On Tuesday, founder of Automattic, Matt Mullenweg announced the general availability of .BLOG domain by changing his own personal blog to point a .BLOG TLD. Automattic is the company behind WordPress and its software helps to run a massive number of mainstream media sites and personal blogs online.
Mullenweg said that .BLOG will be rolled out over the next few months and revealed that he has “one of the first ones live on the internet.” Automattic won the right to control the .BLOG TLD last year for about $19 million.
It has been declared that those interested in registering new site names under the .BLOG TLD can pay a $30 registration fee and a $220 application fee for early consideration. However, on the get.blog website, they claim that if applicants don’t land the domain they’re hoping for, they will be able to get a full refund.
Since the company is anticipating heavy interest in marketable names, the registration site has outlined the name acquisition process, stating :
If others apply for tech.blog, it will go to an auction, with no price limit. If tech.blog contains a trademark, the owners may register it in a separate process, cancelling out your application.