eMarketer, a major market research firm, has released a new study on the introduction of new gTLDs and their chances for success. eMarketer releases over 200 analyst reports per year, which are only available to their corporate subscribers, but they did make some excerpts from this report - titled “The Domain Name Explosion: Hundreds of New Choices Beyond .com Mean New Marketing Considerations" -  available to all on their website. 

eMarketer, who has no skin in the game themselves, acknowledged that there are widely divergent views of the new gTLD program, noting, "What some view as a “blank canvas for innovation” to spur more creativity, diversity and trust on the internet, others 

see as costly, exploitative and bound to cause consumer confusion. Nonetheless, it continues to move forward, requiring all internet users to adapt."

eMarketer estimates  that 84.6% of U.S internet users navigate the web by search at least once a month and said "Such high search penetration, combined with surging time spent on social platforms and mobile devices globally, might suggest declining use and utility of domain names as direct entry points to websites by visitors. Thus, it’s reasonable to question the value or relevance of dedicating resources to utilizing new gTLDs."

It what may be the most interesting conclusion shared in these excerpts from their study, eMarketer said, "It may be brands with their own “dot-brand” domains that make or break the success of the program." They noted that Nao Matsukata, CEO of FairWinds Partners (a firm that advises companies on domain name strategy) believes "Brands are going to be the ones that ultimately turn the users into believers. The generics are always going to be there, and they’ll have their own place, but in terms of full adoption and real usage of the new top-level domains, the brands hold a very critical piece of it.”