Some of the proposals are for suffixes to be reserved for in-house use. Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., for instance, plan to restrict ".yahoo and ".microsoft" to their sites or affiliates, while keeping their current names under ".com." If Google Inc. wins its bid for ".search," the search leader won't let rivals use it.
But there are hundreds of proposals for generic names that the public would be able to buy names under — for $10 or thousands depending on the suffix. Some are coming from entrepreneurs or businesses that specialize in domain names.
Others are from big technology companies. That means Google, for instance, could charge its fiercest rivals for rights to "Microsoft.love," ''Facebook.love" and "Apple.love." Google declined comment.
Amazon has bids for 76 names, many related to businesses the online bookseller now dominates or might want to. Besides ".book" and ".author," Amazon is seeking ".joy."
Amazon indicated in its applications that it would initially use those names for only a limited number of its own sites, though the company was silent on longer-term plans. Amazon declined further comment.
Stephen Ewart, marketing manager of Names.co.uk, a domain name reseller that stands to gain from registrations under new suffixes, says there's a danger with companies such as Amazon controlling such common terms.
"Once you own these spaces, you can write your own terms and conditions," he says. "Big brands can decide who can be there and decide what can be put in that space. It's a bit cynical to think someone can be locked out of joy."
Amazon and Google are among 13 bidders for ".app." Both companies operate stores for distributing apps for mobile devices running Google's Android system. That could shut out Apple Inc. and its rival iPhone and iPad devices.
While Google applied for 101 suffixes, Apple sought only one, ".apple." EBay Inc. and Facebook Inc. didn't propose for any. It was Amazon that bid for ".like" — the button on Facebook that lets users recommend links and brands to friends.
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Online:
List of proposals: http://bit.ly/L4MYed
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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