By Sara Beninato, Traffic Quality ManagerA new era in the domain industry seems to be underway as hype for country code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) continues to increase. With the steady growth of the .cn and the recent success of the .me, more countries are realizing the potential of branding their own ccTLD.
Among the new countries expressing interest in ccTLDs is Wales. The country is proposing a .cym as their extension. “CYM” is short for “Cymru” which is “Wales” in Welsh. The campaign vying for a .cym, states that multiple companies would be eager to use this extension for the Welsh version of their websites. Not only would this extension be beneficial to companies, but it would also create a sense of individuality for the Welsh community by establishing their own internet presence.
Although there is country wide support for the implementation of a ccTLD for Wales, some are concerned that it may cause a problem for the end user. Many fear that the .cym is too close to .com and therefore increases the chances of confusion and misguided traffic. While this concern is justified, the .cym supporters continue to insist that the positive effects are well worth that risk.
As more countries begin to invest in their respective ccTLDs, we can expect these kinds of transitional adjustments and confusion to occur more frequently. However, with the possibilities and the profitability we look to gain from the development of more ccTLDs, the domain industry may just see that these new extensions live up to the hype.
Source: Sedo.com -- Reprinted with permission -- September 9, 2008