SMB demand for .london web addresses looks set to soar

More than 200,000 of the capital's SMBs could register a .london web address when the new generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) names are introduced on 29 April.

That's according to the findings of a new YouGov poll, involving 1,001 SMB business decision makers, which was commissioned by the promotional arm of the London Mayor's office London & Partners.

Twenty-six per cent of respondents said they were likely to take up a .london web address. YouGov has used this to calculate that more than 200,000 SMBs could be interested in the suffix.

Of that 26 per cent, 48 per cent said they would do so because they are proud to be a London business, 41 per cent said it would help customers find them more easily, and 27 per cent said it would generate more sales.

Martha Lane Fox, co-founder lastminute.com and former Government digital champion, said: "The new generic domain names are a big change to the web.

".london offers businesses and organisations in the capital a chance to be at the cutting edge of that change and show the world how innovative they can be."

The views of the remaining 74 per cent who did not say they were likely to take up the .london gTLD were not published.

The .london name is one of nine gTLDs - the last part of a web address such as .com, .co.uk or .net - that are being introduced by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which has governance over them. Other new introductions include .guru, .clothing, .singles and .cloud.

Web addresses sporting the .london gTLD will go on sale on 29 April, when they will be available to buy from various internet registrars.

Sarah Haran and Matt Mansell, MD and group MD of internet registrars Easyspace and 123-reg.co.uk, respectively, claimed their organisations had seen a great deal of interest in the new domain.

"We've had more customers register their interest in .london so far than any of the other extensions," claimed Haran.

".london is certainly one of the most popular [new gTLD]," added Mansell.

"The city is riding high after the Olympics and the .london domain will help businesses and organisations capitalise on the national and international interest in London," he concluded.