www.bug.com – certainly thinks so.
“We’re always referred to as ‘BUG’ by the media, and the response to our Web site has been tremendous. I think having a three-letter, memorable name helps a great deal,” said spokesman Ed Yutkowitz.
Network Solutions handles the bulk of domain registrations in the U.S., and is running a search to see if there are any still available.
“My guess is that there won’t be,” says Regan. “Many companies have three-letter acronyms that they are primarily known by, and considering how valuable they’ve become, I don’t see why they would let them lapse.”
Regan is referring to the limited time on domain name registrations – usually one or two years – before it expires and has to be re-registered.
But help is on the way.
ICANN, the governmental agency responsible for domain name surveillance, will be registering your three-letter .com under a different TLD (top level domain), or suffix.
Currently, the .coms make up about 78 percent of the total registered domain names nationwide.
ICANN will start unveiling five to 10 new TLD’s this summer. If all goes according to plan, suffixes like “shop,” “arts” and “biz” will open up a host of new three-letter domain possibilities.
Debate is currently raging over the possible free-for-all that may occur when these suffixes become available.
With domain names – which cost as little as $70 a year to register – sometimes changing hands for eight figures, consumers and businesses will doubtless be hungry for new three- and four-letter possibilities.
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