Internet domain providers reported a surge in interest for photography-related extensions among the new ICANN generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs). With hundreds of new generic TLDs being made available over the next few months, the most popular group of new domains so far is extensions which reference the art of photography such as .photos, .photography and .camera as well as .gallery. Check with your preferred registrar, for a fee (some do it at no cost) they help to secure your domain name. Multiple applications for the same domain will go to auction. Ouch!

Another bubble building up? The Internet is a more and more overcrowded place. If you secured a nice domain in time it’s a bit like having a great piece of real estate in cyberspace. There is only so much space available. Especially for top quality .com domains people are willing to pay insane prices. Today you can even lease domains because people can’t pay upfront for what they want. Sure there’s a lot of speculation in it. But relief might be near if you really really want a specific domain name that’s hard to get:

The new TLDs will ultimately sit alongside existing domains, such as .com. And when it comes to photography, many people seem eager to get their own personalized piece in cyberspace as most good .com, .net or .org domains are long taken. A .photos, .photography, .camera or .gallery domain can be a powerful form of communication in the digital age to identify a company, blog, project or simply yourself as closely with photography as possible.

Popular domain names might require a steep premium once the auctions are on and domains become available to the public. So why not pre-register your preferred domain now. Most registrars refund the cost of the registration (not application!) should you not get the sought after domain.

If you apply for a popular domain it goes to a closed auction after its release date with all registrants invited. After pre-registration domains move into “landrush” and then become available to the general public.

Right, you see the problem? It’s unclear how proceeds from the auctions will be used. ICANN’s new gTLD auctions will generate tens of millions of dollars. More than 1,000 new gTLD domains will be introduced over the next three years, such as .shop, .web, .news, .blog, .nyc, etc. See the potential? Right, better order your domain early.

Such as a domain relating to photography. Why?

For the photography industry, most services have turned digital. With .photography, .photos, .gallery or .camera, photographers, bloggers, camera and print shops, framing studios as well as photo sharing and hosting services and anything else that relates to booming photography get the chance to have a unique, targeting domain namespace to help customers find the right services online while promoting networking between businesses.

.com will remain the ultimate TLD to must have, but at least it’s good to see that cyberspace is getting more structured, diverse and a bit more transparent.