LONDON, UK: Brand owners will soon be able to operate their own parts of the Web -- such as .apple, .coke or .marlboro -- if the biggest shake-up yet in how Internet domains are awarded is approved.

After years of preparation and wrangling, ICANN, the body that coordinates Internet names, is expected to approve the move at a special board meeting in Singapore on Monday.

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Today, just 22 generic top-level domains (gTLDs) exist -- .com, .org and .info are a few examples -- plus about 250 country-level domains like .uk or .cn. After the change, several hundred new gTLDs are expected to come into existence.

The move is seen as a big opportunity for brands to gain more control over their online presence and send visitors more directly to parts of their sites -- and a danger for those who fail to take advantage.

It will also change the way search engines like Google find results, and the way organizations use search-engine optimization to improve the visibility of their websites in search results.

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"As a big brand, you ignore it at your peril," says Theo Hnarakis, chief executive of Australian domain name-registration firm Melbourne IT DBS, which advises companies and other organizations worldwide about how to do business online.

"We're advising people to buy their brands, park them and redirect visitors to their existing site, at the very least," says Hnarakis, whose more than 3,500 customers include Volvo, Lego and GlaxoSmithKline.

If the change is approved on Monday, applications are likely to open in January for a 90-day period before closing again, potentially for years.