I have some domain names (some are related to photography), and for all of them I've purchased the .com, .info, .org (and some I think I got a few more TLD's). Well, ICANN (or whoever) is always releasing new TLD's, and I just learned that there is also .photo, .photography, .photos, .pics, .pictures, and who knows what else available. Obviously they are doing this so people can get the domain names that they want that are already taken (and so they can make more money by selling more domains). That's great for the domain registrars and for the people that want those domain names, but for people like me that own a domain name, it's a pain in the neck because I don't want people buying the same domain names as I have. I want to "protect my brand." So I feel like I need to keep buying all of these new TLD's for my domain name. It's expensive, annoying, and I'm not sure I can keep up with them all. I am not sure how important it is, considering I have the .com, .info, .org. But frankly, it feels really important. What the heck is the point of buying a domain name, if anyone can buy the same one? It would suck to discover someone running a similar website / business / whatever with the same domain name, just a different TLD. Feels almost like infringement. What is your take on this? And should I try to buy the domain TLD's that are related, to protect my interests / brand? I'm guessing this is frowned upon by many people, but I'm hoping you can see my point of view and how I feel. Thanks.
How big is your "brand?" You're correct that there are allot of new TLD's coming out, but unless you're registering premium domains like Selfie.pics/photo or your brand is extremely large, like imgur.pics or something - I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you're buying dozens of extensions to protect your brand, you should probably be making enough off it to cover those costs.
Thanks a lot for your reply. This is good advice. Although I feel uncomfortable leaving these other TLD's up for grabs, you are probably correct that it's not as big of a deal as I am making it out to be. Also, I can't afford all of them at this point anyway. Either way, I will have to build my brand bigger and better, and faster, than anyone else probably would on another TLD on the same domain. Hopefully that will protect me. ONE MORE QUESTION: What is the likelihood that some other TLD would place similarly, or higher, than my .com would in Google search results? If someone bought a .photo or something, and was placing in search results at a similar level as my .com, that could be extremely detrimental to me. Do you know if that could happen? Thanks again