Melbourne signs deal to become first Australian city with own .brand domain name

Melbourne is set to become the first Australian city to have its own .brand domain name, beating Sydney to the punch according to firm ARI Registry Services.

International cities including London, New York and Berlin have already begun offering the top level domains and it is expected the trend will continue as other cities sign up.

The new domain names have been touted as a boon for marketers, allowing them to make their brands more defined and more easily searchable.

The announcement follows the formal signing of the Registry Agreement yesterday by the Victorian Government with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which signifies the first step in the launch process of the .melbourne namespace.