Page 44 - AVN October 2015

of CROWDSOURCING | STOP, THIEF | |By Nate Glass
| By Stewart Tongue
ABCs the largest
”When one of
companies on
the net makes
a statement like
this, it’s hard not
to pay attention.
Any company
that has invested
in a new domain
will have their
confidence
increased.
—Steve Winyard,
ICM Registry
TECH NEWS
Stewart Tongue is an industry insider who has worked
extensively with many top brands in adult and
mainstream markets as well as a significant number
of successful startups. His work as the owner of
EngineFood.com and WebsiteSecure.org continues to
enhance online content and consumer trust.
When monolithic companies make announcements, there are often different
theories about why they chose to do something a certain way. Nowhere is that
more common than when it comes to Google, the search giant many businesses
now rely on for a majority of their best traffic. Recently Google announced it is
rebranding itself as Alphabet and utilizing the domain ABC.xyz for its new parent
company, in an attempt to spin off its search services division from its other
interests in everything from driverless automobiles to DNA testing and more.
Clearly Google had a choice in the decision to use Alphabet as a trading name
while selecting ABC.xyz. With its resources, Google could have bought pretty
much any domain, or at the very least branded itself with an available .com name
for next to nothing. Instead, they went with ABC.xyz, even though
ABC.com and Alphabet.com are already owned by very established brands. So
why did they do it, and what impact will it have on other brands? We asked
several industry insiders to tell us they think is really going on with the move.
“Google had a choice. Their decision to use Alphabet as a trading name and
then selecting ABC.xyz as their primary domain was clever and also relevant,”
said Steve Winyard, director and vice president of ICM Registry, owner of the .xxx
domain extension. “Many of the new TLDs could be considered pointless as they
fail to serve any real purpose in the Internet. In this instance, .xyz is a perfect fit
for Alphabet as a play on letters. It is also easy to remember.”
The way Winyard views the move, it’s the next step in an already established
pattern. “Google’s investment in the new-domain arena has been significant.
The fact they paid over $25 million for .app and have now led with .xyz goes to
prove, beyond any doubt, that the future of the internet will be dominated by
new domains that have relevance. Consumers will become more aware of new
domains and in particular this will lead to a segmentation of content, allowing
clearer identification by the use of the TLD. This will certainly apply to adult
content. Using .xxx, .porn, .sex and .adult are easy to remember, relevant and
clearly identify the content as adult in nature. With over 1,000 TLDs set to be
live with sectors being marketed using the choice and labeling power of the TLD,
[it] shows we are at the start of a clear shift in the internet and how it serves
targeted results to surfers. Billions of dollars has been collectively invested in the
new-domain arena and when one of the largest companies on the net makes a
statement like this, it’s hard not to pay attention. Any company that has invested
in a new domain will have their confidence increased by Google’s decision.”
.xyz Experts spell out what’s behind Google rebrand
Others see this as a potential hint of a
larger move to come in the near future.
“Because Alphabet is going to be the new
umbrella corporation for Google, people are
wondering if that is how they are planning to
buy Twitter,” commented leading social media
strategist Lauren MacEwen of 7Veils.com.
“There is speculation that with the changes
in Google+ and their failure to overtake
Facebook, this restructuring paves the way
for a Twitter buyout. If you can’t build it, buy
it! There is no real talk about an acquisition,
only speculation. Funnily enough, they do not
own Facebook.com/alphabet or
Twitter.com/alphabet, which made the
existing owners of the accounts quite happy
with their windfall as well.”
Still, in the face of so much hype, cynics
remain surprised that this sort of move
has generated so much interest when in
reality very little has actually changed. “How
is this even a question?” asked Justin of
GrowThisFast.com. “Google created a holding
company so they could do non-Googley
things without having to use the Google
brand name. I’m happy to help anyone create
their own holding company if that’s going to
be a hip thing now.”
Experienced marketers also noted that the
choice of the new brand might not be the
most effective way Google could have gone.
“While the announcement of ‘Alphabet’ as
the new parent company to Google most
likely will not change the actual company or
what they do, my feelings toward it aren’t
mixed—I outright don’t like the new name,”
said Juicy Jay, JuicyAds.com founder and
CEO. “I feel that Google has damaged their
brand with this move. As a branding expert
[JuicyAds won a YNOT Award as Adult
Internet Brand of the Year in 2014], I feel
that Google has taken their fun and geeky
world-dominating tech brand and made it less
of what it is by associating it with this new
name, which immediately provokes feelings
of childhood. Perhaps this was the goal. Just
say it out loud, and try using it in context,
it just sounds and feels wrong, somehow.
Regardless of the move, surely the world will
keep turning.”
From Jay’s perspective, “The whole dot-
com domain situation is out of control.
While I don’t have a problem with people
or companies registering domains, I do have
a problem with people not using what they
register. The constant launch of each new
dot-whatever is draining to any company
trying to retain their own trademarks and
44 | AVN.com | 10.15