The new gTLD .TUBE launched general registration on July 7, The Domains reports. One-year registration was set at $30. The domain is managed by Latin American Telecom LLC and is expected to rival .LIVE and .VIDEO. Analysts have also suggested that .TUBE may be interesting for producers of adult content videos as many such websites have 'tube' as part of their names.
So far, however, .TUBE has not attracted significant attention. Only slightly over 40 names, or a tiny number, were registered during the Sunrise period. Such large companies as Twitter and Apple that usually choose to protect their brands by pre-registring them in potentially popular new domains, have ignored .TUBE.
Another important fact concerns the absence of leading registrars, including GoDaddy and China's big players West.CN, HiChina (www.net.cn) and Ename.net. Out of 10 top domain name registrars working with new gTLDs, only Unregistry is taking part in .TUBE.
