Recent Posts
- Five times ICANN deleted a ccTLD, and what it means for .io
- Future of .io domains uncertain as UK hands over Chagos islands
- .ai now has over half a million names
- UK and Israel cut ICANN funding
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- Moment of truth as .music domains finally go on sale
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- Another ccTLD opens up its second level
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- .io sells $40 million of domains after massive uptick
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Facebook rebrand: did one new gTLD or domainer just hit the jackpot?
Facebook is reportedly just days away from unveiling a major corporate rebranding, which will raise only one question in the minds of DI readers: what domain is it going to use?
Citing an unnamed source, The Verge is scooping that a name change is coming in the next week or so “to reflect its focus on building the metaverse”.
The article suggests that we’re looking at a new parent company, with a new umbrella brand, for services including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Oculus, along the same lines as Google’s reorganization under the Alphabet monicker a few years back.
You’ll recall that Alphabet famously chose abc.xyz as its domain, giving a huge early boost to marketing efforts at XYZ.com’s .xyz registry.
Could a different TLD registry get a similar leg-up from a new Facebook identity?
If the company has chosen a dictionary word for its brand, we’re looking at either something in a new gTLD, or a .com that would likely have to have been purchased from a domain investor.
If the domain has been bought on the secondary market, it almost certainly would have been acquired via a pseudonymous proxy, to avoid price gouging and to keep the name a secret.
Other options are that Facebook has come up with some fanciful neologism and bought the domain at reg price, or has selected a brand from a domain already in its portfolio.
The Verge expects a revelation by the company’s Connect conference October 28, but says it could come sooner.
Pretty sure that would be Metaverse.com
Can confirm.
They also own meta.com
The domain name of Alphabet is abc(dot)xyz rather than alphabet(dot)xyz
Doh! Of course, thanks.