About the .VERSICHERUNG new gTLD

The German company dotVersicherung GmbH is applying for the top-level domain (TLD) .versicherung (the German word for "insurance") on behalf of all insurance-related companies in German-speaking countries. Once a successful bid for the domain has been realized, the basis for the insurance industry and its organizations to register names within the domain will be accomplished. An expert advisory board comprised of representatives from groups such as group and social insurance companies as well as insurance brokers drive the campaign's efforts.

The insurance industry is one of the most important economic sectors in the German speaking countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. In Germany alone, the industry accounts for around 300,000 jobs and an additional 250,000 independent insurance brokers. Together, these professionals generate annual revenue of more than 200 billion euros and an insurance value of well over 1 trillion euros per year.

The introduction of an additional top-level domain such as .versicherung will allow the industry its own namespace and therefore its own identity on the Internet. Parties involved in insurance activites can then all be present under one umbrella domain.

Advantages of a .versicherung top-level domain

• Search engine optimization: a large number of visitors to a site come by way of search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Ask.com. By aligning an insurance company with a .versicherung top-level domain, it is more likely that searches for insurance-related information will be correctly returned in search results.
• Community association: dotVersicherung GmbH plan to provide owners of .versicherung domain names with a free business catalog. Internet users can then use the www.suche.versicherung site to learn more about service offerings, activities in the region or insurance products.
• An open name landscape: unlike .com, a top-level domain that has existed for a number of years, .versicherung will be newly founded, meaning prospective name owners will have an excellent opportunity to acquire a domain name that fits their company name as opposed to a hard to find .com name.