They've been typed into web browsers for decades, but domain name extensions such as ".com" and ".net" are suddenly facing serious competition.
Nine new "top-level domains" have been introduced by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) - the global body responsible for regulating internet addresses.
The new extensions - which include ".clothing", ".camera" and ".lighting" - have been entered into the "root zone", which is the central database for internet domain names.
They are expected to go live early in 2014 following a "sunshine" period during which trademark holders have an exclusive opportunity to register domain names incorporating the new extensions.
The new top-level domains are among the first of up to 1400 which are set to roll out gradually over the coming years to complement the existing 22, which include .com, .info, .gov, and .edu.
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ICANN's head of generic domains, Akram Atallah, called the expansion "the biggest change to the internet since its inception".
"We will see domain names coming online from all corners of the world, bringing people, communities and businesses together in ways we never imagined," Atallah said.
Hundreds of businesses and governments applied for the new domain extensions in early 2012 following several exhaustive feasibility studies by ICANN.
Australian companies and governments applied for 41 new names, coughing up $US185,000 ($A194,665) for each application.
Notable applications include Monash University (.monash), job-hunting website Seek (.seek), and Tabcorp (.tab).
Both the Victorian and NSW governments also applied to have their capital cities registered as domain name extensions, but .melbourne is likely to be registered before .sydney.
While the Melbourne application sits in 350th place on the list of new domains to be activated, .sydney is way down at 1352.
The new wave of domain extensions kicked off two weeks ago when ICANN added the chinese word for "games", the Arabic word for "network" and the Cyrillic words for "online" and "site".
