Recent reports suggest that although .COM remains the undisputed domain top dog, several other TLDs are starting to threaten that position – and .WEB may just be a strong contender to do the same.
Although the .WEB TLD has been tied up in legal and admin since it was auctioned off in 2016, it is now about to hit the market, offering a new generic domain which could rival rising stars like .AI and .IO, as well as established giants like .COM.
I caught up with Mike Chattan, Senior Director of Domain Operations at Network Solutions to get his thoughts on how .WEB may change the domain landscape and how businesses can take advantage of this new opportunity.
Can you tell us a little bit about the history of .WEB and why, despite its highprofile, it is only now becoming available for use?
During the last round of new generic top-level domain (gTLD) launches, .WEB was seen as an extension that challenges .COM. It’s short and closely tied to the history of the internet itself through the term ‘World Wide Web.’
.WEB generated significant interest because it can give customers more options when their preferred .COM domain isn’t available. Seven applicants competed for .WEB, and the contention was resolved through an ICANN auction in 2016. The subsequent legal and regulatory process delayed the delegation of .WEB for years.
With ICANN now officially delegating .WEB to Verisign in July 2026, the registrar has said it plans to begin offering .WEB later this year. Now, we’re at the point where businesses and individuals can start considering what this extension could mean for them.
How do you see .WEB fitting into the domain landscape alongside powerhouses like .COM and .NET?
.COM and .NET are what many people associate with a website or the internet, but a domain extension alone doesn’t determine a business’s success. You don’t need a .COM or .NET to build a successful business. It can help with familiarity, but at the end of the day, you drive your own success through your brand, your customer experience, and how effectively you market yourself.
For businesses using .WEB, the key is consistency and education. Use the domain across your website, marketing materials, social media, and other customer touchpoints so people become familiar with it. Don’t assume customers will automatically recognize a new extension or understand that it’s legitimate.
That education is important because people are more cautious about unfamiliar links and domains due to phishing and other forms of online abuse. So, build that trust around the domain over time.
Domains like .AI and .IO have exploded in growth in recent years. How could .WEB change the narrative for modern businesses?
TLDs such as .IO,.SH, and .AI are technically country code top-level domains (ccTLDs). As we’ve seen, when ccTLDs have zero locality or other restrictions, they can act just like any other gTLD. .AI is a good example here because it’s popular among technology and artificial intelligence companies even though it’s the official ccTLD of Anguilla.
However, while we treat these extensions like gTLDs, some of them still apply ccTLD application rules, which makes it hard and more expensive for users to register.
Carrying and renewal costs are also problems for both corporations and single domain owners when it comes to these ccTLDs that have found other use cases. I will say that once the next round of TLDs comes out and customers have more options, these ccTLDs will become less relevant due to their pricing, unless the registries behind them make changes to accommodate non-country-specific customers. Customers might be able to find a better fit with new gTLDs for a quarter of the price.
How should SMBs evaluate if .WEB is the right TLD for them?
.WEB is a brand-new TLD that gives SMBs the opportunity to register a name that may be unavailable in other TLDs.
But first, SMBs should consider if .WEB fits their brand, their audience, and the way they want customers to remember them. If they choose .WEB, they should use it consistently across their website, marketing, customer communications, and social channels. Like any new TLD, .WEB will require some education and repetition before it becomes familiar to customers.
Should brands be looking to secure .WEB domains as a defensive move? What are the risks associated with competitors buying up your brand associated .WEB domain?
One concern that comes with new TLDs is brand protection. There is a lot to protect, and that comes with costs. That said, I don’t think .WEB requires a different brand-protection strategy from other TLDs. The same brand protection practices that apply to other TLDs should apply here as well.
For most brands, the important thing is protecting the second-level domain (SLD), regardless of the extension attached to it, and it needs to be done across the board.
How can brands measure the success of .WEB domains?
It will take time to understand how successful .WEB becomes. Registrations are an obvious starting point, but they don’t tell the whole story. I’d also look at renewal rates, the number of domains actively being used by businesses, adoption across different industries, and whether customers become familiar with .WEB to recognize and trust it.
The registry also has an important role to play. Historically, new TLDs have benefited when their registries invested in educating the market. Radix, for example, stood out during the last gTLD expansion by investing heavily in awareness and education around its TLDs. Verisign has a big opportunity with .WEB because they have an established .COM distribution network and experience operating domain registries.
