.TheHartford has become the 14th new gTLD application to be withdrawn by the applicant according to ICANN’s Site.
The applicant for the new gTLD was the Hartford Fire Insurance Company who planned to operate the registry on a closed basis to “enhance The Hartford’s web presence by emphasizing The Hartford’s brand, products and services”.
Here is how the insurance company described the purpose of the new gTLD:
‘.The Hartford will be used to “provide Hartford-licensed, appointed and⁄or authorized agents⁄brokers, customers, business partners or similar business-related parties, and employees (“Hartford Users”), such as the affiliated organizations listed above, with a trustworthy means of exchanging information with The Hartford with the confidence that they have made a valid and authentic Internet connection to The Hartford.”
“The Hartford expects to register under 1,000 second-level domain names”
“This closed gTLD Internet space will improve contact with our customers and better enable the delivery of innovative solutions and extraordinary service. The gTLD will also be beneficial for promotional purposes and awareness building, and will enhance The Hartford’s brand marketing and brand management, thereby creating means to increase revenues. In sum, the addition of the .THEHARTFORD gTLD will improve The Hartford’s security and control over its web presence, benefit user interaction and enhance customer trust, and drive customers to The Hartford.”
So they decided that an agent’s website at :
LarryJones.TheHartford adds no value (and probably just confusion) over LarryJones.TheHartford.com.
And in the end they would just point LarryJones.TheHartford to LarryJones.TheHartford.com anyway – after failing to re-program their customers to a non.com – contrary to what Federal Courts, ACPA and UDRP have burned into the consumer – .com being the only one on the shelf.
Gosh – I am just shocked – I thought Insurance Companies were in the “re-programming” business – not insurance 🙂
.Com is not the only game in town. .Com domainers, sitting on a portfolio of domains which they need to move wish it was, but it’s not. Still the most desirable extension? Sure. But there are viable alternatives. As Mr. Berkens himself has stated, it’s about the name, not the extension.
Anyway, glad to see companies withdrawing their gTLD applications. I’m all for several new gTLDs to compete with existing extensions, but 1,500 (or whatever) gTLDs is just confusing. Everything can be linked through a company’s primary site. They don’t need a closed gTLD space. Does it make their network more efficient? No. Does it help with branding? Apparently, they decided it does not. I hope this trend continues.
Another on falls off the .BrandWagon. I agree this extension was unneccessary for the cost. Totoally worth it for .TheHartford for $8 a year which is what they can do with agent.thehartford.com. Look at the price differential to accomplish what they were trying to accomplish.
OK Paul – let me get this straight –
so you say “.Com is not the only game in town.”
and then you say “but 1,500 (or whatever) gTLDs is just confusing.”
and then you say “But there are viable alternatives.”
This means you say .com in not the only game in town and there are viable alternatives but if you have access to too amny of those alternatives – it is just confusing.
Does that sound like someone should just buy the .com ?
@ Brian
In theory, I agree with you. A single extension eliminates confusion.
The problem, as you well know, is .Com domainers have snapped up every domain variation under the sun and are charging huge premiums. Not to mention all the legitimate end users who have .Coms already registered.
Folks have been snapping up .Com domains since 1985.
As a result, .Com has become what Frank Schilling described as an extension that is completely saturated. If I want to start a business, I should not have to pay a domainer a fortune for a .Com.
Even market needs competition. It prevents price gouging and benefits consumers. It gives them options. So while I agree a .Com-only internet would be less confusing, it would effectively eliminate competition and hurt consumers. Of course, it would only help .Com domainers, right? lol
There has to be a happy medium between one extension and thousands of extensions. And no, I do not believe that happy medium is what consumers currently have available to them. I can’t give you a specific number Brian. But I think we can all agree that thousands of extensions is overkill.
The Hartford can use TheHartford.insurance or TheHartford.insure
This will confuse consumers more…….
Stick to TheHartford.com or Hartford.com
The Hartford can use TheHartford.insurance or TheHartford.insure
This will confuse consumers more…….
Stick to TheHartford.com or even better Hartford.com
adding to Brian’s point of view:
even more confusion when it comes to email addresses the functional side of communications by now approaching 2 decades, the “@” indispensable protcol is here to stay, to late and so wrong trying to reinvent the wheel. :
agent@LarryJones.TheHartford
vs the standard
LarryJones@TheHartford .com