Pool.com and Quintaris have received around 300,000 pre-orders for registrations with new gTLDs despite no new gTLDs having been confirmed as of yet and not likely until 2010 at the earliest.
Since Pool.com and Quintaris began allowing consumers to pre-order domain names in what they consider likely new registries, the total number âspoken forâ has averaged 10,000 per day.
The pre-orders indicate a strong interest in any potential new gTLD, however while the list of gTLDs one can pre-order a registration in is listed, it is not clear from what background the potential registrants have predominately come from and whether they are domainers, trademark holders or small businesses.
Consumers should also be aware that many other registries will offer pre-registrations as it gets closer to the launch of new gTLDs, especially once they are approved by ICANN and terms and conditions for registration are known along with any Sunrise and Landrush period.
There is no cost to the consumer until the name is registered. It should be noted, that even pre-ordering will not guarantee the name of your choice should the new gTLD go live, but at least with pre-ordering you have a chance. Pool.com and Quintaris are also pre-empting any potential restrictions on registrants in each new gTLD.
âNow that ICANN has set a timeline for introduction of the new domain name registries, demand has been strong and growing,â said Tony Farrow, head of business development at Quintaris.
Early results show a stronger market for generic-named registries, like .sport than for those being pursued by a specific city or region. Farrow noted that âno city gTLD has cracked the top ten on the pre-order list.â
The list of likely gTLDs â those that companies, communities and individual investors have said they intend to pursue â has also grown, from 50 to 60, in the last 30 days. The full list, dynamically updated, is available at both www.Pool.com and www.Quintaris.com as well as the pre-order site.
Among the new domain name registries added to the pre-order list are: .vin, .radio, .sucks, .futbol and .football. The last two will offer an additional opportunity to help assess the market demand for names in multiple languages.
âThis isnât the only way the pre-order program can do more than offer the âproof of conceptâ we initially sought,â Farrow said. âIt can also serve to help build the business model of anyone interested in operating a registry.â
On the basis of a simple request, Quintaris will add a gTLD to the pre-order program and help add a statistical basis to the registry operatorâs business plan. The company also offers a set of Web-based marketing tools to accelerate adoption.
Quintaris, a leading web business consultancy that helps acquire, manage, market and maximise registry value, partnered with Pool.com, the market leading domain name acquisition and auction services company to create the pre-order program and âsize the market.â Pre-orders can be placed at quintaris.pool.com.