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Registrar Connections
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June 2008
In this issue:
Registrar Days: September 16
and 17
We are pleased to announce the latest in our
series of Registrar Day events, with VeriSign’s 2008 North America Registrar
Days to be held in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia on September 16 and
17, 2007.
We will focus on the particular dynamics of
the North American region and share the latest data and information
around the trends, research, products and services that are affecting
our industry and how to maximize the opportunities that it provides.
This event will also provide an important communication exchange between
VeriSign and registrars as we seek to continually enhance and improve
our businesses within the domain name industry.
Additional information will be forthcoming!
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IDN Promotion Program
VeriSign is pleased to announce its 2008 Promotion
Program for Internationalized Domain Names (IDN) for .com and .net.
The program offers registrars a credit for new .com and .net IDN registrations
with the opportunity to obtain larger credits according to the number
of new .com and .net IDN registrations registered. The goal of the program
is to incentivize registrars' marketing efforts to promote IDNs.
All Registrars that are interested in participating
in this promotion need to complete and fax the Enrollment Application
Form to VeriSign in accordance with the program terms and conditions
and applicable deadlines. This form, as well as, more program
information is located on VeriSign's Registrar Only Section of the Web site. Remember that a
Login and Password are required to access the site.
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Research: Focus on Domain Names
in India
India, with more than 41 million Internet users,
ranks as the eighth largest Internet population in the world.
Yet, with such a large population, this represents only about four percent
of the Indian population. The number of Internet users is growing
rapidly, 25 percent in the last year alone.1
As the number of Internet users continues to grow and Internet adoption
increases, India is emerging as an increasingly important country for
domain names.
At the end of the first quarter of 2008, there
were 1.2 million domain name registrations in India across all of the
TLDs. This represents a 46 percent growth over the previous year
and a 12 percent growth over the previous quarter. Of these registrations,
approximately 685,000 are .com and .net domain name registrations and
410,000 are .in domain name registrations.
Internet users in India demonstrate a high
awareness of both the .in and .com extensions, which are almost universally
recalled by the respondents. In addition, recall for .net and
.org are on the high side, with more than 80 percent of the respondents
aware of the extensions.
While the users recognize the domain name extension, there is less understanding
of domain names themselves and the host of services that can be associated
with a domain name.
Medium and large businesses currently represent
the vast majority of domain name registrants in India. Among the current
business registrants who responded to the survey, approximately 74 percent
reported that they selected a .com domain name. For these business
respondents, the average length of time since the registrant first registered
their domain name is 5.5 years which seems to indicate that the more
established businesses registered their domain names very early on.
Among individuals, there is extremely low penetration of domain names.
For example, less than one percent of heavy Internet users in India
surveyed have registered their own personalized domain name.
Among the current business registrants, the
need to develop a Web site and email services were the biggest drivers
for registering a domain name. They were also driven by an interest
in facilitating communication with their business stakeholders, enhancing
their professional image and expanding their business. The businesses
seemed to be largely satisfied with their Web site in meeting these
goals that they had set for it. Reflecting this high level of
satisfaction, approximately 91 percent of the business registrants were
planning to renew their domain names with their current providers.
When businesses are selecting where to register
their domain name, the two most often cited factors included email services
and a complete package to help the business get online. Respondents
also stated certain generic requirements including excellent customer
service and quick and easy set up as being important factors in the
selection of their domain name registrar. The CEO and the head
of IT play the predominant roles in the selection of the domain name
itself and the registrar from which to register it.
The domain name registration opportunity in
India is still largely untapped but the interest, especially among businesses
is strong. Approximately 82 percent of business respondents without
a domain name expressed interest in registering a domain name in the
future. These respondents believe that a Web site and a domain
name would lend credibility to their business and furthermore, that
their customers are beginning to expect it.
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Increase .TV Registrations
with the Internet Profile Service for Registrars
Have you heard of the Internet Profile Service
for Registrars? If not, we’d like to tell you more about this exceptional
program, and how it can help improve your bottom line. There’s no cost
to you, and you can take advantage of it right away to reach your customers
with targeted, timely offers.
The Internet Profile Service for Registrars
provides a new way to learn more about the .com, .net, .tv and .cc domain
names you manage on behalf of your customers.
It combines multiple content characteristics
– such as rich media attributes, domain name resolution status, and
others – to deliver relevant, actionable reports to help you better
segment and target your customers, and in turn, improve domain name
registration and renewal rates.
The Rich Media Content reports, available now,
identify .com and .net and domain names that are prime candidates
for a corresponding .tv registration based on particular attributes,
such as links to rich media content, commonly found key words on the
Web site, embedded content from major video content providers, and other
characteristics. These domain names have been cross-checked with the
.tv zone to see if they are available for registration.
In order to participate in this program, you
will need to sign an Internet Profile Service for Registrars Agreement.
You can request the agreement through your VeriSign Account Manager
or Customer Support, or access it via the Registrar Knowledge Base.
Once you’ve returned a signed agreement, you can retrieve your report
from your FTP account and use it to contact potential registrants via
telemarketing, email, and other direct marketing programs to generate
interest in .tv. To make it even more convenient for you, we offer a
variety of .tv
marketing materials on our Web site.
We will be introducing new Internet Profile
Service for Registrars reports on a regular basis, along with additional
marketing materials and support. We look forward to your participation
and feedback in order to make this service more valuable for your business.
To learn more and find out how you can access
your custom reports, please contact VeriSign Customer Support through Chat
Now or email info@verisign-grs.com
or call +1-703.925.6999.
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Special Report from eMarketer
– Politics ’08 Online: Push Meets Pull
Published: May 2008
This
year’s national and local elections are generating record advertising
spending, including online. eMarketer estimates online advertising from
political campaigns and advocacy groups will reach $50 million this
year. Still, only 1% to 2% of political ad budgets will be spent online,
compared with 50% to 80% on broadcast TV advertising.
Television’s ability to “push” candidates’
messages out to a mass audience makes it the winner this election year.
On the other hand, the Internet is “pulling” voters into conversation
and interaction with candidates and issues in ways that barely existed
in the last presidential election.
Many voters are going online to check out the
candidates: 42% of US adults said they get political information from
the Internet. But, despite the hype surrounding social media, only 7%
of voters are visiting social networks to find out about candidates
and issues.
To read the full article, please contact Jennifer
Moore at +1-212-763-6046 or send an email to jmoore@emarketer.com. |
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In the News
This section contains a selection of articles
pertaining to the Domain Name Industry compiled by Information, Inc.
and VeriSign press releases.
In First Quarter of 2008, Internet Keeps Pace with Quarterly Growth
Rate Set in 2007
Q1 Report Spotlights Continued Global Domain Name Growth; ccTLDs Reflect
Importance of Emerging Regions, Including India with 41 Million Internet
Users – VeriSign.com (06/16/08)
Mountain View, CA – June 16, 2008 – In the
first three months of 2008, the growth of the Internet remained steady
as it added 14 million new domain names according to the first quarter
2008 Domain Name Industry Brief published by VeriSign, Inc. (Nasdaq:
VRSN), the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for
the networked world.
The close of the first quarter saw a total
base of more than 162 million domain name registrations worldwide across
all of the Top Level Domain Names (TLDs). This represents a 26 percent
increase over the same quarter last year, and 6 percent growth over
the fourth quarter of 2007. That pace of quarterly growth is about the
same as the average quarterly growth rate from 2007.
http://www.verisign.com/press_releases/pr/page_043942.html
"Online Video Viewing Surges”
Center for Media Research (05/22/08) Loechner, Jack
Domestic Internet users watched 11.5 billion
online videos in March 2008, a 64 percent increase from March 2007,
reports comScore Video Metrix. Google sites, which includes YouTube.com,
was the top U.S. video property with a 38 percent share of all videos
watched. YouTube accounted for 98 percent of all videos viewed at Google
sites. Fox Interactive ranked second with a 4.2 percent share. Google
sites also attracted the highest number of viewers, 85.7 million of
the 139 million total unique viewers who watched an average of 83 videos
in March. Overall, almost 74 percent of U.S. Internet users viewed online
video in March, with the average viewer watching a total of 235 minutes.
The average online video duration was 2.8 minutes. http://blogs.mediapost.com/research_brief/?p=1712
Political Junkies Transforming Internet into TV with Election-Themed
Video Sites
Online Users Heading to Political Sites for Videos of Speeches, Campaign
Ads and Even Gaffes – VeriSign.com (05/20/08)
Mountain View, CA – May 20, 2008 – Internet-savvy
voters are turning off their TV sets and heading online for video content
that is increasingly shaping their political views. As part of
a growing reliance on video-rich Web destinations for more than just
entertainment, political junkies are using the Internet to view and
share the speeches, debates, campaign ads and gaffes that are defining
one of the most competitive presidential races in recent history.
While many well known political videos can
be found on YouTube’s You Choose channel, an increasing number of videos
are being created and posted on .tv domain name Web sites, signaling
to Internet users that the Web site offers videos and other rich media
content. VeriSign, Inc. (NASDAQ: VRSN), the trusted provider of
Internet infrastructure services for the networked world, operates the
.tv registry (www.tv) in addition to the .com and .net domain name registries.
http://www.verisign.com/press_releases/pr/page_043717.html
"Ensuring Global Voices Heard at ICANN Cairo Meeting"
ICANN.org (05/20/08)
ICANN has announced that it will accept applications
for its fellowship program until July 3. The program is designed to
make it possible for people who do not typically participate in ICANN's
meetings--particularly those who are residents of developing nations--to
attend. Those who are chosen for the program will be given economy airfare,
hotel rooms, and a stipend so that they can attend ICANN's 33rd International
Public Meeting, which will be held in Cairo from Nov. 2 to Nov. 6. Fellows
will also be given these benefits in the future as a member of the ICANN
community. ICANN's Theresa Swinehart says the program will help ensure
that the organization has input from people from all over the world
when it develops its policies. http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-20may08.htm
"United Kingdom: Squatting Not Necessarily an Abuse - Brand Owners
Beware"
Mondaq (05/09/08) Snelgrove, Mark
A recent decision by a Nominet Appeals Panel
shows that brand owners cannot always rely on the appeals process to
help them recover a domain from cyber-squatters. The key to winning
a domain dispute is to show that the domain name in question was either
registered with abusive intent or is currently being used for an abusive
purpose. Nominet panels have typically ruled that there is abuse if
the brand owner could prove that the cyber-squatter had registered several
well known brands as domain names, not done anything with the domain
name, or offered to sell the domain name to the brand owner. In the
case of Maestro International vs. Adams, the appeals panel was skeptical
about Adams' reason for registered the domain name maestro.co.uk. He
argued that he was unaware of the Maestro trademark when he registered
the domain, even though the company is the largest debit card issuer
in the United Kingdom. Adams said that his intent was to use the domain
for a music-related Web site, and the panel allowed Adams to keep the
domain. Although some might believe that this signals a shift in Nominet's
policy, the Maestro case was different than most. The trademark has
a common English dictionary meaning, which would have applied to Adams'
original intended use of a music site. However, the decision does warn
trademark owners to consider the circumstances of the case before filing
a complaint. http://mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=60380
© Copyright 2008 Information,
Inc.
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