In a letter to ICANN today Google laid out its plan on how it plans on operating 4 new gTLD that it applied for as a closed Registry with the most interesting being plans for .Search which is plans on operating “a redirect service on the “dotless” .search domain (http://search/).”

“To further elaborate on our plans to amend these applications, I am including a brief summary of our revised plans for each of the four TLDs below:

• ●  .search – Our goal for .search is to provide an easily-identifiable namespace for firms that provide search functionality and to allow Internet users a unique and simple mechanism to access the search functionality of their choice. “Rather than limiting the proposed TLD for use by Google, we propose a revised registration policy that allows for registration by any search website providing a simple query interface.We also propose a new redirect service at the “dotless” search domain that allows users to specify and easily access the search functionality of their choice.We believe the combination of the common query interface and redirect service will provide users with a powerful new tool to make use of the search-related services online.””

If you think you have heard the expression dotless domains your right.

Last year A Report from the ICANN Security and Stability Advisory Committee (SSAC) recommended rejection of Dotless domains concluding that:

“Dotless domains will not be universally reachable and the SSAC recommends strongly against their use.

“As a result, the SSAC also recommends that the use of DNS resource records such as A, AAAA, and MX in the apex of a Top- Level Domain (TLD) be contractually prohibited where appropriate and strongly discouraged in all cases.””

Here is what Google had to say about their other three new gTLD extensions they are amending the formerly closed registry model for:

• ●  .app – We intend for .app to be a TLD dedicated to application developers. The term “app” is used in a variety of contexts, including mobile applications, browser-based applications and even desktop applications. We intend for the .app TLD to be restricted for use by relevant developer communities, but to be inclusive of the full range of application development communities and not to restrict registration to developers on a particular platform. Our amendment for this TLD has been submitted through ICANN’s change request process and is attached to this letter.
• • ●  .blog – We have two principal goals for the .blog TLD. First, users navigating to domains within the TLD should reasonably expect to reach a blog when they access a .blog domain name. Second, it should be simple and easy for .blog registrants to associate their second-level domain with their blog on the blogging platform of their choice. To this end, we are working with others in the blogging community to develop a simple set of technical standards that will allow users to automatically link their domain name to their blog at the time of registration. Registrations within the TLD will be limited to those with blogs adhering to these technical standard. We expect to submit an amendment to our application for .blog by the end of the month.
• • ●  .cloud – As with .blog, our goal for .cloud is to create a clear association between .cloud names and projects hosted in cloud platforms, while simultaneously allowing registrants to more easily link domain names with the cloud offering of their choice. We are in the earlier stages of discussions with others in the cloud community, but intend to develop similar technical standards as with .blog. We expect to submit an amendment to our application for .cloud in the near future. We believe that each of these TLDs offers a powerful and innovative experience for Internet users and domain registrants, in several cases unlike those currently offered by any TLD operator or proposed by other applicants. We are excited to continue to participate in the new gTLD program and work with those throughout the community to continue to improve our gTLD offerings.””