Mayor Tomás Regalado Heralds Arrival of .MIAMI Domain Name

MIAMI, September 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

-- Miami to become third city in the United States to launch dedicated top-level domain 

-- City of Miami to receive significant revenue share from .MIAMI domain name sales 

-- General Availability for public to purchase .MIAMI domains commences Oct. 2  

-- GoDaddy now accepting pre-orders for names at GoDaddy.miami 

     (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150917/267673LOGO )

Today, City of Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado announced that starting Oct. 2, Miami will become the third city in the U.S. to have a dedicated top-level Internet domain name. .MIAMI will join New York (.nyc) and Las Vegas (.vegas) in creating a global Internet identity through which the city's businesses, communities and residents -- and anyone who wants to be associated with Miami -- can clearly identify themselves with the Magic City and its internationally recognized brand.

"Everyone wants to be a part of Miami and the launch of the .MIAMI domain establishes a unique Internet presence for us," said Mayor Regalado. "Public departments, local businesses and residents can now demonstrate their passion for Miami with a .MIAMI domain and in doing so, elevate our visibility and reputation on the Internet stage."

Among the first to publicly express their support for .MIAMI ahead of launch include the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, which supports the arts and entrepreneurship in Miami; the premiere private venue, The Temple House; and the world's leading domain registrar, GoDaddy.

"The organizations we work with have helped put Miami on the map in terms of the arts and entrepreneurship," said Matt Haggman, Miami program director for Knight Foundation. "A .MIAMI domain name is something that can give them that same kind of visibility on the web, while underlining their strong commitment to this community."

The .MIAMI domain is operated by Minds + Machines, a leading domain name registry, in cooperation with the City of Miami. A significant portion of the revenue generated from the sale of .MIAMI domain names will be disbursed to the City. Minds + Machines has launched 18 new top-level domains in the past year, including .london.  Minds + Machines is a public company, listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:MMX).

"The people and businesses of Miami have tremendous pride in their city and .MIAMI has the potential to be a powerful expression of this," said Antony Van Couvering, CEO of Minds + Machines. "Now, short, memorable and local names are available at reasonable prices, giving a big advantage to the people and businesses that use them. With a powerful domain name, SEO results, click-through rates and name recognition can significantly improve. This is a huge opportunity - people should be thinking not just about a single name they want, but the full list of names their business, family or community might need."

.MIAMI domain names will go on sale starting Oct. 2 on a first-come, first-served basis. Standard domain names such as companyname.miami will typically cost about $20 a year, with Premium Names such as realestate.miami or business.miami, priced higher. GoDaddy, a key partner of .MIAMI, is taking advance orders for domain names ahead of the Oct. 2 opening. Through GoDaddy.miami, interested users can apply for a .MIAMI domain name at a significant discount from normal prices.

.MIAMI is a new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) established as a part of the historic expansion of the Internet naming system administered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Over seven million domain names have now been registered across several hundred new top-level domains.  

To learn more about .MIAMI and how it can help promote your business or activity, or to find a participating registrar, please visit http://www.my.miami. To pre-register a domain name, go directly to http://www.GoDaddy.miami.

About Minds + Machines 

Minds + Machines (LSE:MMX) is a leading owner and operator of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) including ".london", and provides registry services to a range of high-profile clients. The Group also provides domain name services to consumers through its wholly owned registrar operations in the U.S. and Europe. For more information on Minds + Machines, please go to: http://investors.mindsandmachines.com.

Media Contact
.MIAMI
Stacy Merrick
rbb Public Relations
+1-305-445-9750
[email protected]

Minds + Machines Corporate PR
Toby Hall
+44(0)7713-341072
[email protected]

SOURCE Minds + Machines