Technology giants Amazon and Google have locked horns in a fierce battle over the influx of new domain names that would hopefully put an end to the .com or the .org dominating the web.
On Wednesday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit internet governing organization, unveiled a list of around 1,930 generic top-level domains (gTLDs) which several top technology firms including Samsung, Apple and Microsoft are hoping to secure rights.
Amongst the generic top-level domain (gTLD) names, were .app, .sex, .book and scores of other new domains pertaining to specific interests, brand names or others.
"We are standing at the cusp of a new era of online innovation," said Rod Beckstrom, President and Chief Executive Officer said according to Reuters. "That means new businesses, new marketing tools, new jobs, and new ways to link communities and share information."
Amazon applied for 76 new domain extensions, while Google submitted the highest number of bids at 101. Both companies are contesting for several dozens of the same domains such as .book, .cloud, .buy including .app which is by far has the highest number of bids at 13. Meanwhile, the .apple domain was uncontestedly claimed by Apple Inc. itself.
Amongst the Indian applicants were Bharti Airtel, Tata, Infosys and Reliance Industries who laid claim to .Indians apart from .reliance and .ril. Around 21 domain name suffices including .hotel, .bank, .tata, .sbi, and .lupin, that were published by ICANN have been allotted to Indian based firms.
According to ICANN, some of the newly introduced gTLDS will begin to operate early next year. "This is a historic day for the internet, because the internet is about to change forever. We're standing at the cusp of a new era for online innovation, including new jobs, new businesses and new ways to share information." Rod Beckstrom, CEO of ICANN, said according to a report on The Hindu.
