Google applies for .lol, .docs and .youtube

Google revealed Thursday that it has applied for new Web address endings, including .google, .youtube, .lol and .docs.

In a blog post Thursday, Vint Cerf, one of the pioneers of the Internet who is now Google’s chief Internet evangelist, said Google thought .lol had “interesting and creative potential” and that .youtube will allow users to more easily identify YouTube channels and genres. 

{mosads}He said the company applied for .docs because “it is related to our core business.” Google applied for other domain endings as well, but the company did not say how many.

“By opening up more choices for Internet domain names, we hope people will find options for more diverse—and perhaps shorter—signposts in cyberspace,” Cerf wrote.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the nonprofit that manages the Web’s address system, began accepting applications for the new address endings, known as generic top-level domains, earlier this year.

The expansion will allow for websites ending in nearly any word or phrase, in additional to traditional top-level domains, such .com and .org.

ICANN stopped accepting applications for new domain endings Wednesday night.   

The group said it received just over 1,900 applications. It plans to publish the full list of applications on June 13.

Groups had to pay $185,000 to apply for a new top-level domain.

CloudNames, a domain service provider, also revealed on Thursday that it applied for .cloud and .global. The domains are targeted primarily at businesses, according to the group.

But advertisers and other business groups have criticized the domain name expansion, warning it could force companies to spend millions defensively buying up domains related to their brands.

Jon Leibowitz, the chairman of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), expressed concern earlier this year that the expansion could confuse consumers and enable scammers.