The fact that ICANN just today approved the use of more gTLDs will give rise to a whole bunch of new generic domain name extensions. Whereas until now there was only one major extensions .com, plus a few less important ones, such as .org, .net, etc, we will, starting at the beginning of 2012, see up to 1000 new, gTLDs each year.
To get your very own official extensions you need to shell out USD 185000,00 processing fee, payable to ICANN. This amount, if your request is approved, could buy (as an example) a domain with an extension called carsales as in cheap.carsales, or newyork as in visit.newyork, or redcross as in give2the.redcross, and would take its place next to cheapcarsales.com, visitnewyork.gov, or redcross.org.
In other words 5thAvenue.com (not a website), Route66.com (now a restaurant in Oklahoma, USA) and WallStreet.com (not a website either) could become 5thAve.nyc, Route66.restaurant or wallstreet.way.
Competitors could register cheap.carsales, visit.Manhattan or give.AmnestyInternational. The Internet is going to be swamped with domain names having all kinds of anything-goes extensions, while the polka.bikini might find renewed fame.
In order to protect a proper name or trade mark, corporations might be forced to acquire every available extension which could be unaffordable for small and mid size companies.
If you feel that all this sounds a bit confusing, you are not alone. It remains to be seen how search engines like Google and others will go about sorting it all out.
As the saying goes imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, therefore I believe that, besides ccTLDs, the good old .com and co (no pun intended), will stand their ground and remain the TLD extension choice for premium business, commerce and leisure domains.
http://www.icann.org/
More gTLDs
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