by David Barnett and Hayley O'Callaghan
Introduction
As part of the continuing first phase of the new-gTLD programme - the launch of a large group of new domain-name extensions (global top-level domains) which is now in its twelfth year[1], ahead of a new round of applications scheduled to launch in 2026[2] - three further extensions are due to be added from April 2025.
.free, .hot and .spot, whose launch was recently announced by Amazon Registry, [have entered] their sunrise periods (during which brand owners registered with the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) are apple to apply for domains) on 2-Apr, running for one month, before moving to general availability on 19-May.
All three of these domains have potential for brand abuse such as phishing campaigns or counterfeit sales, due to their possible association with (for .free) giveaways or free offers, (for .hot) trending / desirable products, and (for .spot) as 'placeholders' for a range of website types. Given also the lack of specific registration requirements for these new TLDs, brand owners are advised to register relevant names as early as possible - at least for holding as part of a defensive domain portfolio. Domains on these new extensions are anticipated to be priced between EUR 70 and 100 during their sunrise periods, and between EUR 80 and 110 during general availability (noting also that some names may be classed as 'premium' and subject to pricing on a case-by-case basis after submission of the domain application)[3].
In advance of the launches, we conduct a review of currently existing gTLD domains with (second-level domain (SLD)) names (i.e. the part to the left of the dot) ending with 'free', 'hot' or 'spot' as a proxy for the types of activity which may be associated with domains on the new extensions following their release. Given the most likely potential use-cases for these domains, we focus specifically on those names which also contain the names of any of the top ten most valuable luxury brands (as of 2024)[4].
Analysis
The searches reveal that there are actually over 169k gTLDs with names ending with 'free', 'hot' or 'spot' currently registered - 44% for 'free', 31% for 'spot' and 25% for 'hot' - though this will also include some non-relevant 'false positives' (e.g. names ending with 'shot', etc.). Filtering the dataset by the inclusion just of any of the ten luxury brand names under consideration, we find 58 registered examples (several of which make use of pre-existing new-gTLD extensions such as .shop, .store, .top and .xyz, many of which have been previously noted as being disproportionately associated with infringing use).
A little over half of these domains are under the control of the respective brand owner (either for active use, or as defensive registrations - though the nature of the keywords suggests that the latter scenario is potentially more likely), broadly indicating a proactive approach to brand protection which is in alignment with good practice. Nevertheless, 22 of the 58 examples appear to be under third-party ownership, of which 13 (59%) have active mail exchange (MX) records, indicating that they have been configured to be able to send and receive e-mails and - even in the absence of any associated website - could potentially be associated with phishing activity.
Amongst this small dataset, we do find a handful of examples resolving to live website content which is potentially infringing and may be of concern to the brand owner in question (Figure 1), though even the inactive examples might potentially be being held in a 'dormant' state in order to evade detection, with the intention of 'weaponising' the sites for active brand attacks at a later date.
Figure 1: Examples of live 'free', 'hot' or 'spot' domains targeting any of the top ten most valuable luxury brands:
- (top) SLD: chanelphot - e-commerce (potential sale of counterfeits / competitor products)
- (middle) SLD: pradahot - e-commerce (potential sale of counterfeits / competitor products)
- (bottom) SLD: prada4dhot - misdirection (gambling content) / collection of personal details
More generally, the wider dataset features a significant number of examples in which the domain names and keyword patterns are suggestive of other types of infringing content or other material of concern, such as digital piracy (e.g. 'movies-free', 'movie-spot', 'stream-free', 'audiobooks-free', 'download-free'), pharmaceuticals (e.g. 'pain-free', 'addiction-free', 'diabetes-free'), recruitment scams (e.g. 'job-free', 'job-spot'), adult content (e.g. 'xxx-hot', 'pics-free', 'webcam-free', 'porn-free', 'porn-hot'), gambling (e.g. 'win-play-free', 'bet-risk-free', 'lucky-spot', 'slots-hot'), e-commerce / counterfeits (e.g. 'deal-spot', 'shop-free') and other types of scam (e.g. 'toll-free', 'visa-free', 'ad-free', 'debt-free', 'bitcoin-free', 'crypto-hot').
Sitting at the intersection of all three keywords are eight examples of domains featuring all three terms combined into a single string - including one live example featuring a mobile app purporting to offer a free wifi hotspot service for businesses (Figure 2).
Figure 2: A live website on a 'freehotspot' domain name
Discussion
The landscape of pre-existing domains reveals a wide range of potential use-cases for the new extensions, covering both legitimate use (e.g. offering the sale of goods, or website 'hubs' for a range of products and services) and infringements (with a particular risk of phishing or counterfeit sales, among other areas).
These findings highlight - as ever - the importance of proactive programmes of brand monitoring and enforcement, and the imminency of the launches of these new gTLDs provides a compelling prompt for brand owners to review their domain registration and management policies, and to secure registrations across the new extensions on as timely a basis as possible.
References
[2] https://www.iamstobbs.com/opinion/the-new-new-gtlds
[3] https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7302685937472335872/
[4] https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/most-valuable-luxury-brands; brand references are identified by virtue of the appearance of any of the following strings: vuitton, hermes, chanel, gucci, dior, cartier, rolex, laurent, tiffany, prada
This article was first published on 10 April 2025 at:
https://www.iamstobbs.com/insights/free-hot-spot-an-exploration-of-three-new-gtld-launches
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