It seems adding more and more web addresses into the mix is the story for 2013, with Nominet now getting in on the action by raising the possibility of adding a .uk domain to the list.
I have raised my concerns about all these additional generic top level domains (gTLDs) before, with the move being both a money-grab by ICANN and a way for large companies to further domanate a sector by owning and administering a gTLD like .books for Amazon or .app for Apple.
The only positive use for these additional domains, is so that it can be easier to determine a site’s content and then make a decision as to whether you want to access the page. If all adult sites used .XXX, then it would be much easier for filters to block those sites for children, and people would know exactly what they are in for.
.uk (as opposed to .co.uk and .org.uk) is not such a huge problem, but does look like Nominet are similarly making a cash-grab – as the majority of sites that currently use .co.uk would now also have to go out and purchase the .uk to protect their brand. These domains may be cheap and £2.50-£4, but it is just another expense for little value.
The possibility of making .uk available now also makes me wonder why this wasn’t available years ago when .co.uk and .org.uk were launched. If launched back then, .uk would have likely been the most common UK web address, but we just don’t need it now. It will just add confusion to people accidentally writing the wrong country TLD (cTLD) and another added expense.