GoDaddy Corporate Domains chief: The next Internet land rush is happening right now

Fourteen years ago, a handful of companies acquired something most people didn’t know existed — their own internet suffix. Most corporate leaders ignored the opportunity. Some dismissed it as a gimmick. Others never seriously considered it. This summer, they have another chance. ICANN — the organization that coordinates the internet’s addressing system — is accepting applications through August 12 for branded internet endings. Instead of only building their online presence around “.com,” companies can apply to control suffixes that match their own brands, such as “.google” or “.amazon.” The last application round took place in 2012. Once the current window closes, another opportunity may not arrive until well into the next decade. Not every company will see the need for its own “dotBrand.” But it represents a form of digital infrastructure that could become more important in the years ahead, as AI systems, automated interactions, and synthetic content reshape the internet. For three decades, companies have built their digital identities on infrastructure they do not fully control. They register domain names, defend against impersonators, buy up misspellings, monitor fake websites, and try to steer customers toward legitimate channels. The basic bargain has mostly worked. Consumers type in a familiar web address, look for a company name, and assume they have arrived in the right place. But that bargain is under strain. Artificial intelligence is changing how people search, shop, communicate, and transact online. Increasingly, the “customer” a business encounters online may not be a person at all. It may be an AI agent researching a purchase, booking a reservation, comparing suppliers, or handling a customer-service request on someone else’s behalf. Google CEO Sundar Pichai recently predicted that traditional web search will evolve into an “agent manager,” where