Web addresses ending in .skolkovo, .yandex and even .vodka could soon appear if the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers approves applications for the registration of such top-level domain names. There are currently around two dozen web address endings, but that number could soar to over a thousand within months.
ICANN, which coordinates domain names around the world, finished accepting applications for new top-level domain names and published a full list of applicants last week. The organization has received 1,930 applications from more than 800 entities, including seven Russian companies.
The Russian companies filed applications to register the names .skolkovo, .gdn, .yandex, and .tatar. The Foundation for Assistance for Internet Technologies and Infrastructure Development filed applications for .moscow and its Cyrillic equivalent. Other Cyrillic names applied for include .???µ?‚?? and .??????.
Yandex already has several regional domains, such as yandex.ua and yandex.kz, and is planning to use .yandex in a similar way, company press secretary Ekaterina Karnaukhova said.
"If, over time, people become accustomed to using top-level domains, it will be convenient for them to access Yandex through .yandex," Karnaukhova said.
The company expects the new domain to allow for the same features as the regional domains, such as a search engine, company information and additional services.
Skolkovo plans to use its top-level domain name as a geographical guide. Users who access the domain would be able to find the location of a house and look at a photograph of its exterior, Izvestia reported. Moscow authorities plan to provide a similar service through .???????????°.
It is not only Russian companies that want to grab Russian domain names. The Vatican has filed an application for .???°?‚???»????. American and Swiss companies filed applications for the Cyrillic names .???°???‚, .?????»?°????, .?????? and .??????.
Top Level Domain Holdings, a company from the British Virgin Islands, applied for .vodka.
ICANN is currently soliciting public comments about the new domain names, which will be considered by the evaluation panels before accepting or rejecting an application.
Google requested 101 new top-level domain names, which amounts to percent of the total number of applications filed, Izvestia reported.
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