branded

ICANN, the Internet overseer that's begun a process to expand Net domains dramatically beyond the likes of .com and .edu, said today 100 organizations have registered to get involved.

The expansion concerns generic top-level domains, or GTLDs. ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) spent years putting the new program together so the Internet could use Web and e-mail addresses ending in .paris, .canon, .hotel, and .eco.

As of Monday, 100 registrants successfully joined the program, but ICANN didn't say who they are or what GTLDs they're seeking to establish. Organizations have until March 29 … Read more

Apple emerged as the top brand of 2011, according to an annual list put together by marketing strategy firm Davis Brand Capital.

The iPhone, iPad, and Mac maker topped the Davis list for the first time this year, ousting IBM, which had come in first in 2009 and 2010. Following those two are a handful of other technology companies including Microsoft, Google, and Hewlett-Packard.

"(Apple's) rise in this year's rankings was driven largely by its competitive performance and added brand value," Davis said in a press release.

So how does the company come up with these … Read more

Fancy a Shakira-themed browser?

As of today, you can get it from Brand Thunder, a company that creates themes to let people reskin their browsers to declare allegiance to bands, colleges, sports teams, and more. That's because Brand Thunder just acquired its biggest rival, BrowserNation.

The acquisition means Brand Thunder has 25 percent more brands to tout, the company said today, giving it more clients in Europe and Asia and giving it a foothold in Latin America. Among its new clients are EMI, UMG Latin, and Epic Records.

"Given the changes in the once-stable browser market, it makes … Read more

In a move that is likely to raise more concerns about anti-competitive behavior, Google has begun listing its Google+ brand pages on its search engine results page.

The page listings, which were noted today by researcher BrightEdge Technologies but previously reported by All About Content, include promotional messages from the brands, producing what is essentially an advertisement for the brand, as well as Google's social network. The search engine listings seem to be appearing for only a few brands with Google+ pages, such as Macy's and AT&T.

A search for T-Mobile produces a Google+ brand listing … Read more

Playboy's frequent portfolios of college women across the U.S. are bad enough--never mind the prospect of porn sites with names like "www.USCleazy.xxx."

That seems to be the thinking employed by colleges that, according to the Associated Press, are grabbing .xxx domain names to keep them off the market and prevent the sullying of their collegiate reputations.

The AP offers up the example of the University of Kansas, which, it says, spent nearly $3,000 to lock down names like "www.KUgirls.xxx" and "www.KUnurses.xxx."

Businesses, too, are buying … Read more

Twitter has finally joined the modern world of marketing and branding by rolling out support for company brand pages in its redesign today.

Facebook got here first, of course, and Google+ joined in more recently. So if you're a marketer, you've got to be asking, what's the best platform for you to focus on?

Let's find the winning services in the important areas.

Reach: Facebook Facebook wins this one, hands down. With a reported user base of over 800 million, if you want to put your brand on the platform where users are--and where they're … Read more

Today Coupons.com has a new way for brands to connect with their loyal customers on Facebook.

Turns out coupons are the No. 1 reason consumers "Like" brands on Facebook, according to an Ad Age/Ipsos Observer survey.

I'm not talking about daily deals. I'm talking good old fashion coupons. CNET readers don't strike me as the coupon-clipping types, so you're probably as shocked as I am that coupons still exist.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Coupons.com has managed to stay relevant since its founding in 1998, with the same founder and CEO at … Read more

Just months after rolling out a media blitz to promote its new branding, Internet retailer Overstock.com is backpedaling on its O.co moniker.

The company ran TV ads declaring that "Overstock.com is now O.co," revamped its Web site's signage to O.co, and spent millions of dollars on the naming rights to the stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area where the Oakland Raiders and Oakland Athletics play.

But now the company concedes that it was too aggressive with the rebranding strategy and is stepping back from the effort "for now," Overstock.… Read more

Panasonic is building rugged Android tablets, Nokia is looking for an app evangelist, and Google+ now allows brand and business pages.

Links from Tuesday's episode of Loaded: