Domain Masters : wmfeature

Domain Names Keep Growing Despite new TLDs Fears

'Net Features : wm-domains — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 04:00:00 GMT

The domain name industry seems to be doing just fine despite all the hullabaloo about the coming introduction of those new gTLD’s. Verisign has just published its quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief which shows that more than 6 million domain names were added to the Internet in the final quarter of 2012, bringing the total number of registered domain names to more than 252 million worldwide across all TLD’s – a 2.5% increase over Q3 2012 and the eighth straight quarter with growth over 2%. Worldwide TLD registrations grew by 26.6 million, or 11.8%, year over year in 2012. As of Dec. 31, 2012, the base of registered names in .com equaled 106.2 million names, while .net equaled 14.9 million names. Other interesting facts from the report include: - The .com and .net renewal rate for Q4 2012 was 72.9 percent (up slightsly from the previous quarter - The base of Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs) was 110.2 million domain names, a 5 percent increase quarter over quarter, and a 21.6 percent increase year over year in the base. - 64% of domains had multi-page websites, 21% had one page websites and 15% had no websites at all....(read more)

SMBs Passing on gTLDs

'Net Features : wm-domains — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:00:00 GMT

New generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are only going to make the Internet more confusing to navigate. That is according to 52.3 percent of the 600 respondents who were queried via SurveyMonkey as part of the Sedo sponsored gTLD Awareness Report. The goal of the research was to uncover whether small to mid-size businesses (SMBs) are aware of the pending launch of new gTLDs in 2013 and whether they plan to take advantage of them. Sixty-three percent of those surveyed are unaware that new gTLDs will be available in 2013 and many do not understand what the value of these new addresses will be. Nearly half either saw no advantage or were unsure what the advantage of a new gTLD would be. The findings tend to be particularly useful, because 63.7 percent of the respondents have purchased domain names in the past, and the survey audience understands the importance of the correct domain name to their business’ success. Even so, a resounding 94.1 percent said they were not currently planning to purchase a new gTLD, and there were very mixed results when it came to what would persuade them to purchase one (see image). So what exactly are new gTLDs? They are brand-new domain extensions that will increase domain name choices to include descriptive strings, such as .blog, .book, .hotel, which can help in brand awareness and general memorability. Major brands, like Amazon, are feverishly applying for new gTLDs with plans to use them, but this research by Sedo makes it clear that a successful...(read more)

A Better Brand Awaits at NameFind

'Net Features : wm-domains — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 02:15:00 GMT

Creating a company name and "brand" is of supreme importance to the success of any enterprise - not just digital ones. If you're in the process of researching and collaborating, check out the new NameFind service from Afternic and BuyDomains parent company NameMedia. NameFind offers up quite a few clever features that in many ways highlights the future of similar services. In addition to being able to search for and register domain names (premium domains too thanks to its relationship with Afternic), NameFind also makes it possible to see if matching social media handles from popular networks are available (through a partnership with Knowem), and the ability to narrow down the list of ideas and invite friends and colleauges to vote on them. Domain name services are struggling to differentiate their offerings in a ever-changing search landscape and as new domain extensions poise to flood the market. By shifting course just slightly, NameMedia may have found its golden goose with NameFind. Read more from Website Magazine's Domain Masters Channel : - GoDaddy-Sedo Deal Offers Access to Millions More Domains - Congressional Domains Used in Cyber-Squatting?...(read more)