Since the beginning of domain time (the first was registered in 1985), man has searched for the perfect domain name. This name was said to be short, easy to remember, and full of meaning. COM was the first to comply with that bill; NET and ORG and everything else were after thoughts. Well, COM finally has some competition. Several hundred new domain extensions have been released on the Internet. One of the most popular is GURU.
What does the word Guru mean to you? Before the 1967 Summer of Love in San Francisco (be sure to wear flowers in your hair) it wasn’t a word Americans used often, if they used it at all; It can’t even be found in my old Funk & Wagnalls from the late 50’s. A Hindi word meaning “teacher” or “priest”, guru is found in the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit as “one to be honored”. Its first popular use in American English was in reference to the Canadian philosopher of communication theory Marshall McLuhan in 1966. Considered the first “media guru”, McLuhan was the man who said that “the media is the message.” Today, the word is often defined as a leader, expert, and authority in some field; or a charismatic or spiritual figure who attracts devoted followers. Or some combination of the two.
Today, the term applies to anyone considered an expert in their field: media guru, management guru, literary guru; the list includes all human endeavors, however humble or exalted they may be. With that in mind, the domain registration division of investment group Donuts applied to ICANN (International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) for the right to create the new generic top-level domain extension Guru. Donuts, by the way, have requested several hundred different extensions: from dot.agency to dot.zone and everything in between. ICANN agreed to this request and dot Guru went online in November 2013, allowing anyone who thinks they are experts in their field to call themselves online gurus.
Since the inception of .Guru, the extension has become one of the most popular new generic top-level domains. In the first quarter of 2014, more than 30,000 Guru domain names were registered. Tech titan Apple bought several, including (big surprise) iPad dot Guru, iPod dot Guru, iPhone dot guru, and mac dot guru. It is easy to see why Guru is so popular. It is one of the most recognized and understood terms in English. Teacher, leader, expert, teacher, professional, they all come to mind when we hear the word Guru. And yet it is not a pompous term; when someone refers to himself as a guru, we understand it to mean that he is not taking himself so seriously and that we mere mortals can approach him without fear of appearing foolish.
I like to say that this flood of new domain extensions means “it’s 1985 again” and everyone has a second chance at getting the domain they need. That’s true, but like in 1985, it means they have to “hit while the iron is hot” or they find themselves empty-handed.
Guru is a great extension for any domain name; memorable and meaningful, but a nonscientific analysis by this writer found that APPLE wasn’t the only large company buying one-word names. If Guru sounds like your extension, you better keep claiming it.