.London comes to London in online domain shake-up

London is set have its own .london web address in the biggest shake-up of online domain names since the internet began.

London & Partners, the official promotional agency for the capital, today applied for the domain as part of an overhaul of online names.

More than 2,000 applications have been made for new web address suffixes, with brands ranging from Lego and McDonald’s to Ferrari and Gucci asking for new domains.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann), the organisation that runs the system, is allowing for a dramatic expansion of the number of names in use and cities such as New York and Mumbai are also planning to apply for their own domains.

The first batch of new domains will be allocated in the first quarter of next year, Icann believes.

Matthew Jaffa, the London senior development manager of the Federation of Small Businesses, said the move could help firms in the capital.

“The majority of businesses in London want to be in London for the postcode, which adds gravitas, so having .london in a web address would also add gravitas,” he said.

The BBC has also used part of its licence fee income to apply for .bbc, while other British brands bidding for domains include ITV, Boots, Next and Bentley.