When the idea of new gTLDs were introduced, it seemed logical that big brand owners would be the first to adopt.  The cost to own one’s own “dotBrand” is somewhat restrictive because of the application price of $185,000 in addition to the costs to run the new TLD.  Among the Fortune 100 though, one would assume the costs would be seen as minimal in comparison to the advantages of protecting a brand or expanding services and offerings.

From the list of the 1930 applicants released today, DNN has compiled a list of 36 Fortune 100 companies that have applied for new TLDs.  Of those, 20 companies are applying for more than one new gTLD and 16 of them are merely applying for their brand name in a new extension.

Amazon, Google and Microsoft are applying for the most new TLDs from this list, which would make sense based on their respective brand and product positions on the internet.  All of these companies can be considered pioneers of a new way of using brands on the internet.

Several of these corporations are being assisted by legal or brand management agencies such as Fairwinds, CSC and MarkMonitor. This information came from the ICANN filings and we have also noted in the list below.

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