SR: Daniel Negari is the CEO of XYZ and Shayan is the Global Director of Registry Operations. XYZ is the registry operator of the world’s most popular new domain extension, .xyz, as well as .College (dotCollege), .Rent (dotRent), .Security (dotSecurity), .Protection (dotProtection), and .Theatre (dotTheatre). Through a joint venture, XYZ also offers .Cars (dotCars), .Car (dotCar), and .Auto (dotAuto). The mission of XYZ is to bring choice, flexibility, and innovation to the domain namespace for internet users worldwide.
(TOP: Shayan Rostam in a blazer and partially covered ‘xyz’ t-shirt. BELOW: Homepage screenshots of Alphabet Inc – abc.xyz – and Maybe* – maybe.xyz).
Q: What was your motivation for getting in the internet domain business?
SR: Daniel originally wanted to launch a domain extension after learning about an individual who had acquired the ccTLD .WS from West Somoa. Since Daniel, myself, and several other members of the XYZ Team have backgrounds in the real estate industry, becoming a registry operator was a natural fit when ICANN announced the expansion of the internet landscape through their new gTLD program.
Q: Why did you pick .xyz – instead of say .abc – during ICANN’s new gTLD round in 2012?
SR: .xyz is one of the only domain extensions that can be identified by any language, since the letters X, Y, and Z are universally recognized as the last three letters of the Latin alphabet. .xyz also does not have a literal meaning or connotation, so it gives end users the flexibility to create any kind of presence they desire, rather than being labeled by an industry, location, or other niche. In other words, .xyz is what YOU make it.
Q: You’re also the operator for 5 other strings – .College, .Rent, .Security, .Protection, and .Theatre. What has been the uptake of these other top level domains compared to .xyz?
SR: We actually operate 8 other strings. In addition to the above five, we also operate .Cars, .Car, and .Auto. All of our domain extensions have seen excellent adoption. For example, institutions all over the world, such as
Midwestern.College, are securing their .College domains for recruitment, athletics, campus organizations, and other purposes. .Rent domains – especially premiums – have been a popular choice for innovative real estate businesses, like
Patch.Rent. And earlier this month, the groundbreaking IBM Watson-powered self driving vehicle was launched on
MeetOlli.Auto.
Q: The .xyz domain received a lot of positive press when Google’s holding company Alphabet picked it for its online identity. How has the number of .xyz registrations been impacted by this development, have they increased or stagnated?
SR: Having
abc.xyz as an enduser is a great success story. However, .xyz was the most popular new domain in the world even before they launched. There are many cool businesses and individuals using .xyz, such as
Starship.xyz, which was launched by Skype’s cofounders for their new robotic delivery technology,
UMake.xyz, the most popular app for the iPad Pro, and
Milk.xyz, a pop culture site that rebranded from
Mi.lk. You can see more .xyz use cases at
www.gen.xyz/live or check out our weekly
#Website Wednesday blog posts.
Q: Apart from Alphabet Inc, which other major corporations and organisations have taken up the .xyz domain since you launched it in mid 2014?
Q:
In a previous blog post, Daniel stated that he and his team are “marketing .xyz for next generation businesses…” In your opinion and looking at current tech and innovation trends globally, will such businesses be based in the developed West or developing parts of the world like Africa?
SR: As the go-to domain for next generation of internet users, .xyz is not just for one part of the world. The next generation of internet users includes businesses all over the world, apps and innovative technologies, and young adults and individuals in emerging internet markets. .xyz is for every website, everywhere. With internet usage still growing exponentially worldwide, we no longer talk about just the US and Europe. Emerging economies are a remarkable rising tide for the internet industry. This is especially true in areas like Africa, which have extraordinarily young populations when compared to the established western-dominated internet. That’s why it’s no surprise that .xyz is the most popular new domain in African countries like
Egypt,
Algeria,
Nigeria, and
Kenya.
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