.ASIA Now Licensed for Registration and Hosting Within China

.ASIA domain names are now licensed for sale in China, the Hong Kong-based DotAsia Organisation announced in February. Following receiving accreditation from China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), .asia domain names are now legally able to be registered through Chinese registrars and resellers and hosted with Chinese webhosters.

“We are very excited to be in China again and look forward to taking our work with Chinese retail partners to the next level,” said Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia Organisation. “China is an important market to the .Asia community we serve, we will be working closely with our long time technology partner Afilias to be there for our local and regional customers.”

“China’s domain name market is one of the world’s biggest and fastest growing,” said Roland LaPlante, Senior Vice President of Afilias. “We are eager to work with .Asia in this thriving digital market going forward.”

The move follows the announcement, also in February, of 20 of Afilias’ gTLDs to be licensed for sale in China.

In their announcement, DotAsia note that with China’s 21st century development strategy, the .Asia extension resonates with the country’s vision of an enhanced regional connectivity. .Asia domains are perfect for companies doing business in Asia, and also for those that want to reach out to Asian communities across the globe.

In 2017, DotAsia suspended retail sales in China out of respect for the MIIT’s licensing policy.

DotAsia Goes Kiteboarding!

The DotAsia Organisation (dot.asia) has partnered with Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA) and .Asia channel partners – Crazy Domains and Exabytes – to support kiteboarders in the Asian region whose goal is to make it to the first Kiteboarding Olympic event later this year

The DotAsia Organisation (dot.asia) has partnered with Kiteboard Tour Asia (KTA) and .Asia channel partners – Crazy Domains and Exabytes – to support kiteboarders in the Asian region whose goal is to make it to the first Kiteboarding Olympic event later this year.

The Youth Olympic Games (YOG) are on the horizon and riders in the Asia Pacific region are flexing their muscles to make sure they make it to the first Kiteboarding Olympic event later this year. Taking place in Pak Nam Pran, Thailand, the KTA (KiteboardTour.Asia) and the Kiteboarding Association Thailand will co-host the Asia-Oceania regional kiteboard qualifiers for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games, which are set to be held in Buenos Aires in October of this year.

With the support of DotAsia and their partners, these riders with their own dedicated domain and website which will showcase rider profiles and help create a direct bond between fans and the riders themselves.

Taking place in Pak Nam Pran, Thailand, the KTA (KiteboardTour.Asia) and the Kiteboarding Association Thailand will co-host the Asia-Oceania regional kiteboard qualifiers for the upcoming Youth Olympic Games, which are set to be held in Buenos Aires in October of this year.

“Adventure sports has slowly been making the rounds in the region with kiteboarding taking the lead,” said Edmon Chung, CEO of the DotAsia Organisation. “We are excited about the upcoming YOG and extend our support to the riders to bring the medals back to Asia.”

“We are beyond thrilled to be working together with DotAsia and KTA to get the riders online with their very own profile page,” remarked Steve Skinner, Product Manager of Crazy Domains. “As a big a fan of Kiteboarding, I am overjoyed to witness the sport making it to the Olympic Games, especially at the youth level. It is a sign of things to come, and we are excited to extend our support to the youth riders making their debut on the global stage.”

Chan Kee Siak, CEO and founder of Exabytes, commented “at Exabytes, we have always believed in supporting sports events, which play a pivotal role in communities around the world. Kiteboarding is a fun and exciting sport, and we are honored by the opportunity to be a sponsor.”

Neil Godbold, Media Manager at KTA, is pleased that the riders from Asia and Oceania will have their profiles featured and celebrated online while they showcase their kiteboarding skills for the world.

“We have come a long way from our roots many years ago. We have always felt riders in the Asia Pacific region were not getting sufficient recognition for the tremendous kiteboarding skills they possess,” said Godbold. “We are very glad to have DotAsia and their partners on board as sponsors, helping the riders have an online presence to facilitate communication. “

Singapore Asia’s #1 in Startup Mobility and Education in Asia: Youth Mobility Report

Singapore has been ranked Asia’s number one country for Start-up Mobility and in the Education sector according to a recent Youth Mobility Report (YMI) from the team behind the .asia TLD.

Singapore has been ranked Asia’s number one country for Start-up Mobility and in the Education sector according to a recent Youth Mobility Report (YMI) from the team behind the .asia top level domain.

Singapore scored well with its highly educated workforce and ranked well in nurturing start-up talents. Singaporeans also enjoy a high degree of travel freedom according to the annual Henley Passport Index in which the country’s passport ranks the world’s second most powerful. This is also reflected in YMI.Asia, which ranks Singapore as number one in Inbound-Outbound Student Force, ahead of Hong Kong. Its competency in Education Mobility and an outstanding score in English Proficiency also helped Singapore to the number one position.

“YMI.Asia rankings are built on our decade long experience engaging millennials across Asia on Internet Governance issues and designed to help aspiring young leaders kickstart their ideas for Asia. It is also my hope that YMI.Asia could inspire further studies to support and inform policy development locally and regionally to empower youth and enhance digital mobility across Asia,” said Mr Edmon Chung, Chief Executive Officer, DotAsia Organisation.

According to the report, Hong Kong came in second. Hong Kong is often regarded as Singapore’s strongest rival and demonstrated strong dominance over Entrepreneurship Mobility, with high scoring in total Torrent (i.e. combined outbound and inbound students, migrant, travellers, goods and services).

Third and fourth were Japan and Korea respectively. They achieved the highest score in Employment Mobility and overall Sustainability Factor respectively, and a high mobility advantage over the traditional GDP per capita economic measure.

Fifth was Taiwan which beat Hong Kong as the most fun place for mobile youth in the Life Experience (LifeX) sub-index within the YMI.

The YMI.Asia report included 2 subcomponents designed specifically for youth with interesting results from Cost-Happiness Performance and Life Experience Index (LifeX). Cost-Happiness Performance is a measure of happiness over the cost of living at a locality, which is most relevant for cash-strapped youth upstarts.

DotASIA’s Youth Mobility Index is one of the meaningful initiatives across Asia such as the One Laptop per Child initiative in Asia, Creative Commons in Asia, Wikipedia and Wikimania events in Asia among other Asia Internet community development work such as the Information Society Innovations Fund (ISIF.Asia), the charity media Go.Asia and the free crowdfunding platform Give.Asia. One of DotAsia’s flagship programs standing tall, is the NetMission program, which is a youth ambassadors program for youth, by youth, focused on Internet governance issues from digital divide to privacy and social innovation. NetMission alumni have been elected to regional and global Internet leadership positions and committees, and have sparked a global movement with the first Youth Internet Governance Forum (YIGF) in Asia and the first NextGen@ICANN.

Today, many regional and national IGF initiatives include a youth component and NextGen has become a regular program featured at every ICANN meeting, and DotAsia says they’re proud to have been there to seed the spark that has ignited a global flame.

To commemorate the first decade of .Asia, and building on their decade long dedication and knowledge in supporting youth engagement and development in Asia, a special taskforce was commissioned to look into an initiative that could become a beacon for DotAsia into the future.

Looking to the future, DotASIA has great aspirations for YMI to become a tool that could support young innovators in Asia. It’s envisaged the rankings could help young entrepreneurs think where they might go to kickstart their idea, or for students to consider where to go for university and where to aim for landing their first job. More importantly, they hope that the YMI could inspire further studies to support and inform policy development locally and regionally to enhance youth mobility across the region.

 

 

The .ASIA Crystal Ball Sees A Bright Future Following Liberalised Eligibility: Leona Chen-Birkner Interview

Recently the .asia top level domain made a number of changes to eligibility, the main one being to enable anyone, anywhere with an interest in Asia to register a .asia domain name. As the Asian region expands, and Asian communities around the world grow and diversify, there are some great opportunities ahead. There are challenges ahead for .asia, as with any top level domain, but their experiences can also be instructive. Recently Leona Chen-Birkner, Vice President of Registrar Relations for DotAsia Organisation, sat down with Domain Pulse to discuss DotAsia’s experiences, and what the future looks like.

Recently the .asia top level domain made a number of changes to eligibility, the main one being to enable anyone, anywhere with an interest in Asia to register a .asia domain name. As the Asian region expands, and Asian communities around the world grow and diversify, there are some great opportunities ahead. There are challenges ahead for .asia, as with any top level domain, but their experiences can also be instructive. Recently Leona Chen-Birkner, Vice President of Registrar Relations for DotAsia Organisation, sat down with Domain Pulse to discuss DotAsia’s experiences, and what the future looks like.

Domain Pulse: The recent liberalisation of eligibility for .asia means anyone, anywhere can register a domain and has made .asia much more available. Have you seen any changes in domain registrations?
Leona Chen-Birkner: We’re definitely seeing an increase in domain registrations from outside the region. Although the growth is not as obvious when you look at the overall creates since July. One reason for this is due to a general market downturn for registrations coming from China.

DP: And what was the impetus for the changes?
LCB: It signals to the world that .Asia is open for business and that your business can rise with the rapidly growing Asia market place.

As included in our original agreement with ICANN, it has always been DotAsia’s goal from the start to offer .Asia domains to anyone who is interested in Asia, regardless of they are physically located within the region or not. The latest changes completes that vision.

DP: Most importantly, why should a brand or person register a .Asia domain name?
LCB: I get asked this question a lot, and to me it’s very simple, if you want to gain an Asian audience, you should get a .Asia domain; if your business is about Asia, it makes good sense to get a .Asia domain.

Even if you already have another domain name for your storefront, it’s still a good idea to register YourName.asia and forward it to your social media page. Print it on your business card so you’re not just featuring a Facebook logo. Make it part of your social media strategy, make it easier for others to connect with you.

DP: What’s the ratio of business and brands to individuals registering .asia domain names?
LCB: From the .Asia domain data we have come across, a large number of website are developed by Small to medium size businesses, we also see a fair number of brands, PR firms and media outlets.

In terms of personal websites using .Asia domains, we do see .Asia domains used by Asia pop stars and personalities that want to reach audiences in Korea, Greater China and Japan. Pop bands like Code-V (code-v.asia), or CrossGene (crossgene.asia) are good examples. As well as Livenation.Asia that offers concert tickets from Bruno Mars to Kpop group for fans across Asia.

Based on our recent research, we have identified 5 personas that exemplifies the use of .Asia domains:

  1. Asian Identity – individuals and businesses with services/products that carry the Asian identity (e.g. Asian celebrities, Asian restaurants, cultural products, etc.)
  2. Asian Expansion – businesses looking to expand across (or into) Asia
  3. Location Services – destination products and services serving an Asian audience (traveling across Asia) or those coming to (traveling to) Asia
  4. Asian Info (Media) – aggregation, platforms and channels dedicated to the Asian and Asian Expat communities
  5. Asia Events – Events about Asia, Asia-wide events and Events held in Asia

DP: You ran a major discounted promotion in 2013 that saw a huge growth in registrations, but then many of these didn’t renew. And it’s a trend that’s been mirrored in other TLDs – ccTLDs, legacy gTLDs and new gTLDs. Going forward, would you run promotions and what would you change? If anything!
LCB: Yes, we ran a comparatively price aggressive promotion in 2013 that led to considerable growth within a very short time. We had full expectation of low renewal rates, but we also understood low barrier cost for the registrant is useful for driving demand in some markets where price sensitivity is high. We did put more focus on preparing for the large amount of abusive/potentially abusive domains that came through. And we have had a great record of mitigating abuse, our anti-abuse team stepped in and suspended numerous domains that were determined to be a threat.

There is always the ebb and flow of market trends and demands to consider, so yes we would run price aggressive promos again. Robust usage is most important to DotAsia, and we feel that meaningful discounts for registrars in some markets are useful to spark stronger motivation to push .Asia out to end customers.

As for change, we are constantly exploring new ways to promote the .Asia extension. We are even more committed than ever to promote real usage. On the organisation side, as a not-for-profit organisation, we are investing in educating the next generation of youth coming online and familiarising them with the .Asia opportunity. In alignment with our latest call to #RiseWithAsia, we are focusing our efforts to support Asian youths setting out, starting new things, to change the world.

DP: DotAsia has an altruistic side supporting a number of issues and events. So what is DotAsia supporting?
LCB: We are big on supporting initiatives involving youth, and the next generation of leaders in Internet Governance from the Asia Pacific. Just last month DotAsia was involved in the Asia Pacific Internet Governance Academy (APIGA) conference in Korea, to help educate and empower university students and young professionals in Internet Governance issues. This is also what we do through our flagship program NetMission Ambassadors Program, where we engage and collaborate with young minds dedicating our efforts in supporting digital inclusion projects and expose young leaders to Internet policies and collaboration opportunities in Asia.

DP: Has the launch of new gTLDs had any noticeable impact on .asia?
LCB: The 3 most noticeable impacts have been:

  1. An increased number of accredited registrars for .Asia, especially coming from the Asian region. As a fallout of the new gTLD launches, new registrars that are getting accredited for new gTLDs are also adding .Asia to their offering.
  2. An increased difficulty in gaining the attention from registrars and registrants. It has become harder to work with the schedules of channel partners as they now work with many more other registries. However, this has challenged us to become more engaged with value added support such as through social media and our youth engagement projects to bring new customers to the table.
  3. Improved usage and general awareness of options beyond “.com”. We are seeing better real usage of .Asia domain names alongside new gTLDs as more people realise that there are options beyond “.com” and are consciously seeking and choosing their TLD.

We are seeing some impact on registration numbers, especially since we were, prior to July 15, a comparatively restrictive TLD.

On the flip side, we are also seeing an increase in usage in the past couple of years of .Asia domains. And I think this is because of the broadening exposure of domain names to the general market. Businesses and their customers often see their .Asia domain as a trustworthy source of that brand and their place of business.

DP: And finally, Asia is home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies which means there’s a huge potential, so what does the future look like for .asia?
LCB: If I could look into a crystal ball I would say that .Asia domains will continue to grow organically and flourish within the region, especially from South East Asia where overall economic performances are progressing quickly in part due to Government led investments and reform that favoured Startups.

I think we will continue to see more Asia-based businesses, especially those operating online, to go beyond their border to neighboring countries where they share similar lifestyles or cultures. I see .Asia domains resonating and elevating this kind of expansion.

With the liberalisation of .Asia registrations, we hope to see more businesses from outside the region taking advantage of .Asia domains that echo their business or audience. I can also see .Asia domains being used to market to Asian Americans. Difference in ethnicity aside, I think the .Asia extension speaks to a shared immigrant culture, a collection of rich yet diverse heritage and and a strong Pan-Asian pride.

As a consumer segment, the Asian-Americans have accumulated substantial wealth. Their purchasing power is currently ranked third largest of all multicultural groups in the US, at $825 billion that’s 4x the GDP of Portugal. I hope to see brands in the West use .Asia domains to promote to Asian communities with in-language and cultural nuanced advertising message along side English.
 
 To register a .asia domain name, check out Asia Registry here.
 
 

.XYZ Celebrates Independence Day in 5 Asian Countries With Discounted Promotions

dotXYZ logoThe .xyz new gTLD may have dropped 5 million registrations this year following very low renewal rates following discounted promotions in 2016, but it hasn’t stopped them having an eye on more discounted promotions

dotXYZ logoThe .xyz new gTLD may have dropped 5 million registrations this year following very low renewal rates following discounted promotions in 2016, but it hasn’t stopped them having an eye on more discounted promotions.

Five nations in Asia – Pakistan, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam – celebrate their respective independence days in August and early September. To celebrate, .xyz has joined with regional registrars to run special, limited-time sales.

So if you want a discounted .xyz domain and want to use a regional registrar, check out the .xyz website here for a list of the promotions and registrars.

Alexandra Kulikova to Head Stakeholder Engagement for Eastern Europe & Central Asia at ICANN

ICANN logoToday (21 August), ICANN announced that Alexandra Kulikova will take over for Michael Yavushev as Head of Global Stakeholder Engagement for Eastern Europe & Central Asia. She will be assuming this role in September, following Yakushev’s departure from ICANN

ICANN logoToday (21 August), ICANN announced that Alexandra Kulikova will take over for Michael Yavushev as Head of Global Stakeholder Engagement for Eastern Europe & Central Asia. She will be assuming this role in September, following Yakushev’s departure from ICANN.

“We would like to thank Michael Yakushev for playing an integral part in building ICANN‘s presence and engagement strategy in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and we hope to work with him in the future, as a member of the ICANN community,” said Sally Costerton, ICANN‘s Senior Vice President for Global Stakeholder Engagement. “Building on the excellent work already done by Michael in this important part of the world, Alexandra brings substantial knowledge of ICANN, Internet governance and cybersecurity to the role. She will be using that experience to further enhance our engagement program for ICANN and the community. I’m looking forward to working with her.”

Alexandra will continue to work closely with the rest of the ICANN organization and its senior management, including Regional Vice President for Europe, Jean-Jacques Sahel, to serve the region and its users.

Alexandra joined the organization in 2015, as Global Stakeoholder Engagement (GSE) Manager for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In this role, she drove engagement initiatives across the region in close partnership with local Internet communities.

Alexandra has a strong background in Internet governance and cybersecurity, having led the Global Internet Governance and International Information Security research programme at the PIR Center, the Moscow-based non-governmental think-tank that focuses on global security issues. Alexandra holds an MSc (Hons) in Media and Communication Governance from the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom, and an undergraduate degree in linguistics and multicultural communication from Moscow State Linguistic University in Russia.

About ICANN

ICANN‘s mission is to help ensure a stable, secure and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address – a name or a number – into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a not-for-profit public-benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.

This ICANN announcement was sourced from:
https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2017-08-21-en

Anyone, Anywhere Can Now Register a .ASIA Domain Name

The .asia top level domain has commenced its new simplified registration processes that allow for any business or person anywhere to register a .asia domain name.

The .asia top level domain has commenced its new simplified registration processes that allow for any business or person anywhere to register a .asia domain name.

The new simplified rules commenced on 15 July with an official update to the .Asia Eligibility Requirements policy. The easier registrations are particularly beneficial for entities without a pre-existing regional Asian address or proof of local I.D. This means anyone can now register a .Asia domain, even if they do not have a physical address within the region. Through this update, the DotAsia Organisation hopes to:

  • Open up registrations globally for those looking to connect with Asia
  • Open up registrations to Asian communities or businesses located outside of the region
  • Simplify registration process for everyone

“From.Asia / For.Asia has been our philosophy from the start. We have always believed that the .Asia domain is valuable equally for those coming From Asia as well as those looking For Asia,” said Edmon Chung, CEO of DotAsia Organisation. “The new streamlined registration process completes our mandate to serve the global community seeking to connect with Asia, and matches our new calling championing the world to #RiseWithAsia. Whether you are an Asian restaurant in Europe or an Asian American association in the US, you can now easily register a .Asia name that speaks to your brand and scope.”

In 2016 over 80% of .Asia registrations came from the Asia Pacific region led by China, India, Japan and South East Asia. The latest .Asia policy update and streamlined registration process is a renewed commitment from the registry to its mandate from the start – to support online representation of all things Asia.

.ASIA Opening Up To The World

The .asia TLD is opening itself up to any person or individual anywhere in the world with changes coming to eligibility requirements. The new eligibility requirements will mean global communities doing business in Asia and Asian communities living outside the region will be able to register .asia domain names without local presence requirements and eliminating checks, simplifying the registration process.

The .asia top level domain is opening itself up to any person or individual anywhere in the world with changes coming to eligibility requirements. The new eligibility requirements will mean global communities doing business in Asia and Asian communities living outside the region will be able to register .asia domain names without local presence requirements and eliminating checks, simplifying the registration process.

The currents eligibility requirements require businesses and individuals to be in Asia, or to have a local presence requirement.

The proposed changes to the .Asia Charter Eligibility Requirement Policies that the registry believes will be implemented without changes will see DotAsia:

  • open up registrations to global communities doing business with the region
  • open up registrations to Asian communities living outside of the region
  • make .ASIA TLD implementations easier for registrar channel partners located outside of Asia
  • simplify the registration process for new registrants worldwide.

The changes, currently in draft form, are expected to come into place on 15 July with no changes expected.

There are currently around 215,000 .asia domains under management with over 80% (based on registrant contact) from within the region, led by China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Registration numbers more than doubled to around 500,000 in 2013 on the back of an aggressive promotional campaign, dropping markedly a year later and have declined gradually since to be around 15,000 above prior to the promotion.

The promotion saw a large amount of abusive or potentially abusive registrations that came through. But by closely monitoring the registrations DotAsia was able to respond to the challenges and mitigate the problems that resulted from the abusive registrations. DotAsia are proud of their record in mitigating abuse, and their anti-abuse team stepped in and suspended numerous domains that were determined to be a threat to the Internet.

While there were lessons learned, they’re still interested in future promotions either on their own or with channel partners such as registrars. But more important than large registration numbers is usage.

“Success to us is not just having 1/2 million domains under management, it’s also about real usage, and how we as a not-for-profit organisation can play a role in helping to expand the Asia Internet market,” Leona Chen-Birkner, VP Registrar Relations, DotAsia, told Domain Pulse.

To read the .ASIA Charter Eligibility Requirement Policies as proposed, see:
https://www.dot.asia/policies/DotAsia-Charter-Eligibility–CANDIDATERELEASE-v4.4-2017-05-04.pdf

NameJet In Partnership With ROTD to Auction Premium Numeric .Asia Domain Names

RIGHToftheDOT logo[news release] NameJet, in partnership with RightOfTheDot, a company specializing in marketing & sales strategy for new gTLDs, and DotAsia, the organization charged with running the .asia top-level domain (TLD), are offering a select group of premium 3-4 digit numeric .asia domain names.

RIGHToftheDOT logo[news release] NameJet, in partnership with RightOfTheDot, a company specializing in marketing & sales strategy for new gTLDs, and DotAsia, the organization charged with running the .asia top-level domain (TLD), are offering a select group of premium 3-4 digit numeric .asia domain names.

Examples of the domain names being auctioned include: 5678.asia, 889.asia and 797.asia.

Backorders may be placed now and auctions will begin to close on August 18, 2015.

NameJet is a proven leader in the Asian marketplace. In the last year, approximately 20% of visitors to the NameJet auction platform originated from Asia and the amount of NameJet auctions won by Asian bidders is even higher. “We have had great success in the Asian marketplace,” said Jonathan Tenenbaum, General Manager of NameJet, “Plus, numeric domain names are highly prized by our customers, so we’re thrilled to be able to offer these premium .asia domains to them.”

Asia is the Internet’s fastest growing market and there are nearly 250,000 .Asia names already registered to date.

In addition, large corporations are already using their .asia domains such as renowned PR firm Ogilvy with BestofOgilvy.asia and leading entertainment company Live Nation with LiveNation.asia.

With expanding economies and growing access to technology, Asia has one of the world’s largest and fastest growing Internet populations. For example, China currently has more Internet users than any other country, with 600 million people online. However, that number only accounts for 42% of the country’s population, leaving considerable room for growth.

In contrast, many Western nations already have Internet penetration rates higher than 75% percent. This all speaks to the value of the premium .asia domains being listed now on NameJet.

About NameJet:
NameJet, LLC, a joint venture between eNom, Inc., a subsidiary of Rightside (NASDAQ: NAME) and Network Solutions, LLC, a subsidiary Web.com (NASDAQ: WWWW), is the world’s leading domain name auction platform. Launched in 2007, NameJet has since processed more than 200,000 domain auctions on its award-winning and easy-to-use website. With an exclusive inventory of expired and deleted domains from several of the largest registrars, plus top-quality premium name listings and drop-catching services, NameJet is the industry’s most trusted auction and aftermarket services provider.

About RightOfTheDot, LLC
RightOfTheDot, LLC is an Internet consulting and advisement firm specializing in new and existing TLD strategies, contention resolution and TLD private auction services, board advisement, premium domain and market positioning, sales and services. The new venture is the brainchild of two successful domain and Internet industry veterans, Monte Cahn and Michael H. Berkens, Esq., who possess a unique combination of vision, leadership and domain expertise. This highly qualified consulting group gives you access to the most experienced domain sales and marketing strategists in the industry. Both principals of RightOfTheDot are members of the prestigious Domain Hall Of Fame. Together, they have participated in more than $350,000,000 in domain sales and assisted in the successful launches of 22 of the existing sTLDs and gTLDs, in addition to several ccTLDs available today.

This news release was sourced from:
rightofthedot.com/2015/07/namejet-in-partnership-with-rotd-to-auction-premium-numeric-asia-domain-names/

ICANN Finds Almost Half Global Consumers Aware of New gTLDs

Almost half (46%) of the world’s consumers are aware of at least one of the new gTLDs according to a survey conducted on behalf of ICANN of 6,144 consumers aged over 18 representing Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America, and administered in 18 languages and drawn from 24 countries.

Almost half (46%) of the world’s consumers are aware of at least one of the new gTLDs according to a survey conducted on behalf of ICANN of 6,144 consumers aged over 18 representing Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America, and administered in 18 languages and drawn from 24 countries.Of those 46 percent, 65 percent said they have also visited a new gTLD. And even though they’re only the eight and seventeenth most popular new gTLDS when it comes to total registrations, .email and .link led in awareness and visitation of new gTLDs.The survey findings came from phase one of ICANN’s Global Consumer Research Study conducted by Nielsen to measure aspects of consumer awareness, perceived consumer choice, experience and trust related to the current gTLD landscape and the domain name system. The research, conducted between 2 and 19 February, 2015, was designed to create a meaningful baseline of data on consumer attitudes and will be followed by a second survey approximately one year later. This will also be a key input to a team set to be reviewing competition, consumer trust and consumer choice in the domain name system later this year.”This is the first time we’ve surveyed consumers directly about domain names and Internet use, and it provides an important benchmark as the new domains roll out,” Akram Atallah, president of ICANN’s Global Domains Division. “As the community looks toward future rounds, the survey findings will help inform the best approach.”The survey also examined consumer attitudes toward a subset of legacy TLDs introduced before 2012 – .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ, .MOBI, .PRO, .TEL, .ASIA and .COOP. Among these legacy gTLDs, three extensions (.COM, .NET and .ORG) lead awareness, with nearly 8 in 10 (79 percent) respondents reporting knowledge of these domains, on average. These TLDs also had relatively high visitation, with an average of 71 percent of respondents reporting they have visited one of those domains.Notably, Nielsen found that 72 percent of respondents reported high levels of trust with entities that offer domain names. These high trust levels were linked to a perception that the industry will take precautions, give consumers what they think they’re getting, and screen companies or individuals who register for certain domain names.Of those surveyed, an average of 90 percent claimed to trust the top three legacy TLDs (.COM, .NET, and .ORG), with the highest numbers found in North America, South America and Africa. Consistent with other study findings, the results show trust among new gTLDs is lower than legacy TLDs, but growing: nearly one person in two (49 percent) on average reports that they trusted the sample of new gTLDs provided in the survey.Abusive Internet behaviour, including spam, malware, phishing, and cybersquatting remain an issue for Internet users. At least three quarters of the respondents (74 percent) are familiar with malware, phishing or stolen credentials. Cybersquatting is the only bad behaviour that the majority are unfamiliar with — just over 1 in 3 (37 percent) report awareness.Regardless of their experience, most Internet users take some personal actions to improve their online security — most commonly installing anti-virus software and modifying their online behaviour. There is a continuing need for education as consumers seek out resources to increase their sense of safety and to help resolve issues encountered online.Additional study highlights include:

  • when asked to describe new gTLDs, the most common words included: useful, informative, helpful, practical, interesting and innovative.
  • while people are increasingly using different devices to surf the web, 64 percent of respondents report using a search engine as their preferred way to find a website. This is only slightly lower than Internet users report they did two to three years ago.
  • registering a domain is not hard, but could be easier – fifty-three percent report that registering a domain is either “very easy” or “somewhat easy” and roughly half want the process of registering a website to be less complicated (50 percent), cheaper (55 percent) and quicker (49 percent).

ICANN is also working with Nielsen to conduct a global survey of domain name registrants and their perceived sense of trust and choice in the domain name space. Results from that study will be available later in 2015.