The gambling sector now has its own domain name.
Domain registry operator Afilias introduced last week .BET, an Internet address designed for sports betting, gambling, games of chance and all other online and offline wagering activities.
In a statement, Afilias said the new domain will “immediately convey to a global audience that a site’s content is related to betting and is perfect for marketing as it is short and easy to remember.”
Registration for the domain is initially limited to eligible trademark holders, which have been given until February 4 to apply for the new address.
Then from February 8 to February 12, the .BET domain will be made available using a Dutch auction format. Afilias said the available names will start at a maximum price, which will be lowered in decrements daily as registrants decide at which price point they want to register.
The public landrush period will end on February 12.
The open registration for the new domain will begin on March 3.
“Afilias is excited to introduce .BET, the new top level domain created for the sports betting and online gambling community,” said Afilias Chief Marketing Officer Roland LaPlante in a statement following the announcement. “.BET is the ideal Internet address for all games of chance and wagering activities both on and offline. Everything from sports betting to casino-style gaming can benefit from a .BET address.”
Less is more
Currently, the domain industry is seeing a huge surge in sales of two-, three-, and four-character domain names, thanks largely to Chinese buyers.
Alan Dunn, managing director of Florida-based digital naming agency NameCorp, told Quartz in an email interview that Chinese buyers are stockpiling a growing chunk of the global Internet’s short domain names, particularly the two-, three-, and four-character names that do not include a “0” or “4.”
Quartz quoted Dunn saying: “Because ‘0’ looks like ‘O’, because zero looks like the English letter O and might be confusing, and ‘four’ in Chinese pronunciation sounds like ‘death.’”
The number eight, on the other hand, is popular, especially among gambling websites because of its association with making money, Dunn said.
