The .tata Dot Brand

Tata Sons Limited had its origins in 1868 and was a pioneer in industries of national importance to India. Today, the Tata group consists of more than 100 companies operating in communications & IT, engineering, materials, services, energy, consumer products and chemicals. It operates in more than 80 countries and has over 425,000 employees.

SPECIAL NOTE: The application for the .tata extension is subject to resolution of a geographic name similarity contention:

The Geographic Names Panel has determined that the string falls within the criteria for a geographic name contained in the Applicant Guidebook Section 2.2.1.4. The applicant was contacted to provide documentation of support/non-objection per Section 2.2.1.4.3 of the Applicant Guidebook.

ICANN. New GTLD Current Application Status. This can be viewed after a search for TATA on the ICANN applications page LINK.

The applicant has also applied for the .tatamotors TLD.

It is possible that the .tata string may be considered too similar to .tatar which has been applied for by the Tatarstan Republic. See ICANN's website for more information.

Tata's flagship website Tata.com is the company's interface for information exchange and business transactions. It performs multiple functions, such as being a storehouse of knowledge and a hub of links to the group's other sites. It also builds trust.

The Applicant asks the questions — is the current dot com domain sufficient for its modern needs and why does it need a .tata TLD?

The Internet is constantly expanding with business transactions happening at a high level and increasing use of mobile devices and the growing cloud adding to online activities. The Applicant notes that Internet use is growing at an estimated rate of 30% per year in India, indicating that the "medium is set to be the most powerful". Hence Tata wants to own and control its own brand domains.

The .tata extension will provide a great security dividend — users will have an authentic destination which they can confidently visit and link to. It will be perceived as being more stable and secure.

A gTLD (ie a brand TLD) would represent a shift from the generic to the specific. It would allow the Tata group to limit registrations within the family group of companies, without any fear of somebody else cyber-squatting on a name, unlike in the case of unrestricted generic TLDs.

Domain names will be shorter and easier to remember. Navigation will be direct and simple since the company will control all names in the space. Retrieving information will be faster. Engagement with customers will be deeper. There will be "Better information broadcast through customized content".

Visitors will be guaranteed that they have arrived at genuine Tata content. Links on .tata sites will also be validated. The group "will be using .TATA exclusively for its family group of companies". This will reduce or eliminate user confusion.

Tata will be able to use the TLD consistently for marketing purposes. Factors such as the increased confidence in the new channel will lead to greater cross sell opportunities. The group currently spends millions of dollars each year on promotional activities.

The audience comes to reach the applicant's site for various reasons... by the way of BTL promotions — this includes pamphlets, advertisements and so on. Tata plans to invest in GTLD and acquire rights on chosen TLD string. For this we are putting in place an investment plan of $1 Million dollars over the next 10 years.

NOTE: BTL = below the line.

Tata will be able to showcase itself as a leader in the new brand domain space. The Tata name is respected internationally and the .tata TLD will actively promote brand recall. The "Tata" brand was ranked 41st among the world's 100 most valuable brands by Brand Finance in the UK, and valued at more than $15 billion in 2011.

Under the new TLD, our own company and product web sites will help in creating and building trust which is very important to make the user feel comfortable and at ease, which will ensure that they will visit again. This helps maintain and create goodwill for the Tata brand.

In the current traditional domain space, Tata already has registrations in the .in extension and in other TLDs. The group often registers new names to suit new product and service offerings. Tata's existing information and transactional websites will gradually come under the new brand TLD as it rolls out the new string.

It is being estimated that in the first year after .TATA is allotted to TATA, around 100 second-level domains will be registered; in the second year around 300 second-level domains will be live and in the third year around 500 second-level domains will be live.

The Applicant provides a few examples of how it plans to implement individual domain names.

For instance, the existing corporate web site of TATA is www.Tata.com. The new second-level domain name of this web site would be www.Tatagroup.Tata.

Moving into finer detail, the company's automotive interests will appear under Motors.tata and car brands under names like Indica.tata. This principle will extend to a wide range of products and services, and will serve to make navigation fast, simple and intuitive.

Tata will strive to protect the integrity and stability of the .tata registry. The group wishes to build a high level of confidence and trust in its online presence and will not tolerate any possible malicious use of domain names with the aim of protecting all Internet users.

In association with its back-end registry provider Afilias, the company will implement advanced policies to maintain a secure domain space and prevent such activities as phishing, pharming, spam, malware distribution, illegal actions, fraud, botnet command & control, fast-flux hosting and hacking. As a specific example, there will be a greatly reduced likelihood of a mis-typed name leading to a deceptive website.

Privacy and confidentiality will be strongly protected.

Our privacy policies are designed to help us serve our customers/visitors while maintaining strict privacy and security standards.

Geographic Dot Brands

As per the specifications of the Registry Agreement, Tata will initially protect from registration names with national or geographic significance within its dot brand TLD.

In consideration of GAC advice described in "Principles regarding new gTLDs", country & territory terms will be blocked from registration within the .tata string.

A procedure will be defined under which appropriate governments may be able to take control of geographical domains. In the future, Tata has an interest in applying for the use of country names:

As defined by Specification 5, paragraph 5 (of the New TLD Registry Agreement), such geographic domains may be released to the extent that Registry Operator reaches agreement with the applicable government(s). Registry operator will work with respective GAC representatives of the country's relevant Ministry or Department to obtain their release of the names to the Registry Operator.

Possible .tata Brand Domains

TataGroup.tata (specifically named in the application)
Motors.tata (specifically named)
Indica.tata (a car brand specifically named)
Communications.tata
Information.tata
Engineering.tata
Materials.tata
Software.tata
TCS.tata
Energy.tata
Chemicals.tata
Steel.tata
Innovation.tata
Search.tata
Global.tata
About.tata

Notes

Brand names mentioned on this site are registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective corporations. This site claims no association with or endorsement by any of these corporations and their marks are mentioned only to illustrate opinion presented in the public interest.

All quotations on this page are from the respective companies' official ICANN brand TLD applications unless otherwise stated.

Many possible theoretical dot brands are mentioned (in English). There are also countless possibilities in other languages. This has significant potential value for international navigation.

This site is focused on reporting the strategic impact of the brand domains on internet communication, competition and commerce, and some comment is speculative.

It is not a comprehensive overview of what some of the world's largest corporations have chosen to reveal about their plans for the implementation of their proprietary domain strings.

ICANN is particularly concerned with the technical, financial, security and legal issues associated with the new TLDs. These issues are beyond the scope of this website.

For a comprehensive overview of the brand domains and their impact on the web, refer to ICANN's website and the individual applications (large parts of which are publicly published).

If you have a particular interest in an individual company, the public aspects of their applications are available for download via these ICANN links: You can also search a complete list of applicants there.

ICANN new gTLD applications

ICANN official website

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