Rush to sign on dotted line for new web name

Dot London is set to become Europe’s biggest city domain name following its launch today with tens of thousands of businesses and charities queuing up for the new website addresses.

The Dot London suffix is one of a new generation of site address endings — or top level domains — replacing the familiar .co.uk and .com. Those for Berlin and Vienna are already live but they are expected to be dwarfed by interest for Dot London, which globally is likely to be rivalled only by .NYC.

Robert Hoffmann of domain registrars 1&1 Internet said: “We have seen very strong demand for .London, in fact expressions of interest around double that relative to .Berlin at the same point in the launch process. We estimate that between 50,000 and 100,000 .London domains will be registered in the days following general availability.”

Today’s official launch event in Trafalgar Square kicks off a three-month priority period for London based businesses, trademark owners and individual Londoners to register Dot London names.

Deputy mayor Kit Malthouse, who heads the capital’s promotional body London & Partners, urged companies and other organisations not to miss the deadline or risk their names being snapped up by rivals or even go abroad. He said: “Even the slightly crazy names of internet start-ups could be hugely valuable later.”

The Dot London websites of a first wave of “pioneer” organisations including Metro Bank, Meantime Brewing and Fortnum & Mason, as well as the Standard’s sister TV company London Live, start today. Evening Standard’s entertainment website, standard.london, was the first Dot London domain when it went live earlier this month.

David Pegler, chief executive of conference and exhibition centre ExCeL London, said: “The launch of the .London domain is a significant step forward for businesses in the capital and a step ahead of New York and Paris in the battle for global competitiveness.

“When competing for international contracts we sell London first, ExCeL second and I expect adopting the .London domain to help underline our connection with this great global city.”

West End producer Nica Burns, co-owner of the Nimax group, which owns six London theatres, said: “Dot London is a very simple tool for telling people exactly where our theatre is. We own the Palace Theatre. There are lots of them all over the world, but only one in London.”

Gemma Kirkland, Trade Mark Attorney at London lawyer D Young & Co said: “The launch of the Dot London domain name is great news for businesses hoping to take advantage of the city’s established reputation as a global centre for commerce. However brands should be warned of the potential risks.