Sun, Oct 5, 2025

.progressive New gTLD Application

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New gTLD Application Submitted to ICANN by: Progressive Casualty Insurance Company

String: progressive

Originally Posted: 13 June 2012

Application ID: 1-1269-35396

 

Applicant Information

 

  1. Full legal name

Progressive Casualty Insurance Company

 

  1. Address of the principal place of business

6300 Wilson Mills Road

Mayfield Village OH 44143

US

 

  1. Phone number

01 440 461 5000

 

  1. Fax number

01 440 446 7168

 

  1. If applicable, website or URL

http:⁄⁄www.Progressive.com

 

Primary Contact

 

6(a). Name

Gretchen Olive

 

6(b). Title

Director of Policy & Industry Affairs

 

6(c). Address

 

6(d). Phone Number

+013026365401

 

6(e). Fax Number

+013026365454

 

6(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Secondary Contact

 

7(a). Name

Andrew Fulford

 

7(b). Title

Web Experience Director

 

7(c). Address

 

7(d). Phone Number

01 440 395 9116

 

7(e). Fax Number

01 440 395 1812

 

7(f). Email Address

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Proof of Legal Establishment

 

8(a). Legal form of the Applicant

Corporation

 

8(b). State the specific national or other jursidiction that defines the type of entity identified in 8(a).

Incorporated under Chapter 1701, the General Corporation Law, of Title 17 of the State of Ohio Revised Code.

 

8(c). Attach evidence of the applicant's establishment.

Attachments are not displayed on this form.

 

9(a). If applying company is publicly traded, provide the exchange and symbol.

 

9(b). If the applying entity is a subsidiary, provide the parent company.

The Progressive Corporation

 

9(c). If the applying entity is a joint venture, list all joint venture partners.

 

Applicant Background

 

11(a). Name(s) and position(s) of all directors

Daniel Peter Mascaro Director

David James Skove Director

David Lloyd Pratt Director

Karen Marie Barone Director

Kathryn Margaret Lemieux Director

Mark Donald Niehaus Director

Thomas Hudson Hollyer Director

 

11(b). Name(s) and position(s) of all officers and partners

Dane Allen Shrallow Secretary

David James Skove President

Thomas Alfred King Treasurer

 

11(c). Name(s) and position(s) of all shareholders holding at least 15% of shares

The Progressive Corporation Not Applicable

 

11(d). For an applying entity that does not have directors, officers, partners, or shareholders: Name(s) and position(s) of all individuals having legal or executive responsibility

 

Applied-for gTLD string

 

  1. Provide the applied-for gTLD string. If an IDN, provide the U-label.

progressive

 

14(a). If an IDN, provide the A-label (beginning with "xn--").

 

14(b). If an IDN, provide the meaning or restatement of the string in English, that is, a description of the literal meaning of the string in the opinion of the applicant.

 

14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (in English).

 

14(c). If an IDN, provide the language of the label (as referenced by ISO-639-1).

 

14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (in English).

 

14(d). If an IDN, provide the script of the label (as referenced by ISO 15924).

 

14(e). If an IDN, list all code points contained in the U-label according to Unicode form.

 

15(a). If an IDN, Attach IDN Tables for the proposed registry.

Attachments are not displayed on this form.

 

15(b). Describe the process used for development of the IDN tables submitted, including consultations and sources used.

 

15(c). List any variant strings to the applied-for gTLD string according to the relevant IDN tables.

 

  1. Describe the applicant's efforts to ensure that there are no known operational or rendering problems concerning the applied-for gTLD string. If such issues are known, describe steps that will be taken to mitigate these issues in software and other applications.

Applicant anticipates the introduction of this TLD without operational or rendering problems. Based on a decade of experience launching and operating new TLDs, Afilias, the back-end provider of registry services for this TLD, is confident the launch and operation of this TLD presents no known challenges. The rationale for this opinion includes:

- The string is not complex and is represented in standard ASCII characters and follows relevant technical, operational and policy standards;

 - The string length is within lengths currently supported in the root and by ubiquitous Internet programs such as web browsers and mail applications;

 - There are no new standards required for the introduction of this TLD;

 - No onerous requirements are being made on registrars, registrants or Internet users, and;

 - The existing secure, stable and reliable Afilias SRS, DNS, WHOIS and supporting systems and staff are amply provisioned and prepared to meet the needs of this TLD

 

  1. (OPTIONAL) Provide a representation of the label according to the International Phonetic Alphabet (http://www.langsci.ucl.ac.uk/ipa/).

 

Mission/Purpose

 

18(a). Describe the mission/purpose of your proposed gTLD.

The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies and affiliates (ʺProgressiveʺ) has established a market leadership position in the insurance industry as one of the nationʹs largest auto insurance groups, and the largest writer of private passenger auto insurance through independent agents in the country.  Since its beginning, Progressive has worked to continually deliver innovative and distinct product, experience and service offerings for consumers, building on the vision to make insurance accessible and easy so more consumers could protect their vehicles. For example:

 

  • Progressive was the first to introduce the Safe Driver Plan, which reduced rates for low-risk drivers and set an industry policy standard.
  • Progressive was the first major auto insurance group in the world to launch a website.
  • Progressive changed the insurance shopping experience by pioneering offering competitor comparison rates online.
  • Progressive was the first to sell auto insurance online.
  • Progressive introduced 24⁄7 customer and claims service to the industry–today’s industry standard.
  • Progressive implemented the ability for customers to pay their premiums in installments—an appealing option for those who couldnʹt afford annual payments.
  • Progressive was the first auto insurer to offer the Name Your Price® option, which lets drivers start a quote, then adjust their price to find a car insurance package that’s right for them.
  • Progressiveʹs usage-based insurance program creates a personalized car insurance discount based on each customer’s actual driving habits.

Progressive’s award-winning websites are vital to its business, leveraging technology to create innovative and effective consumer experiences. It holds patents for its usage-based insurance program; a patent for its methods of processing vehicle damage claims; and two patents for computer technology related to its online policy servicing capabilities.

 

Progressive is headquartered in Mayfield Village, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb. More than 27,000 Progressive people work in more than 600 offices throughout the United States, and they enjoy a unique work environment that encourages them to risk, learn, grow and perform.

 

Progressive offers many types of property and casualty insurance.  Progressiveʹs insurance products include private passenger automobile, motorcycle, boat and personal watercraft, recreation vehicle, personal umbrella, and commercial vehicle insurance.  Progressive has marketing arrangements with homeowner insurance underwriters that make their products available as part of the Progressive Home Advantage Program.  Progressive enters new product lines from time to time.  Progressive makes the products it offers available both online and through insurance agents and brokers.

To further enhance its reputation and leadership position, Progressive seeks the proposed .progressive gTLD as a restricted, exclusively controlled gTLD for the purpose of expanding Progressive’s ability to:

  • create a connected digital presence and personalized brand experience for customers (current and prospective), claimants, employees (current and prospective), investors, media, business partners and other stakeholders;
  • coalesce Progressive’s different domain names (e.g., progressive.com, progressivedirect.com, progressivecommercial.com, etc.) and give the public one Web destination to get information about and interact with Progressive regardless of relationship or geographic location;
  • simplify Internet user navigation to information about Progressive products and services and make sure that information is consistent and up-to-date;
  • demonstrate market leadership in protecting customer privacy and confidential information online;
  • facilitate secure interaction and communication with individuals and entities with whom Progressive has a business relationship;
  • deliver product and service marketing⁄advertising for Progressiveʹs products and services and those of companies with which Progressive has strategic marketing arrangements;
  • enable marketing campaign activation;
  • protect and strengthen the Progressive collection of brands and trademarks;
  • improve business operations; and
  • meet future consumer expectations and competitive market demands.

 

18(b). How do you expect that your proposed gTLD will benefit registrants, Internet users, and others?

  1. What is the goal of your proposed gTLD in terms of areas of specialty, service levels, or reputation?
  • The goal of the proposed .progressive gTLD in terms of specialty, service levels and reputation are:

o Specialty – Progressive is a leading provider of insurance products and related services.  In the course of its business with customers, highly sensitive, personal and confidential information is collected and shared between authorized parties.  To further demonstrate Progressive’s commitment and market leadership in the area of data security and privacy within its industry, Progressive intends to utilize the .progressive gTLD to create a restricted, exclusively controlled online environment for customers and other business partners with the goal of further securing the collection and transmission of personal and other confidential data required for contracted services and other product-related activities.  

o Service levels – One of the key goals of the proposed .progressive gTLD is to create a restricted, exclusively-controlled online environment for customers and other business partners that will increase customer confidence and trust in conducting business online.  Through greater use of online tools by customers, Progressive expects to further streamline business processes, reduce turnaround times, provide more personalized service and improve overall customer service delivery and satisfaction.  Consumers will visit the gTLD knowing that they are in an environment free from cybersquatting, typo squatting, phishing, piracy and any other worries that they may encounter through random Internet searches and websites.  Progressive will make sure that the information within the gTLD is up-to-date and consistent, and will make consumer security a priority.

o Reputation – Progressive has established itself as a leader in the insurance industry, and has a reputation of delivering superior customer service through product and experience innovation. With its online presence growing in importance, one of the primary goals of the proposed .progressive gTLD is to leverage the opportunities within this domain structure (e.g., enhanced customer security and communication, marketing execution, improved navigation) to position Progressive at the forefront of the industry in its ability to set and meet future consumer expectations, ensuring it can continue to maintain and grow its leadership reputation in the marketplace.

 

 

  1. What do you anticipate your proposed gTLD will add to the current space, in terms of competition, differentiation, or innovation?
  • Progressive plans to operate the proposed .progressive gTLD as a restricted, exclusively controlled TLD and as such, the second-level domain names within the gTLD will not be commercially offered for registration to the general public.  Thus, Progressive will have exclusive ownership and control over all second-level registrations within the TLD and their use.   As a result, we believe the proposed .progressive gTLD will benefit the current space in three (3) areas:

o Competition – As technology advances, so too do consumer expectations of companies online.  They expect that companies will utilize the latest and most effective technology and online practices to improve the user experience, protect their information and deliver quality service.  Progressive anticipates that the proposed .progressive gTLD will enable it to communicate, interact and protect data in ways and under conditions not possible under the existing namespace, enabling Progressive to establish a leadership rather than a reactive position in establishing online brand conventions and setting consumer expectations as to what they should expect in their brand relationships.  Given the customer experience offered by Progressive, competitors and other entities in the industry will be pushed to offer better customer service as well, to the benefit of the entire public at large.

o Differentiation – While today companies like Progressive can register brand strings at the second-level (e.g., progressive.com), the proliferation of cybersquatting and typosquatting has placed a great burden on consumers to carefully tread online because there is no guarantee that what looks like a branded website is indeed an authorized website of the brand owner.  The proposed .progressive gTLD will enable customers and other business partners and Internet users to distinguish on the face of the domain name alone whether the site is an authorized company site because the gTLD will be a restricted, exclusively controlled online environment where only authorized Progressive Web properties and email will exist and operate online.

o                   Innovation - The proposed .progressive gTLD as a restricted, exclusively-controlled TLD will provide Progressive with a new platform on which to build future innovation of its online brand presence.  This innovation will take many forms, including creating a unique, secure communication channel with customers⁄other stakeholders, and significantly expanding online consumer marketing executions.

 

  1. What goals does your proposed gTLD have in terms of user experience?

 

  • The Internet has been plagued by cybersquatting, typo squatting, phishing, pharming, identity theft scams and other activities designed to profit from the creation of consumer confusion.  This malicious online conduct has shaken the trust and confidence of consumers to share information and transact business online.  Thus, the proposed .progressive gTLD has the following user experience goals:

o Simplify the purchase processes and unify the full breadth of products and services offered by Progressive;

o Strengthen and streamline the manner in which customers and other business partners can communicate and interact with Progressive in the online digital space;

o Foster trust and confidence in online interactions by customers and other business partners with Progressive;

o Reduce the risk of Internet users being misled, believing and⁄or acting on erroneous information about Progressive, its business partners and⁄or its products and services presented online by unauthorized 3rd parties; and

o Simplify online navigation to Progressive products, services and business partner information.

 

  1. Provide a complete description of the applicant’s intended registration policies in support of the goals listed above.

 

The proposed gTLD will be a restricted, exclusively-controlled gTLD where only Applicant, affiliated entities (i.e. part of the same corporate organization as the Applicant), and authorized business partners of Applicant and⁄or its affiliates will be permitted to register second-level domains for Applicant and⁄or affiliate business purposes only for a term of one to ten years.   Affiliated entities who seek registrations for second-level names under the TLD will be required to present evidence in writing to accredited registrar(s) for the TLD demonstrating explicit authorization from an officer of the Applicant company to register second-level names within the TLD to protect against unauthorized registration within the TLD by unaffiliated third parties.  Applicants and affiliated entities will supply corporate contact and ownership information, not personal information, for each registration obtained under the TLD for display in the TLD WHOIS.

 

To the extent second-level domain names are ever registered to the business partners of Applicant and⁄or its affiliates, registrants will be required to execute a registration agreement that incorporates all required ICANN consensus policies and other legal⁄policy requirements imposed on new gTLD applicants into the terms and conditions of the domain name registration agreement.  Such registration may also be subject to additional terms and conditions under separate business partner agreements with Applicant or its affiliates.  Registrations by business partners will require written, pre-approval by designated individual(s) at Applicant company, must provide corporate contact information, not personal information, for WHOIS purposes and must be made with Applicant’s registrar of choice.  Registrants must not use the domain name in any way that may damage or diminish Applicants brand reputation, business relationships or other business interests.  Failure to do any of the above, will result in the immediate suspension of registrant’s registration agreement and⁄or deletion of all domain names currently registered by that registrant⁄organization in the TLD.

 

 

  

  1. Will your proposed gTLD impose any measures for protecting the privacy or confidential information of registrants or users? If so, please describe any such measures.

 

The proposed .progressive gTLD will be a restricted, exclusively controlled gTLD where Progressive will authorize⁄issue registrations within the TLD to only itself and affiliated entities for business purposes.  Corporate contact information will be clearly listed in the WHOIS record for each registration within the TLD.  Thus, there are no measures that need to be proposed to protect the privacy or confidential registration information of registrants⁄users of the TLD.  However, Progressive is investing in the proposed .progressive gTLD to further demonstrate its commitment and market leadership with regard to the privacy of consumer data (as evidenced by its current data privacy policy specific to each state: progressive.com⁄privacy.aspx), as Progressive believes the utilization of the proposed new gTLD could position the company to more fully meet online challenges that may threaten the security of customer data in the future.  

 

 

Describe whether and in what ways outreach and communications will help to achieve your projected benefits.

 

Prior to using the proposed .progressive gTLD for product and service marketing⁄advertising, marketing campaign activation, interaction and communication with individuals and entities with whom Progressive has a business relationship, and⁄or implementing new online navigation strategies, Progressive anticipates incorporating messaging regarding .progressive as part of appropriate company and product communication campaigns that will likely involve all communication channels, including but not limited to, TV, radio, mobile, print, social media, direct mail, online advertising and marketing via our active, client and affiliate-facing websites and other public relations activities to:

  • Inform the market of Progressive’s ownership and planned use of the proposed .progressive gTLD;
  • Clearly define the expected benefits to customers, prospective customers, other business partners and Internet users at large;  
  • Further communicate Progressive’s commitment to online consumer safety and data privacy.

Future outreach and communications campaigns will be carried out as needed to reaffirm and clarify the above.  Progressive believes outreach and communication will be critical to building trust and confidence in the legitimacy of the TLD.

 

18(c). What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs?

(c) What operating rules will you adopt to eliminate or minimize social costs (e.g., time or financial resource costs, as well as various types of consumer vulnerabilities)? What other steps will you take to minimize negative consequences⁄costs imposed upon consumers?

 

  • The lack of cybersquatting, typo squatting, phishing, pharming, identity theft scams and other activities designed to profit from the creation of consumer confusion within the gTLD and the ability to have a single trusted source for all information about Progressive and its goods and services will minimize social costs and consumer vulnerabilities with a substantially lower risk of fraud or the typical dangers found in the general domain name space currently in place.

 

Answers should address the following points:

 

  1. How will multiple applications for a particular domain name be resolved, for example, by auction or on a first-come⁄first serve basis?
  • There will not be multiple applications for a particular domain in the proposed .progressive TLD because this will be a restricted, exclusively controlled gTLD where only Progressive and its affiliated, authorized entities will be able to seek and obtain registrations.

 

  1. Explain any cost benefits for registrants you intend to implement (e.g., advantageous pricing, introductory discounts, bulk registration discounts).
  • This question is not applicable to a restricted, exclusively controlled, self-funded TLD, like the proposed .progressive TLD.

 

  1. Note that the Registry Agreement requires that registrars be offered the option to obtain initial domain name registrations for periods of one to ten years at the discretion of the registrar, but no greater than ten years.  Additionally, the Registry Agreement requires advance written notice of price increases. Do you intend to make contractual commitments to registrants regarding the magnitude of price escalation? If so, please describe your plans.
  • The proposed .progressive TLD will be a restricted, exclusively controlled, self-funded TLD available only to Progressive and its authorized, affiliated entities.  Thus, there will be no domain name registration cost incurred by any party for this TLD and thus, no price changes and⁄or escalations about which registrants will need to be notified.