Google Wants to .Google as Web Suffix

Tech giant Google wants to deviate from conventional wisdom by fighting for the right for just ‘.Google’ instead of ‘Google.com.’ 

The move is just one of the 2,000 proposals for Internet suffixes as the Internet world is expanding its address system. Google is also pushing for the use of .YouTube and .lol, the latter being the shorthand version for ‘laugh out loud’ or ‘laughing out loud.’

Other bids for Internet suffixes include .secure, .music, .doctor, and .bank. 

If Google’s proposals are approved, its Internet suffixes will join the existing suffixes of about 300 others. The new suffixes would also compete with the popular ones like .com, and .net. 

Allowing new suffixes would mean companies can now have a branded suffix for their websites like news.AustralianTimes or business.AustralianTimes. 

The expansion of Internet suffixes will be able to represent a lot of things, including groups, brand names, corporations, hobbies, etc.

According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), it will announce which proposals have been approved on Wednesday. ICANN is the international body governing Internet domains and suffixes. 

Although these proposals have been made public, most of the bids remain confidential. 

The normal process is that ICANN usually takes about one to two years to approve new suffixes. Then, these new suffixes would take a few more months before they appear online. 

In cases when there are multiple bids on the same suffixes, ICANN will mediate the parties to arrive at a mutual agreement. Some of the suffixes that experience multiple applications include .web.