The addition of new high-level domains (.biz, .info, .name, .co-op, .pro, .museum, .aero), and the ongoing exploitation of over 150 existing domains, will force the average Global 2000 organization to register at least 300 name variants by 2001.

These findings by Gartner Group are particularly relevant since the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers recently announced seven new top-level domains.

"Organizations have mistakenly assumed that having a domain name with 'dot-com' was enough. Being a 'dot-com' does not mean you are 'dot-done'," said Audrey Apfel, vice president and research director with Gartner. "We are recommending that any organization that has or plans to have an Internet presence develop a domain naming strategy that goes beyond dot-com, with multiple names registered in multiple registries."

The up-front cost of developing this strategy is estimated to cost the typical Global 2000 organization $75,000. According to Gartner, the process of developing this domain strategy must consider multiple factors, including:

• marketing and branding for existing and future initiatives and products
• legal exposures and liability
• misspellings of prefixes
• related sentences (for example, "iwonXXX" or "XXXnogood")
• domains beyond dot-com
• non-English language variants of names
• a process for ongoing revision to address new high-level domain names, products, acquisitions and mergers at a yearly cost of $20,000.

"The addition of these seven new high-level domain names by ICANN is only the tip of the iceberg,' continued Apfel. "Organizations must register names in multiple registries for both offensive and defensive purposes, but with the knowledge that no one can cover all the options. The future will bring more options, not fewer. Organizations with no plan for adapting their domain naming strategy do so at their peril."

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