• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, June 12, 2012

A recent post by SEO Book founder Aaron Wall got me thinking again about top level domain names (TLDs), again. I wrote a couple of articles based on gTLDs. One explains how Google might monetize them. Then I read Wall's interview with Microsoft Bing's Duane Forrester, where he asked about Microsoft offering TLD-based filters.

Wall refers to ccTLD filters, as in Internet top-level domains used to identify country, sovereign state, or dependent territory. My mind, of course, automatically went to Google's decision to apply for more than 50 names like .android, . google, and .youtube. Lissi Mack-de Boer, chief security officer at domain seller Sedo, believes it could require companies to step up efforts to protect brands, putting a strain on legal and marketing budgets in the short term. Long-term, the extensions could spark innovative business models and change the ways that people navigate the Web.  

Here's Wall's take on the changes.

MediaPost:  What type of tracking would these Google-proposed TLDs provide the search engine, and what would/could the company do with TLDs like .youtube, .google and .android to support marketers focused on search engine optimization? How would it benefit/challenge marketers?

Wall:  Presumably, if they host it they can track the complete consumer experience. Google is very good at using a carrot and a stick to get marketer support. So, they offer something free or a data source only accessible for those using their tool. Then, down the road, they charge for what was once free.

Once Google hosts the content and tracks the complete consumer experience, they can create any sort of relevancy signal they want. Similar to YouTube video views, relevancy signal and ad units, consumer reviews and ratings can heavily influence rankings within the Android store. Some app developers could likely pay extra for premium placement and/or to highlight particular reviews. Those sorts of signals can influence the insertion of vertical markets into the overall organic search results. 

Other company-specific URLs will be used in innovative ways, but it is difficult to predict all in advance. In many ways, they will become similar in size to the massive amount of variety among existing Web sites.

MediaPost:  In terms of ranking various sites in different markets, how would Google and marketers use these TLDs to better understand site visitors and their needs?

Wall:  As far as ccTLDs [geo-location SEO signals], that is another signal where a competing site might become strong geographically, along with the strength of the company in that market. 

MediaPost:  How would Google and brand marketers benefit from these types of TLDs?

Wall:  Google can gain deeper control of the ecosystem. In turn, it makes relevancy easier to measure and allows for more aggressive monetization. In terms of the former, Google has their Chrome browser and search engine, but they still rely on many guestimates of quality like HTML links, whereas if you host the data you can see how many people view/watch the content.

You also can see when people stop engaging with the content, how many people subscribe to update notifications, how those subscribers engage with the content, how people engage with that content relative to other related pieces of content, and relative shifts in popularity.

In addition to those sorts of general use metrics, Google can view how long that user account has been active, if it has a registered credit card on file, the IP address of the account and the use history of that account to see general trustworthiness of the account, for example. Google also can see the use data of other accounts vs. that account to help determine what other pieces of content that user might like to deliver more relevant content experiences and increase stay time.

In terms of increasing monetization opportunities, YouTube has a home page ad; Google offers ad retargeting, including retargeting of people who view your videos; ads can be targeted to channel or site, and after Google gains dominance in a vertical/niche/market they can force marketers to buy ads against their own content on a credible threat that they will otherwise sell that inventory to competitors.

Google also can more deeply and directly embed the ad in the content or offer "choose your own adventure" styled interactive sequenced ads. In some vertical search markets Google can monetize them with layer after layer. For example, on a hotel search on Google.com, Google's search results have AdWords ads or might include price ads in the local listings in the organic results. If you skip on that ad and click on "Google reviews" that leads to a Google+ page.

That Google+ page features Google reviews and potentially more ad inventory in the near future. It also links through to a Google Maps location page that carries ads for competing businesses. For events they could likely sell event tickets or ticket ads, as well as add-ons like parking. Google also tests Google Offer listings in the search results. I saw a midtown Manhattan hotel Google Offer while searching for "San Francisco hotels."

Google has also tested a hotel comparison ad unit. This consists of an index of paid inclusion listings. More recently they included a paid-search ad product in those listings where the top listing is sponsored and the click goes to whoever pays the most. 

MediaPost: Could brand marketers personalize sites based on Google's TLDs like .google or .android?

Wall:  This basically comes down to whatever Google feels is most profitable for Google without the risk of significant blowback that leads to some form of regulation by market regulators.