A study published by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has shown an increased level of awareness in new gTLDs.

Published on 23 June, the ICANN study surveyed more than 5,000 adults worldwide in 18 different languages and found an increased level of awareness among people, particularly in North America, the Asia Pacific and Europe.

When questioned on the significance of new gTLDs, one in five participants were unsure of the reasons for new extensions, although a majority of participants guessed that a form of online structure, “to classify by the type site, the purpose, the location or region affiliated with it or to give an indication of the content that site contains”.

Among other findings, ICANN discovered that there is more trust in “the domain name industry relative to other technology-related industries”.

“Trust is the highest compared to internet service providers. The most common justification for this trust is that it is in the industry’s own best interest to protect their reputation.”

The study, which represented 75 percent of global internet users, asserted that country code TLDs were considered trustworthy by 95 percent of consumers in regions where they are commonly used.

Consumers were more aware of legacy TLDs, with .com, .net and .org receiving the highest percentage of awareness in the survey. These legacy TLDs were also rated highly as trustworthy domains, with 91 percent of consumers considering them “trustworthy destinations”.

When questioned why legacy TLDs were more trustworthy than other extensions, answers ranged from these domains having a “good reputation” to having “the latest technology for safety”.

The study also found that globally, teens surveyed did not exhibit dramatically different results compared to adults, but “teens are more likely to advocate for no restrictions on registration”.

"Survey results show that overall awareness of generic top-level domain has grown when compared to the baseline study that was conducted last year and continues to grow," commented Akram Atallah, president of ICANN's global domains division.

"I encourage community members to review this important report to learn more about the current market, as well as to inform the numerous discussions that are occurring about subsequent rounds."