Still from an ICM Registry video promoting the .xxx domain
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — With the public launch of the .xxx domain scheduled for next week, on December 6, 2011, the ICM Registry is likely already looking forward to the success of the newest TLD
According to a post on DomainNameWire, the domain saw nearly 80,000 applications during the sunrise period from trademark holders looking to secure their brands’ domains or to block the .xxx domain for their trademarks (greatly surpassing the anticipated 10,000). At the wholesale price of $162 per application, that means about $13 million. And they haven’t even started selling them yet.
The land rush period, during which applications for.xxx domains could be submitted by adult companies prior to launch, concluded a few days ago. No data seems to be available just yet about the land rush, which is likely a much better measure of the domain’s long-term viability and value, since, unlike the trademark-defending sunrise period, it’s more of a direct indicator of the interest of the adult community (the domain’s sponsored community).
The .xxx domain has been controversial, and not in the way that you might expect from an Internet service focused on pornography. In the buildup to the launch, several major porn companies sued the registry (and ICANN) over the domain, alleging unfair practices and pricing. There’s at least a vocal percentage of adult businesses who oppose the .xxx domain altogether.
In the days leading up to its official launch, more than a decade in the making, the .xxx domain remains a bit of a mystery. Quite a few questions remain, about the domain’s intent, its viability, its value and other issues. I thought I’d pose a few of those questions here, in the hopes that they’ll be answered over the next few months.
[Note: this is not meant to be an entirely rhetorical exercise. If you feel you have the answer to any of these questions, the comments section at the bottom of the feature would be an excellent place to share.]
Is the .xxx domain already an out-of-date idea?
ICM Registry has been fighting to get this thing done for approximately a decade, which means the .xxx notion itself dates back to a time when a “good” domain had an enormous inherent value – you could, for instance, make incredible amounts of money just by throwing banner ads up on the sex.com domain). Google is still adjusting its algorithms to make it less likely for “parked pages” to be indexed in the search engines, meaning parked pages are only going to benefit from type-in traffic.
It took ICM Registry many millions of dollars invested to finally get to this point. Is .xxx really valuable real estate at this point, or is it more a matter of trying to recover that investment?
Some of the vocal adult companies in the lead-up to the launch have argued that they’re better off operating their businesses on .com domains. Other, less vocal organizations might be interested in seeing what they can do within the boundaries of the .xxx domain.
I’m certain that no adult companies are planning to give up their .com domains.
How much inherent value is there in a domain?
The creation of a .xxx domain fundamentally suggests there’s some inherent value in a domain, which is still sort of true, but we’ve also clearly moved into a time when the most valuable domains are non-words that have had value built around them (Facebook or Twitter, for example).
Certainly, some domains are more valuable than others, a fact ably demonstrated by the auction process that accompanies the launch of TLDs.
Is the demand for the .xxx domain among consumers of online adult content actually demonstrated, or just presumed?
I tend to have this same question about every new or non-traditional TLD. Of course, the upcoming flood of new TLDs might go a long way toward changing the way people think about right-of-the-dot information and syntax. But as long as we have .com, do people really need to see a .xxx at the end of the website their visiting in order to be sure that it will contain the porn they’re looking for?
What do .xxx domain sunrise registrations actually mean?
The .xxx domain sunrise saw a lot of registrations – a success in terms of volume. What isn’t totally clear just yet is the percentage of those trademark holders who intend to do something with the domain versus those who intend to block the domain, or leave it undeveloped, as a kind of defensive measure.
More importantly, how big a part of the .xxx domain’s overall success will this sort of defensive registration comprise? If a significant portion of the overall .xxx domain registrations are made to block the domain or protect a brand (I’ll leave the definition of “significant portion” up to interpretation here), wouldn’t that say something a little bit ominous?
It seems pretty important that the “brand-threat” element of the .xxx domain isn’t a really key part of its success.
I’m sure there’s a business model there. You could launch a .sucks domain, and plenty of organizations and individuals would, if they had to, pay to protect those domains from getting into the wrong hands. But that seems pretty abusive of the Internet community (don’t hold your breath for a .sucks domain).
What is the potential for a negative impact on the adult website business?
Adult website operators (at least some of them) have been adamant that the .xxx domain is bad for their business. Some of their complaints prior to the establishment of the registry had to do with the “ghettoization” of adult content – the idea that a place for adult content on the web (the .xxx domain) implies that that is where adult content should go – the long-term extrapolation of that being that .com becomes thought of as a place where there isn’t, or shouldn’t be, adult content.
The other major concern seems to be the implication that the adult business hasn’t done a good job of policing its own conduct, necessitating the creation of a domain that would have the kinds of content controls that .xxx has in place.
How much potential does a .xxx domain have to damage a non-adult brand?
Sure, the sunrise was a big success. But it’s a pretty safe assumption that not every brand out there was protected, which means it’s pretty inevitable that at some point, somebody is going to have to deal with a .xxx version of something they don’t want to see out there.
The fun-loving part of me is sort of excited to see what an x-rated assault on a brand is going to look like. The business journalist part is keen to see how the legal resolution of that kind of situation will play out..
How long is the list of organizations and entities that will ultimately block the domain, and how much potential does that potential list have to devalue the whole domain?
It was pretty early on in the lead-up to the .xxx launch that the government of India announced that it intends to block the .xxx domain across the board. There are plenty of conservative governments out there, and far more conservative organizations. And the .xxx domain seems so ripe for blocking that it’s almost a feature of the domain (an easy way to stop a certain kind of content from getting through).
How many organizations, governments and other entities are planning to block the domain? What percentage of Internet users do they represent? How much potential to devalue the .xxx domain itself do those groups posses?
[Another note: This is by no means an exhaustive list of questions. And the comments section isn’t just for answers. If you have questions about the .xxx domain, feel free to put those in the comments as well.]
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
No related posts.
