Reuters reports that “After years of preparation and wrangling, ICANN, the body that coordinates Internet names, is expected to approve the move at a special board meeting in Singapore on Monday.”Today, just 22 generic top-level domains (gTLDs) exist — .com, .org and .info are a few examples — plus about 250 country-level domains like .uk or .cn. After the change, several hundred new gTLDs are expected to come into existence.”The move is seen as a big opportunity for brands to gain more control over their online presence and send visitors more directly to parts of their sites — and a danger for those who fail to take advantage.

“It will also change the way search engines like Google find results, and the way organisations use search-engine optimization to improve the visibility of their websites in search results. [Read more here … ]