Informed voices from every quarter of the Web are offering up their perspective on the impact a generic Top Level Domain will have on search. Here are several smart assessments to catch up on:

Alex Smith at Social Media Today offers 5 Ways The ICANN TLD Announcement Will Affect SEO.

Conversely, Danny Sullivan at Search Engine Land says that new gTLDs will not help with search engine optimization, but rather will enrich some new domain owners at the expense of brands who will need to fight cybersquatting.

Minds + Machines Antony Van Couvering states “New top-level domains will re-introduce meaning into the extension, and search engines will need to pay attention to that, because the TLD extension will once again start to contain real information.”

Finally, iCrossing’s vp, strategy, Rob Garner, argues that the real impact will come in the search optimized top-level domain, where the registry operator will have a big impact.  

Forrester Analyst Ernst Poses Provocative Question

Forrester Research analyst Jeff Ernst asks, “Is the Death of Dot Com” in this post on Forbes.com that speaks to CMOs, encouraging them to look at branded top level domains as an opportunity versus a liability a hindrance. Ernst, who has been covering ICANN’s deliberations from the beginning, says that a brand TLD gives marketers far more control of their online identity and ultimately enables them to create a highly effective, single brand umbrella.