Here come more and some of them are a bit odd.  Below are the details on domain names extensions expected to be released in the next 3 months.  All dates are tentative, but take a look to see if there’s one you just can’t live without.

 

November:

.BIKE – Perfect for the cycling enthusiast.  Want to make sure everyone knows this is your love @yourname.BIKE has you covered.

.CAREER – No specific information yet available but is likely meant to compete with .JOBS.

.SEXY – Intended to become “the Internets hottest brands, products, information, and websites.”  Something tells us this will not be used the way intended, more likely attracting adult oriented sites.

.CAMERA – As specific as .BIKE this domain extension is intended for camera and photography lovers.

.GURU – Looking to brand yourself as an expert in a certain field @yourname.GURU is for you.  Although it may open you up for jokes similar to the Apple Geniuses.

 

December:

.BUZZ – No specific information yet, but if you’re in the business of trying to create a buzz you might consider adding this domain extension.  Think buzzfeed.com adding buzzfeed.buzz as an alias.

.GIFT  – Also no specific information and this one is just strange enough we’re not going to hazard a guess at it’s intended use.

.KIWI – Are you a New Zealander?  Well then here you go.  This extension might come with a requirement to prove either a physical residence, business in New Zealand or New Zealand citizenship.

 

January:

.CLUB – Again no specific information, but likely to be inclusive any club type organization.  Or perhaps we’ve got it all wrong and it’s going to be all about night life…

.MENU – Chefs, restaurants, foodies, anyone creating or showcasing a menu online should love this one!

.WIKI – We already have wikipedia.com now anyone who wants to make a community resource will have the .WIKI’s at their disposal to really target their interest.

.BID – Likely will involve those who have projects to put out for bids, but as there is no specific information we may be woefully wrong.  Several new domain extensions involve the construction industry and this appears to go hand in hand with those.

.EMAIL – Self explanatory, although we’re not sure who will be jumping on this one.  Everyone already has at least one email address how many more can you possibly want.

So the real question is, are there too many domain name extensions?

Many would argue yes, stay with the original ones for the best result.  Others would say that some of the well done, very specific extensions like .JOBS are doing what they intended and provide a needed service on the Internet.

As for actual registrations the numbers really tell the story.  From ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) as of April 2013 here are the top 10 domain extensions.

1. .COM – 111,163,489
2. .NET – 15,449,095
3. .ORG – 10,258,953
4. .INFO – 6,774,502
5. .BIZ – 2,400,109
6. .MOBI – 1,078,020
7. .ASIS – 474,322
8. .NAME – 214,831
9. .TEL – 211,979
10. .PRO – 156,639

.COM is by  far the top domain extension, having over 100 million registrations since the end of 2011.  Next .NET and .ORG , but interestingly .INFO and .BIZ are gaining ground.  A little over a year earlier .INFO was over 8 million registrations.  .BIZ has seen a fairly steady growth since the middle of 2010.

The reality is .COM will likely always be king, but there is a place and a desire for a lot of the newer extensions.  It’s also always good to remember, that if the name you really wanted for your business wasn’t available in .COM, .NET, or .BIZ what you’re looking for might be just around the corner with the .INC or .LLC domain extensions expected to be released in 2014.

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