Facebook Didn’t Apply For Any New gTLDs?

ICANN finally revealed it’s list of all the applicants for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). It’s a huge list, and includes all applicants from the January 13 – May 30 applicati...
Facebook Didn’t Apply For Any New gTLDs?
Written by Chris Crum

ICANN finally revealed it’s list of all the applicants for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs). It’s a huge list, and includes all applicants from the January 13 – May 30 application window. Google applied for over 100 different gTLDs. Apple only applied for one: .Apple. Microsoft applied for some. Amazon applied for some (including .Search, interestingly).

One Internet giant is noticeably missing from the list altogether: the newly public Facebook. No applications for .Facebook, .Face, .Book, .FB, .OpenGraph, .Graph, or anything of the sort from the company (though Google did apply for .Book).

United TLD Holdco Ltd. applied for .Social (update: apparently on behalf of Demand Media). Google and a number of others applied for .App.

It’s worth noting that Google applied for its domains using a third party, but we haven’t seen anything indicating that this was the case with Facebook. Even with Google’s applications, they came from @google email addresses.

I don’t know exactly what Facebook would use any gTLDs for anyway, considering that Facebook’s presence is already plastered across the web itself, and is all centered around Facebook.com to begin with, but it seems likely that many of the applicants don’t know exactly what they’re going to do with all gTLDs either. My guess is that many of the applications are simply just to secure things that these companies may want somewhere down the line, and are just a precautionary measure to keep others from getting them.

It’s interesting that Facebook is apparently not too interested in such precautions. There are certainly no hints at future Facebook products, and not much room for speculation about future moves from the company.

Perusing Google’s giant list, on the other hand, leaves a whole lot of room for speculation about what Google may be up to. Of course, it’s only that at this point. Speculation.

Image: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg with dog Beast

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