Following the over-hyped and controversial release of the .xxx domain extension earlier in the year, many brands, businesses and individuals are now actively using their x-rated new domain names.
According to popular domain registrar 123-reg, 70% of all those who pre-registered for an .xxx extension a few months ago were successful in getting the domain name they wanted.
Obviously many of these sites are dedicated to adult entertainment, from video hubs to live chats, but what's really interesting is that 48% weren't from those in the porn industry at all, but regular businesses hoping to protecting their brand and reputation.
NATAS, or the National Asbestos Training and Accreditation Scheme, which specialises in training and testing, decided to take steps to safeguard its business, registering www.natas.xxx.
Max Lopacki, the MD of NATAS, said:
"A few years ago, I owned and purchased the domain www.natas.com, but the registrar I used at the time didn't alert me to the re-registration of the domain and it expired. It was then bought by a business in the adult industry and as a result a large percentage of my customers and prospects were routed to a very graphic and not protected adult site.
"Most business people might not see the clear correlation between the release of an 'adult-specific' domain extension and the potential brand threat, but unfortunately at NATAS we recognise the importance of safeguarding our brand wherever possible."
So if you come across starbucks.xxx, don't think the brand is venturing into some kind of fetish sex site that mixes porn and coffee (ouch), instead we're likely to see more and more brands registering domain names to protect themselves against 'brandjacking'. After all, the last thing a big brand needs is for someone to sit on its domain name with a .xxx suffix and start publishing hard core pornography.
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