EuroDNS Blog

EuroDNS announces yet another special, limited time offer on .JP domain names. This promotion enables EuroDNS customers to register new or transfer existing domain names at a promotional rate. Valid until June 5, 2012, register .JP domain name for only €52.99. Enter the promo code PRJP12A and benefit from this special deal available for two weeks only!

The EuroDNS promotion offers businesses and individuals, the opportunity to register a .JP domain name; by registering with this very popular domain name extension companies can provide localized information about their products and services, developing and expanding their business presence in Japan. In targeting the Japanese market, companies demonstrate their commitment to the local audience inspiring consumer confidence and trust; a .JP domain name offers companies protection for their business online, with a unique and memorable web address.

Companies and individuals possessing a mailing address in Japan can register a .JP domain name. EuroDNS’ Japanese partner offers a local contact address free; please note that this service does not cover legal or administration costs that EuroDNS may incur due to use of this service. Should there be any such charges; the registrant will be wholly responsible. 

The .JP domain is administered by the Japan Registry Service (JPRS); in 1986, when the domain was established, it was under the control of JPNIC, but as the domain grew in popularity and size, a new registry was created. The Japan Registry Service officially took over the .JP domain in 2003. 

Businesses wishing to target customers in Japan will benefit in many ways when registering a .JP domain name. SEO experts agree that Google Japan will give preferential ranking to Japanese websites as they contain content relevant to the user, so in this instance the search engine is including the domain name extension in its index. 

The land of the rising sun

Japan has the world’s third largest economy by nominal GDP and fourth largest by PPP (purchasing power parity); it is the fourth largest exporter and fourth largest importer in the world. Universally renowned companies in Japan, include Toyota, Nintendo, NTT DoCoMo, Honda, Canon, Toshiba and Sony. 

Tokyo is the capital of Japan and the center of The Greater Tokyo Area, which in turn, is the largest metropolitan area in the world with over 30 million residents. The city houses several of the world’s largest investment banks and 51 of the companies currently listed on the Global 500 are head quartered in the city. Despite being named the second most expensive city for expatriate employees in 2010, it has also been named the most ‘liveable’ city and, as more and more people move to the area, it now boasts one of the busiest subways and commuter rail networks in the world. Tokyo’s rapid development knows no bounds, and historical buildings have been demolished to make room for more contemporary architecture.

Become part of this economic empire today, register a .JP domain name and watch your business rise in the East.

The EuroDNS promotion

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “At EuroDNS we strive to deliver the best possible service to our customers, hence we are offering this excellent promotion on .JP domain names. We believe all who adopt this domain name extension will benefit from more traffic to their site, bringing new business and increasing revenue. For the next two weeks all .JP domain names are available for registration and transfer for only €52.99.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS does more than just register domain names; we also offer a constantly evolving range of solutions and services to assist our customers with all their domain requirements. The list includes local presence service, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .JP domain at the unbeatable price of €52.99, visit our website, and enter promo code: PRJP12A, valid till June 5, 2012.

Please check out the offers page on our website to find more promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS. 

To receive updates of our latest promo codes and new deals on domain extensions directly into your mailbox, please subscribe to our newsletter.

About EuroDNS

EuroDNS is a domain name registrar specialized in international domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

Investing in domain names gives higher returns than investing in NASDAQ listed companies. What are you waiting for?

Thies Lindenthal, visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Center for Real Estate, and Product Manager for Domain Pricing at Sedo, has created the IDNX price index, revealing the evolution of domain name sales since 2006. The index shows that the prices for the ten most commonly traded TLDs have increased by 64% since January 2006. It would appear, when comparing the IDNX with the NASDAQ 100 (index of the 100 most actively traded companies listed on the US NASDAQ stock exchange) that domain name prices are influenced by changes in the stock market. Interestingly, the comparison also indicates that investing in domain names gives higher returns than investing in companies listed on the NASDAQ.

Domain flipping is the buying and selling of domain names for profit, as with any investment there are risks, and there are no guarantees that money will be made. It is not a ‘get rich quick scheme’; it requires patience and hard work.  

Domains hit Wall Street

In April 2012, two leading financial companies, Bloomberg and Reuters, added the IDNX to their stock indices, adding credence to domain name investing and making the domain market more visible so profitable investment decisions may be more easily reached. Domain name owners will be pleased to note that the index reports growth over the preceding five months, with a significant increase in March.

Virtual investment

Will this trend lead to people playing the stock market with domain names? Sedo, a domain marketplace, brings buyers and sellers together offering marketing and brokerage services. It’s a trading platform offering a domain parking program, enabling domainers the opportunity to park their unused domain names, loaded with relevant pay-per-click (PPC) ads, thus earning revenue whilst increasing the value and likelihood of a sale. 

Mann, he’s making millions!

Anyone remotely interested in the domain name industry will have heard of Michael Mann, he is the chairman and founder of numerous companies and charitable funds, and he is a multimillionaire earning copius amounts of money buying and selling domain names; in his own words he, “wants to own the world.”

He was bitten by the domain name bug in the late 90s when he was made an offer for menus.com, originally purchased for $70; he was offered $25,000, overnight the offer doubled, the rest, as they say, is history.

In the good old days registering an innovative and exciting domain name was easy as there was less competition, but as time went on the volume of available names reduced. Things started to get dirty with domainers designing software that rang alarm bells immediately a name expired, some small, unscrupulous registrars took payment for revealing inside information regarding names coming up for renewal. Michael, not to be beaten, fought back and designed his own system which allowed registration and transfer of domain names and URLs such as those used to access content via the Internet and world wide web, the system was awarded a patent in 2003. 

Alledgedly, Michael purchases approximately 300 names per day, selling them through his company, DomainMarket.com. He is obviously a busy man and while continuining to add to his shopping list, he had reduced his spending. All that changed in April 2012 when he decided to go shopping. Using his in-built filter for sorting the ‘wheat from the chaff’, and software performing multiple purchases, he obtained 14,962 domain names in under 24 hours. Judging by past form, Michael will surely be selling these for a substantial profit.

Some people may consider Mr Mann’s business ‘cut throat’, making it difficult for others to obtain the domain names they need whilst he fills his coffers; others may admire his business acumen and foresight.

Are you a Mann or a mouse?

It’s risky, but so is any investment. Currently, there is no way of predicting whether a domain name will be a success, and not everyone possesses Mr Mann’s inherent ability to spot a winner. There are companies offering valuation of domain names but they can never be 100% accurate, it all comes down to what a buyer can pay, and how much they want to own that particular name. 

Research is essential to avoid paying over the market value, check out similar names and how they have performed. Before purchasing any domain name use Google Adwords to see what people are searching for, and how many are looking; aim to buy names containing these keywords. Be aware of current and future trends, niche markets, news stories, events; these are all potential markets that may be looking for domain names. 

It’s only worth money if someone wants it

Building and nurturing your domain name portfolio takes time and money, you will need a crystal ball to see which names are going to become popular, hard work is required to promote your domain names effectively, and you will need an abundance of patience; a domain name may be parked for years waiting for the right market. 

Develop the domain name and increase its value by generating traffic; create a website and add keyword specific content and meta tags, or park the domain name with an online marketplace where ads will be placed and traffic generated. The number of new websites increases every day and with them, the demand for good domain names, but if you don’t have ‘spare cash’ investing in domain names is not for you, your investment may not pay out for five to ten years or more; and annual renewal fees eat into any potential profit.

There are no tricks

.COM is the most popular domain but with this comes huge competition, the growing popularity of ccTLDs such as .US, .DE, .TV, makes these viable options which may be sold to businesses wishing to develop in their own country. 

If you are lucky enough to get hold of a three/four letter domain name, congratulations, they are like gold dust; otherwise try to stay with two word domain names ensuring they are memorable, easy to type and are visually pleasing. 

Generic names can bring in huge profits, one only has to look at insure.com selling for $16m, sex.com at $13m, clothes.com at $4,900,000, but steer clear of trademarked names as this can lead to a lengthy court battle and eventual loss of money and domain name.

Previously unregistered domain names may be purchased for very little as they have no history but they will require effort on your part to market them and make them more attractive. The secondary market offers more valuable choices with price tags reflecting their desirability. 

In November 2011, EuroDNS announced the deployment of Afternic’s unique ‘Instant Transfer’ technology for domain sales, offering transactions in record time. This new service allows EuroDNS customers to purchase secondary market domain names directly from the Domain Listing Service (DLS) of Afternic. Existing customers of EuroDNS will also benefit from direct access to more than 50 million prospective buyers that acess Afternic’s DLS every month. Read more about the benefits of this premium domain marketplace at the EuroDNS website.

Holding or flipping

Parking a domain name to increase its value, or executing a quick flip, with a well prepared portfolio it is possible to make money on your investments. 

Will you own the world… hey Mann, who knows?

The US Department of Justice has a Task Force, and its mission is to fight domestic and international intellectual property (IP) crime. Their latest investigation brought to light the online sale of counterfeit goods, netting $896,000 and taking seven domain names into custody.

The warrant for the seizure of the seven domain names was issued by the District of Columbia on April 2012, Ronald C. Machen Jr, US Attorney for the district said, “Seizing the domain names of these unscrupulous operators was one big step, and seizing their ill-gotten proceeds should send them another message that these counterfeit sales will not be tolerated”.The investigation, Operation in our Sites, was originally launched in June 2010 by ICE’s (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) Office of Homeland Security Investigations, and is a federal law enforcement initiative hunting IP pirates and online vendors of fake goods and copyrighted property. 

Cyber Monday I

On November 29, 2010, Operation in our Sites executed seizure orders against 24 domain names of websites selling counterfeit merchandise and copyrighted property, such as shoes, handbags, sunglasses, pirated DVDs and music, and sportswear. The ‘sting’ was instigated on Cyber Monday, the Monday following Black Friday. In the US Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving and signals the start of Christmas shopping, Cyber Monday follows and is promoted as the biggest online shopping day of the year. The counterfeit goods, including fake Chanel, Nike and Cartier, were imported from China. One domain name seized, tvshack.cc, was a website acting as a ‘link’ between sites allowing users to obtain illegal copies of films and tv shows, tvshack.cc replaced tvshack.net, this domain name was terminated in June 2010.

Several of the online businesses continued trading, overcoming this technical glitch to their business by using new domain names; fraudsters in China selling fake sportswear and college sports jerseys forfeited their domain names when undercover agents purchased goods and confirmed them to be fake. PayPal Private Ltd was used for payment process with the money then wired to Chinese banks. 

Cyber Monday II

To celebrate the ‘biggest online shopping day of the year’ the US Department of Justice struck again, Operation in our Sites cast its net on November 28, 2011, and seized 150 domain names attributed to commercial websites selling spurious merchandise. The feds went undercover and purchased an array of goods with fake trademarks, manufactured abroad and imported to the US, the domain names were terminated.

The fight continues

Operation in our Sites has, to date, terminated 758 domain names of websites dealing in counterfeit goods. The IP Task Force continues to investigate and fight this on-going battle, endeavouring to protect the US against fraudsters who undermine the economic wellbeing of the country. The Task Force is currently working with IPEC (Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator) to improve the protection of intellectual property rights. 

Sedo and .ME Registry are joining forces to auction keyword rich .ME domain names, the auction takes place from May 26 until May 31, 2012.

There are 200 domain names available, predominantly keyword and geographic domain names. Examples from the list are computer.me, greencard.me, domainregistration.me, unitedkingdom.me. Unfortunately there are no outstanding ‘call to action’ names present, so the chance of topping the success of meet.me at $450,000, is unlikely.

.ME goes global

ICANN delegated the .ME domain to Montenegro in 2007, and the .ME Registry was elected to operate the extension. Montenegro was assigned the .ME domain as its ccTLD after the country became an independent nation in 2006. The government was quick to recognize the potential of the extension as a generic name and it became widely available in 2008, making the .ME domain available for worldwide registration. Similar to TLDs, the domain names can be geo-targeted by Google, which has a positive impact in terms of searches.

In August 2008, 100,000 .ME domain names were already registered, beating its rivals .ASIA and .MOBI, both launched prior to .ME. By 2010, over 320,000 domain names had been registered.

This is not the first auction held for.ME domain names and Sedo has to date, managed the sale of over 1,000 .ME domain names. Big name companies have jumped on the .ME bandwagon such as Facebook (fb.me), Yahoo! (me.me) and Time Magazine (ti.me), proving the popularity of this extension as a memorable TLD. 

Show .ME the love

Hugely popular in English speaking countries, during the land rush period date.me sold for $70,000, love.me for $32,500 and hug.me for $20,000. This extension has proved a big hit with domain hacks (‘Hack’, implying a trick as opposed to exploitation), i.e. a domain name created by combining domain levels and spelling the full name or title of a name, for instance, del.icio.us and goo.gl. 

Fiesta time in Spain as over one million domain names, with extension .ES, have been registered, with the slogan, “lo hemos conseguido, 1,000,000 de .ES”, roughly translated as, “we have exceeded, 1,000,000 .ES”.

Since 1988, when the .ES domain was created, the number of registrations has steadily grown but, it wasn’t until 20 years later that it reached a million. The sudden influx coincided with a change to registration rules, allowing any citizen to register a .ES domain name, at a much lower cost than previously. The .ES domain has experienced a growth of 17%, representing the largest increase in four years. With approximately 1,460,000 active domains at the end of 2011 this indicates an increase of over 200,000. 

Today, .ES is unrestricted and anyone in the world is able to register a domain name without having to prove local presence. With over 45 million inhabitants in Spain and the world’s second largest tourist industry, adopting a .ES domain name opens up a vast audience to businesses and individuals.

Don’t go loco, be a local hero

Another explanation for this recent growth spurt would be the marketing push encouraging websites, with content in Spanish, to promote their identity and location by adopting the .ES extension. The hope is that this will engender an increased appreciation of Spanish businesses, the businesses thus benefiting from improved web ranking, brand awareness, trust and quality of service.

facts&figures.es

• .ES accounts for approximately 50% of the Spanish market, 57% belong to individuals and the remaining 43% to corporations, limited partnerships, cooperatives, associations, etc.

• 2007 saw the government approve the use of accented characters in .ES domain names.

• The number of .ES domains not renewed in 2010 has decreased in 2011 by 29%.

• Geographic distribution – Madrid hosts 329,900 active domains, Catalonia 199,600, Andalucia 168,600. 

A strong presence in the main domain forums, including: CENTR, LACTLD and ICANN, has brought invaluable support. 

Pronto!

“Action is the foundational key to all success” Pablo Picasso

Already popular in Spain, the .ES domain extension has been used for ‘domain hacks’, a domain name using the extension letters to spell out the full name of the domain. Examples utilizing the .ES domain are geociti.es, beach.es and iTun.es.

EuroDNS offers a wide range of solutions and services to assist our customers with all their domain name requirements. For more information, please visit our website, or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.

In a world that has over 500 million Spanish speakers, it makes perfect sense, act now!

Holders of French domain names no longer have to settle for a name that does not meet their requirements, or say what they mean. Looking for ‘forêts’ or ‘forets’, ‘congres’ or ‘congrès’; could bring unexpected results, never again will a search for drills end up in the forest.

Try to say what you mean

Not always easy when your alphabet has been substantially reduced.

AFNIC (Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération), the administrator for the .FR domain, announced in February 2012, that from May 3, .FR domain names would be able to incorporate accented characters.

In 1985 the first domain name was registered, since then France (and many other countries) has struggled to incorporate their language into the domain name format. Prior to this new ruling, when a French domain name was written down the relevant accents were included, but if one searched online using accented characters – there was no guarantee it would work. 

Introducing internationalized domain names (IDN) to .FR allows domain name holders to present the true pronunciation and meaning of their brand. This new function also applies to .RE Réunion, .TF French Southern and Antarctic Lands, .WF Wallis and Futuna, .PM St Pierre et Miquelon, and .YT Mayotte ; characters available are: à, á, â, ã, ä, å, æ, ç, è, é, ê, ë, ì, í, î, ï, ñ, ò, ó, ô, õ, ö, ù, ú, û, ü, ý, ÿ, œ, ß.

Richelieu says, “très bien!"

This is surely good news for the Académie Française, established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1635, its role is to protect the French language against foreign influences, slang, and the degradation of the language.

Identity protection

AFNIC has decided to offer two registration periods:

• The priority period, from May 3 to July 3, allows users with existing domain names to register the exact equivalent utilizing accented characters and all its possible variants. AFNIC state, “If you have peches.fr you are entitled to register pêchés.fr, péchés.fr, pèches.fr etc. with the same registrar, for the same holder (i.e. with the same "NIC handle").” A NIC handle is the unique alphanumeric character sequence assigned by the registrar to a particular domain name, such as registrant’s name and email address. This period applies to users with domain names registered with .FR, .YT, .PM, .WF, .TF and .RE.

• General release begins on July 3 and there will be a ‘first come, first served’ policy. Any registered company or individual residing within the European Community (including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) may register a .FR domain name.

EuroDNS supports you

We would strongly recommend users contact their domain name registrar to confirm they offer IDN registration and if so, the availability of the various versions of their domain name.

From May 3, 2012, EuroDNS offers IDN registration on the aforementioned domain name extensions, .FR, .YT, .PM, .WF, .TF and .RE. Current holders of the relevant domain names should contact sales@eurodns.com, for assistance with obtaining new IDN versions of their domain names. 

EuroDNS is saluting Europe Day with a special, limited time offer on the .EU domain name extension. This promotion enables EuroDNS customers to register new or transfer existing domain names at a promotional rate. Valid until May 22, 2012, register a .EU domain name extension for only €0.99, enter the promo code PREU12C and benefit from this special deal available for two weeks only.

The EuroDNS promotion offers businesses and individuals the opportunity to register this hugely popular domain name extension, .EU, emphasizing the European identity of a website rather than restricting it to a single country. The .EU domain name extension is available to all organizations in and residents of EU member states, for companies dealing across the borders it offers a much wider audience. Register or transfer to a .EU domain name to open the door to over 500 million people in 27 countries.

The .EU domain was launched in 2005, with approval by ICANN in 2005. According to EURid (appointed by the European Commission to operate the .EU domain), “residents embraced the .EU web addresses when they became publically available on 7 April, 2006, registering 1.7 million within the launch month. Since then .EU registrations have more than doubled and we are fast approaching 3.6 million registrations”.

United in diversity

Paris, May 9, 1950, Robert Schuman, Luxembourgish born, French Foreign Minister, made an announcement to the press; he was asking for European countries to combine their coal and steel production with the intention of forming a European federation. Robert Schuman believed this to be the only way to unite Europe and maintain peaceful relations in the future; the “Schuman Declaration” saw the birth of what was to become the European Union. Europe Day or Schuman Day has become a symbol of a united Europe, and celebrates the continued peace and unity in Europe.

The EU’s ethos is based on several treaties which state that the EU is, "founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities..., in a society in which pluralism, non-discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail". 

Initially there were six founding countries in the EU, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands; this number has now grown to 27, with Croatia expected to join and become the 28th member in July 2013.

The EuroDNS promotion

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “At EuroDNS we are currently offering our cus-tomers an excellent promotion on .EU domain names, for the next two weeks all .EU domain names are available for registration and transfer for only €0.99.”

Daniel continued, “EuroDNS does more than just register domain names; we also offer a constantly evolving range of solutions and services to assist our customers with all domain requirements. The list includes local presence service, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .EU domain at the unbeatable price of €0.99, visit our website, and enter promo code: PREU12C, valid till May 22, 2012.

Please check out the offers page on our website to find more promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS. 

To receive updates of our latest promo codes and new deals on domain extensions directly into your mailbox, please subscribe to our newsletter.

About EuroDNS 

EuroDNS is a domain name registrar specialized in international domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

EuroDNS welcomes the .ASIA FreeB promo from DotAsia, and are pleased to announce a time limited offer, to accompany this promotion.

.ASIA remains a relatively young domain that was created in 2007 specifically for the Asia Pacific (APAC) region, extending to almost 70 countries from the Middle East to Australia. APAC accounts for more than 60% of the world population, speaking 90 languages, and boasting over 400 million Internet users. 

Asia is a region currently experiencing immeasurable economic, cultural and technical growth; the .ASIA TLD was originally created to help individuals and businesses in the region target their efforts locally and, on a wider scale, increase their online visibility globally.

The promotion

DotAsia, the .ASIA registry, are offering gifts to users registering a new .ASIA domain name. Depending on the length of registration, users will receive:

• one year registration – headphones,

• two years registration – stylus pen,

• five years registration – Bluetooth keyboard,

• ten years registration – 7” Android Tablet with camera.

DotAsia states only new domain names registered will be entitled to the above free gifts, renewals and transfers will not be eligible.

And there’s more, from EuroDNS

Running alongside this amazing incentive, EuroDNS has a promotion offering the .ASIA extension at €7.99, during the period of May 1 to July 31, 2012, with the promo code PBASIAC.

What’s in a name?

.ASIA domain names are hugely beneficial for companies operating in the APAC region, possibly more so than .CN (China), .IN (India), .JP (Japan). Whilst a company with its head office in Shanghai, using a .CN domain name, will communicate well with customers in China; should this company wish to trade in India, a .ASIA domain name would speak to the wider APAC audience.  

In addition, the .ASIA TLD contains a word used frequently in every day speech, and more importantly, in search engines. ‘Asia’ is a popular keyword; routinely appearing in searches, by adopting this TLD a user could potentially improve the visibility of their site.

Rules of registering .ASIA

Individuals, businesses, and organizations such as community groups, are encouraged to register with a .ASIA domain name, but there are some restrictions in place:

• The .ASIA domain registrant must have at least one domain contact that is a legal entity in the Asia region.

• The .ASIA domain registrant must have a minimum of one administrative contact, with postal address, within the Asia region.

EuroDNS, one of the first registrars officially accredited by the .ASIA Registry to allow private individuals and companies to apply for the .ASIA domain names, offers a free local presence service for registering .ASIA domain names. 

Should you wish to register a .ASIA domain name, please contact sales@eurodns.com, where a representative will happily assist you with all your domain needs.

We come bearing gifts

The benefits of registering a .ASIA domain name are seemingly endless, from adding a popular keyword to ones’ domain name, enhancing communication with the vast APAC audience, to the exciting gifts on offer from DotAsia. 

As if this isn’t enough, EuroDNS grants the opportunity to register a .ASIA domain name for the price of €7.99. To take full advantage of this unbeatable price, visit our website, and enter the promo code: PBASIAC, valid May 1 to July 31, 2012.

To receive updates of our latest promo codes and new deals on domain extensions directly into your mailbox, please subscribe to our newsletter.

March 2012, saw the launch of a new top level domain, .SX, now the country code of Sint Maarten. 

In 2010 the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, previously it had been an independent Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. With the dissolution, Sint Maarten became an autonomous country and filed an application for its own country code top-level domain (ccTLD). The sponsoring organization, SX Registry, is a private company incorporated in Sint Maarten, and wholly owned by SX Registry SA, a company headquartered in Luxembourg using OpenRegistry. There are no restrictions when registering a .SX domain name and a local presence is not necessary. .AN remains the Internet ccTLD for the former Netherlands Antilles, but it is gradually being phased out and as of November 2010 there are only, approximately, 800 domain names still registered.

Why .SX?

.SX was an obvious choice, as the territory has long been known, both locally and internationally, as ‘SXM’ (the IATA code for the island’s International Airport). This code was available in the ISO (International Organization Standardization) 3166 list and was awarded to the territory in December 2010.

Following a decision from ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), the IANA (Internet Assigned Names Authority) has awarded the .SX ccTLD to the SX Registry. The Registry, a partnership between the European Registry Provider OpenRegistry and the Canadian company MediaFusion, will promote the usage and registration of .SX domain names globally. 

SX Registry has appointed the ClearingHouse for Intellectual Property (CHIP), the service aimed at assisting brand owners in securing and safeguarding their trademark rights in the domain name space, already used by .CO, .ASIA, .FR. Additionally, should a case of domain name abuse be raised the Uniform Rapid Suspension (URS) process will be implemented along with the traditional UDRP and, when abuse has been proven, the offending domain name will be suspended (the domain name will not be transferred to the complainant). 

For your protection

For the protection of all users, the registration process will have several phases:

• Grandfather period, agreed in March, 2011, ends on May 2, 2012; current owners of a .AN domain name registered before December, 15 2010 whose Admin-C contact was established in Sint Maarten will have the right to register the corresponding .SX domain name.

• Sunrise period, May 3 to July 4, 2012; owners of registered trademarks, validated by CHIP, may register their .SX domain names.

• Sint Maarten priority period, July 5 to September 4, 2012; allows individuals and companies from Sint Maarten to register .SX domain names. However, there are conditions to be met to prove eligibility for this phase.

• Landrush period, September 5 to October 4, 2012; any interested individual or company may register up to two .SX domain names, multiple applications will be subject to auction.

• General availability begins October 5, 2012; open to everyone, without restriction.

It is strongly recommended that .AN owners, meeting the above conditions and who wish to register the equivalent .SX domain name, should register before May 2. Following this date they will lose any preferential advantage. 

Columbus sailed the ocean blue

Originally claimed by the Spanish but left unoccupied, the French stepped in and claimed ownership along with all the islands from Trinidad to Bermuda. The Dutch West Indies Company, wanting the island under their control, populated the southern half and claimed ownership. Spain tried to regain control, and after a brief take-over of the Dutch settlements and a long battle, they eventually left. 

Both the French and the Dutch wanted control of the island and after several battles, an accord was reached in 1648 with the signing of the Treaty of Concordia. The treaty stated that the island be separated into two distinct countries – one side owned by the French (St Martin) and the other by the Dutch (Sint Maarten). This agreement has subsequently created a fascinating island where two diverse cultures exist side by side, in perfect harmony.

Unexpected visitors

Whilst the population of Sint Maarten is barely 40,000, local businesses adopting the .SX domain extension will benefit from having their own identity on the Internet, as will the two million tourists that visit the island every year. Additionally, since the extension is virgin territory and wide open to anyone without restriction; it will be attractive to many looking for a different ending!

Great news for the domain name industry and EuroDNS, from May 1, 2012, it will be possible for anyone to register a domain name under a .PT extension.

The announcement, by the FCCN (Fundação para a Computação Científica Nacional or Foundation for National Scientific Computation) on February 23, 2012, has created great excitement. Previously scheduled for release in 2008, the imminent liberalization of .PT will allow online businesses to communicate directly with their Portuguese audience. Adopting a .PT domain extension will create a unique and memorable web address, whilst enhancing local presence. With approximately 383,000 .PT domain names registered, this announcement should see an increase in the number of users choosing the .PT extension over the gTLDs.

Important dates to remember

General availability, on May 1, 2012, will allow any person or entity to register a .PT domain name whilst having no affiliation with a brand or company. 

From March 1st, 2012, .PT now has only four sub-domains: .COM.PT (unrestricted registration), .EDU.PT, .GOV.PT and .ORG.PT. This date also heralded the end of the following domains:  .NET.PT, .INT.PT, .PUBL.PT, .NOME.PT, but any domain name already registered with these extensions prior to this date, remains active.

Owners of domain names registered with a .COM.PT extension would be wise to register the same name with the .PT extension, as soon as registration is open, to avoid possible cybersquatting in the future.

New features

With the liberalization of .PT come new features, domain names will be able to support the following accented characters: á, to, â, ã, ç, é, ê, í, ó, ô, õ, ú; and domain names will be able to contain from three to 63 characters.

.PT will be the first extension incorporating a tool that will search for domain names and brands. The tool was developed in collaboration with the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property, and allows businesses to verify the existence of a domain name.  

EuroDNS benefiting their customers

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “EuroDNS returns with a new domain name extension. We wanted to offer this extension as soon as possible to enable our customers the benefits offered by a .PT extension, such as registering very short domain names, abbreviations or acronyms of three to five letters only. They will also be able to check the availability of a domain name or a mark with a free search via a tool developed in partnership with the Portuguese Institute of Industrial Property.”

Daniel continued, “I would like to remind our customers that EuroDNS does not only register domain names; we also offer a wide range of solutions and services to assist our customers with their domain needs. The list, constantly evolving to reflect the latest needs of our customers, includes local presence services, Whois Privacy, and ProDNS which delivers safe and secure DNS services with no risk of data loss. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .PT domain name, please visit the EuroDNS website. Check out the offers page on our website to find out about great promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS.To be aware of the latest promo codes and receive our new deals on domain extensions directly into your mailbox, please subscribe to our EuroDNS newsletter.  

In order to stay up-to-date about what is happening in the DNS industry, find EuroDNS on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

About EuroDNS

EuroDNS is a Domain name Registrar specialized in International Domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

For more information, please contact:

EuroDNS
Isabelle Vekemans
Marketing & Communication Manager
Phone: +352 27 220 313
E-mail: press@eurodns.com

Say it with flowers! The floristennetzwerk.de domain name was registered by German florist, Alexander Kleerebezem on April 18, 2012, bringing the number of domain names registered with DENIC to an incredible fifteen million.

DENIC is the registry for domains in Germany, which took over management of the .DE domain in 1997. The .DE domain was added to the IANA database in 1986, and prior to DENIC, was managed by the University of Dortmund. 

A company doing business abroad would do well to adopt an international domain name extension, it increases ones audience and helps reduce possible cultural barriers while appearing less ‘foreign’ to the German audience. 

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

Eleven years after its formation the number of .DE domain names registered had already reached one hundred thousand, and by 1999, a staggering one million. 2004 saw the introduction of internationalized domain names allowing the inclusion of German characters such as umlauts Ä/ä, Ö/ö, Ü/ü and the Eszett ß (sharp S). In 2009, DENIC approved the use of single and two-letter names, and number only domain names. 

Approximately 50,000 domain names are registered every month, registrants ranging from individuals, medium sized companies, to international organisations. .DE is currently the most popular ccTLD (in terms of registration) in the world, and ranks second as a TLD after .COM. 

The .DE domain utilizes the first two letters of the German name for Germany, Deutschland. East Germany originally had a separate ccTLD, .DD, but it remained unassigned and was subsequently withdrawn in 1990.

Leading the field

The Federal Republic of Germany’s population is currently 81.8 million; it is a major political power and a technological leader in numerous fields. It was a founding member of the European Community in 1957 (becoming the EU in 1993), and is part of the Schengen Area which aims to eliminate border controls with other Schengen members whilst strengthening border controls with non-member states. It is heavily involved with the United Nations, NATO, the G8, G20 and the Council of Europe.

With the largest economy in the European Union, it has the world’s fourth largest by nominal gross domestic product (GDP) and the fifth by purchasing power parity (PPP). From 2003 to 2008 it was the world’s largest exporter, dropping to second place in 2009; most of its exports are in engineering, machinery, cars, chemical goods and metal, it is currently the principal producer of wind turbines and solar power technology.

Global brand names to be proud of, from Beethoven to Schumacher

German engineers including Gottlieb Daimler, Rudolf Diesel, Karl Benz, have all played their part in producing some of the world’s most well respected and recognized cars, such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche. And while all these cars ‘make beautiful music’; Beethoven, Bach, Wagner, Brahms and Mozart, also contributed to our listening pleasure.

Finally, passing the chequered flag, we should remember Michael Schumacher and his brother Ralf, Sebastian Vettel, and recent Formula One race winner, Nico Rosberg.

Driving the point home

Approximately every sixth person in Germany has a .DE extension domain name, with no limits on the number of names registered by individuals and companies. Interest in this domain grows every year, don’t get left behind!

ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) described its decision to approve the creation of new gTLDs such as .PARIS, .APPLE, .LONDON, etc., as historic, and believe the new extensions will ‘shake up’ search results. 

This initiative means that website addresses could adopt almost any word, in any language as their extension, making the Internet open to users whose language contains accented characters. It will give organizations the opportunity to optimize their brand, country or highlight their ‘good cause’.

Early applications include:

• .EARTH, .HOTEL, .MUSIC, .RADIO, .SHOP

• .AFRICA, .LONDON, .NYC, .PARIS

• .GAY, .WINE, .GOLF, .PEACE

• .CANON, .DELOITTE, .UNICEF


Is it worth it?
Unfortunately, these new extensions are not cheap, with $185,000 application fee, followed by a $35,000 management fee per year. You must also demonstrate sufficient capital to keep the registry operational for a minimum of three years. As with VeriSign, who are responsible for all .COM TLDs, you will be wholly responsible for all the domain names registered with your .NAME gTLD.

But, could that expense and additional work be justified if the new TLD web addresses are automatically favoured over a .COM name? Of course it could, if we are to believe that the new TLDs may receive preferential treatment. 

Alas, Google says no!
Google has emphatically stated that content and relevance will remain the deciding factors when ranking websites, not giving preference to the new TLDs. They strongly warn against registering a new ‘name specific’ TLD expecting it to improve your website’s search engine ranking, as you will be disappointed. (1)

Déjà vu?
This is not a new concept with previous ‘name specific’ TLDs already in use, such as: .MUSEUM, .NAME, .COOP, .AERO, .JOBS, .TRAVEL, .CO and .MOBI. Regrettably, these early TLDs did not always prove successful; .MUSEUM, created in 2001, shows approximately 500 registered domain names, whilst the big names felt safer keeping their original domains: louvre.fr, tate.org.uk, guggenheim.org. 

Despite its rather unsuccessful history, businesses are applying for their own domains, concerned they will lose out to their competitors if they don’t. 

Don’t forget, Google said no! But… 
If they were to be acknowledged as keywords and rated, .MOBI, used by mobile devices for accessing the Internet via the Mobile Web, would benefit from Google’s search engine as they give priority to .MOBI sites when searched from a mobile device. .COM and .MOBI were indexed in less than 12 hours by Google spiders, performing a keyword search and .COM and .MOBI were the only webpages found. 

Should you choose .MOBI? Google said yes when they, along with Microsoft and several tier one CSPs, financially backed the domain.

The clue’s in the name
The IHRA (International Hotel & Restaurant Association) is actively pursuing the .HOTEL extension for the exclusive use of hotels, thus reassuring visitors that they are on genuine hotel sites. It can only help hotels when appearing in searches with this extension, returning control to the hotel industry and away from commercial distributors. Whilst the extension .COM provides no clue, .HOTEL broadcasts its content without question. Adopting place name extensions would also help local hotels in searches, how could besthotel.paris fail?

When publishing your website it is worth remembering that for Google to present the most appropriate page in a search, it is advised that a ccTLD should be used when producing content specific to a particular country. Therefore, when publishing content in French or German, use .FR and .DE, respectively. 

A small, French baker’s website, written in French, would have more success with boulangerie.fr, keeping it local and talking to a specific audience, rather than using boulangerie.com and advertising to the whole world. Boulangerie.paris would appear in searches for Paris, again attracting too wide an audience, but if you were a large chain with branches all over the world then boulangerie.paris, boulangerie.co.uk, may strengthen your branding, and improve results in country-specific searches.

Using the right tool for the job

Should you wish to improve your brand’s exposure, these new TLDs offer a possible opportunity. .CO is working well for start-up businesses, and the media industry has readily adopted the .TV extension. So, whilst they may not improve your keyword usage, they should be recognised as a beneficial marketing tool.

Food for thought
It has been predicted that by the end of 2012 there will be approximately 1000 extension applications approved. Are we really to believe they will be ignored in search engines? That Google, for instance, has not already considered the implications and begun integrating them into their algorithms.We will have to wait and see!

STOP PRESS!
April 12, 2012, ICANN announced that the TLD Application System (TAS) was, temporarily, taken offline due to a bug in the system, allowing a number of applicants access to other applicant’s data.

April 20, 2012, with new procedures in place to improve system performance, and testing underway, ICANN say they are committed to reopening the application system as soon as possible, and endeavouring to notify all affected users.

April 20, 2012, ICANN will not be providing a date for reopening the application system until all affected applicants have been identified and informed. They said, “In order to give all applicants notice and an opportunity to review and complete their applications upon reopening the system, we will keep it open for at least five business days. No later than April 27, we will provide an update on the reopening of the system and the publication of the applied-for new domain names.”

(1)   As stated by Matt Cutts, Team leader Webspam Google, on Google+

EuroDNS announces yet another special, limited time offer on the .CH domain name registration. Valid until May 8, 2012, register .CH domain names for only €7.99. Enter the promo code PRCH12A and benefit from this special deal available for 2 weeks only!

The latest EuroDNS promotion gives businesses and individuals the opportunity to register with this popular domain name extension, .CH; communicating directly with a Swiss audience, whilst remaining accessible to the rest of the world. Register a Swiss domain name to protect online businesses, creating a memorable and unique web address.

Experience a significant increase in traffic by registering a Swiss domain name. With no restrictions on who may apply, and no limit to the number of domain names any individual or company use, registering a .CH domain name is simple. The length of .CH domain names can be from three to 63 characters, and since March 2004, may contain accented characters. 

SWITCH, the registry in Switzerland administering the .CH domain names since the Internet began, implemented, in November 2010, a new security procedure to combat malware. Despite Swiss websites being amongst the most secure in the world, they were experiencing a rise in websites spreading malicious software. The new security check alerted SWITCH to any possible abuse; the site owner was then contacted and given the opportunity to remedy the problem. If the situation was not addressed within one working day, SWITCH blocked the domain name.

At EuroDNS all that’s needed to register a domain name is under one roof, ensuring a secure and stress-free process. Experience a unique and memorable web address with the .CH extension, communicating on a personal level with the audience in Switzerland.

.CH is the Internet country code top level domain (ccTLD) for Switzerland. The .CH domain comes from Confœderatio Helvetica, the Latin name for the country, introduced after the formation of the federal state in 1848.


More than just cuckoo clocks

Geneva is the birth place of the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions, also housing a large number of international organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Council. It is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association, but is not a member of the European Union, or the European Economic area; joining the EU has been frozen due to the population consistently rejecting membership. Historically, Switzerland remains neutral and avoids alliances that may entail military, political or direct economic action.

Switzerland is one of the richest countries in the world and possesses the highest wealth per adult of any other country in the world.The LHC (Large Hadron Collider) tunnel, built by CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, situated in Geneva, it was also the birth place of the World Wide Web.


Mmmmmm, chocolate!

So much chocolate, so little time; the Swiss are the world’s largest consumers of chocolate and most Swiss chocolate produced, is eaten by themselves. 

Made in Switzerland since the 18th century, the invention of conching and tempering compounded the quality of the chocolate immeasurably. Conching was invented by Rodolphe Lindt in 1879, previously chocolate was conched (agitated) for as little as six hours; legend has it that Rodolphe left a mixer running overnight and after his initial distress, realized the huge improvement to the consistency of the chocolate. Good quality chocolate is now mixed for up to 72 hours. Tempering is the final process in producing chocolate. To achieve a uniform sheen and crisp bite, rather than crumbling, small cocoa butter crystals are produced during this process.


The EuroDNS promotion

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sale Officer, EuroDNS said, “We want to offer our customers the best service possible, hence we are offering this promotion on .CH domain names. We believe individuals and companies adopting this extension will experience an increase in traffic to their site, whilst reaching out to one of the richest countries in the world.” 

Daniel continued, “I would like to remind our customers that EuroDNS does not only register domain names; we offer a wide range of solutions and services to help our customers with their domain needs. The list, constantly evolving to reflect the needs of our customers, includes cloud computing services. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .CH domain at the unbeatable price of €7.99, visit our website, and enter promo code: PRCH12A, valid until May 8, 2012.

Please check out the offers page on our website to find more promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS. 

To receive updates of our latest promo codes and new deals on domain extensions directly into your mailbox, please subscribe to our newsletter.


About EuroDNS 

EuroDNS is a domain name registrar specialized in international domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

The domain registry lists $225,000 as the value of bowlingballs.com, saturn.pl is worth $189,000, empire.com a mere $135,000. 

Due to the confidential nature of many secondary market domain name transactions it appears that there are few sales taking place, indicating that the market is in decline. This is not so, according to the latest report from Sedo, the sales in 2011 are on par with 2010 ($84,431,965 vs $101, 438, 953) exclude the sale of sex.com in 2011 for $13 million, and the figures are comparable and remain healthy. 

Sales early in 2012 confirm this market to be growing: ule.com selling for $145,000, airline.com at $125,000, qe.com at $89,000. The domain name register at Sedo was led by .COM in 2011, this domain name extension is valued above all other domain name extensions, commanding five to ten times more than the same domain name with an alternative extension, followed by .DE (18%), .CO.UK (6%), .EU (4%), with .CO and .ME still too new to count. 


Time to call in a professional

Certain domain names are highly sought after but not all are up for sale, purchasing and registering these domain names requires an expert to handle all areas of the negotiation.

Whilst the buying, selling and registration of domain names still occurs on public marketplaces and auction listings, confidential transactions currently dominate the arena. According to Sedo 80% of transactions in 2011 were held privately. It is therefore imperative that a registrar professional handles these confidential and possibly sensitive negotiations, one that is able to converse in the native language of the domain name owner whether they take place in Europe, America or Asia. 

The marketplace includes domain names that have expired, along with names that the current owner is not looking to sell. If said owner needs encouragement to sell it is essential that a fair price is quoted, the purchaser’s identity must remain anonymous at all times to avoid any price increase. 

Finally, the transaction must be secure financially, legally and technically.


Knowledge is power

The value of secondary market domain names can vary from thousands to millions of euro. The value of these domain names may be determined by:

• the extension in which the domain name was registered;

• the length of domain name – two and three character names are highly desired due to ease of recollection;

• search engine visibility;

• relevance to a specific audience;

• previous association with a high profile website – well established links with other websites bringing steady traffic.


Being anonymous

To purchase, sell and register your domain names successfully, anonymous transaction management is of primary importance. eBrand Services offers your business the professional help you require for all domain name transactions.

eBrand Services is the corporate branch of EuroDNS, providing solutions and consultation for corporate clients. Specializing in domain name management for companies throughout Europe, customers include multinationals, SMEs, international organizations such as the United Nations, law firms and communication agencies. Support and guidance is provided for optimizing online visibility, and the fiscal aspects of both domain name management and trading. 

For more information, please contact Sylvie Rouen, CEO, eBrand Services, srouen@ebrandservices-fbs.com.

EuroDNS announces yet another special, limited time offer on the .AT domain name extension. Valid until April 24, 2012, register .AT domain names for only €7.99. Enter the promo code PRAT12C and benefit from this special deal available for two weeks only.

The latest EuroDNS promotion offers businesses and individuals the opportunity to register this hugely popular domain name, .AT, bringing them closer to an Austrian audience, whilst still allowing communication with the rest of the world. Registering a .AT domain name will increase company website’s visibility leading to a significant growth in traffic. Registration is straight forward; there are no restrictions on who may apply and one does not need to be based in Austria to qualify for registration. 

Register now or transfer to a .AT domain, the process is easy and the registration is completed in under 48 hours. ‘Continuing obligation’ (similar to utility connections) ensures the contract remains active unless terminated by you, the exception being an unpaid invoice. Alternatively, there is a fixed-term contract which will automatically expire unless renewed.

Schnitzel, Schnapps, and Mr Universe

Austria is proud to be the birthplace of some of the most famous people in history, such as composers Haydn, Liszt, Schubert, Strauss, and Mozart; painters including Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, and 38th Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Since joining the European Union in January 1995, Austria has become more and more open to foreign trade. Its central location in the heart of the EU allows Austria to deal with major economic players.

The EuroDNS promotion

Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer, EuroDNS said, “EuroDNS returns with yet another exciting promotion for our customers offering an excellent deal on.AT domain names with the .AT extension  available at €7.99 only for the next two weeks. Last month EuroDNS announced an additional standard for .AT domain names; the launch of DNSSEC security standard which enhances the safety and security of .AT extensions.”

Daniel continued, “I would like to remind our customers that EuroDNS does not only register domain names; we also offer a wide range of solutions and services to assist our customers with their domain needs. The list, constantly evolving to reflect the latest wishes of our customers, includes cloud computing services. For more information, customers can visit our website www.eurodns.com or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.”

To register or transfer an existing .AT domain at the unbeatable price of €7.99, visit our website, and enter promo code: PRAT12C, valid till April 24, 2012.

Please check out the offers page on our website to find more promotions on domain extensions offered by EuroDNS. 

To receive updates of our latest promo codes and new deals on domain extensions directly into your mailbox, please subscribe to our newsletter.

About EuroDNS 

EuroDNS is a domain name registrar specialized in international domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

EuroDNS is a Platinum Sponsor of Domaining 2012  

EuroDNS, a leading Domain Name Registrar specialized in International Domain extensions, will be exhibiting at Domaining 2012 in Spain - as Platinum Sponsor.Domaining 2012 is one of the biggest events for the domain name industry. For its fourth edition, the conference will take place in Valencia, Spain on April 26 – 28, 2012 and bring together the biggest names in the industry. Attendees (120-150 expected) will be discussing gTLDs, ccTLDs and domain markets at Sorolla Palace Hotel during three days.

This year, the show will focus on the arrival of new Top Level Domains, including city TLDs like .paris, .berlin and .madrid. New extensions that have already arrived on the scene, like .xxx and .co, will also be covered. The event will also attract some of the most remarkable domain name investors.

Xavier Buck, EuroDNS founder and chairman, has been nominated keynote speaker for the event. As such he will present “Past, present and future of domains” on Friday, April 27, at 11.30 am while Daniel Eisenhut, Chief Sales Officer of EuroDNS, will take part in the “Industrial News” session, at 6:30 pm that same day. 

Join us at Domaining 2012 and discover how our solutions can assist you with your domain names related needs.

If you are interested to meet us and discuss partnerships, promotion, advertising or more, please contact sales@eurodns.com


About EuroDNS

EuroDNS is a leading Domain name Registrar specialized in International Domain extensions. Based in Luxembourg with branch offices in Europe, the USA and Asia with AsiaDNS, EuroDNS serves a large variety of clients ranging from SMEs to some of the world’s largest Domain Investors and offers dedicated naming solutions to Trademark holders. By strongly participating in leading industry forums including ICANN and the International Trademark Association, EuroDNS seeks to promote e-Commerce and wider Internet adoption. 

The ten millionth domain name ending in .UK has been registered, this landmark occasion indicates the strong growth and trust inspired by the .UK domains. In March 2012, it became the fourth most popular TLD in the world. 

Registration service Nominet filed the domain name swarvemagazine.co.uk for Hampshire based company SN Technologies, a TLD on their registry since 1996 when there were only 26,000 .UK sites. New businesses desperate to get online, buying possibly their first domain name, have encouraged substantial growth of the UK Internet. Nominet, an NPO (Non-Profit-Organization), states that approximately 70% of the domain name addresses are renewed at the end of their two year expiry date, meaning that .UK is the second most popular ccTLD in terms of number of registrations.

The second level domain, .CO.UK, takes prominence in this domain, differing from other countries where the ccTLD is dominant. It is prohibited to register a domain name using the ccTLD .UK, rules set by Nominet. No such restrictions apply with regard second level domains: .CO.UK, .ORG.UK, .ME.UK, these being the most commonly used. 

It is possible to register a domain name with Nominet but it is faster and cheaper to do it via a registrar, such as EuroDNS, who has many options for second level domains for .UK.

Studying the market

Nominet took this opportunity to publish a report analysing the typology of domain names registered with the extension .UK.

Beginning with the 20 most common words in the 1.1 million registered domain names, ordered by popularity: service, home, shop, London, house, solution, group, photo, property, business, sports, school, hotel, media, wedding, centre, electric, training, world, print.

Currently trending words are:

• technology – app increased in 2012 to 50,000, from 3,700 in 2001, an increase due to the introduction of smartphones and their applications;

• e-commerce – shop appears in more than 82,000 domain names registered, increasing from 10,000 in 2001;

• travel – spa is the most popular and its growth is continuing;

• banking &finance – insurance is included in 33,000 domain names, ten times more than in 2000;

• food & drink – cupcake, due to the current fashion, is on the increase, from only two sites in 2001 the figure has now risen to 4,500;

• gambling – poker originally only appearing in 60 domain names ten years ago now appears in 9,000 names, due to the growth in online gambling although this industry has now stabilised and is beginning to show signs of decline;

• sport & leisure – music tops the list, with film, dance and fitness close behind.

Whilst london is listed fourth in the top 20 most common words with 83,343 appearances, 66 cities in the United Kingdom are represented in 400,000 registered domain names, indicating that the Internet is playing an ever increasing role in local businesses. 

This increase in usage has caused a deficit of the popular short names (94.1% of the domain names of three characters are already registered) names in 2012 are now showing 13.84 characters as opposed to 11.67 in 2001. Add to this the desire of the British to use domain names that accurately describe their product or service and longer names become the norm compared to other TLDs.

The letter S is the favourite first character of a domain name with E having the most appearances, followed by A. This is partly due to Eng’s presence in over one million registered domain names.

Conditions of registration in the UK:

• .UK is available to all individuals and companies, regardless of country of origin of the purchaser.

• Duration of registration or renewal of a domain name, originally a two year obligation but from 1 May 2012 this will become one to ten years.

• Domain names can have 1 to 63 characters. Since June 27, 2011 anyone can register a short (1/2 characters) name but this depends on whether the name is still available and the rule is, first come, first served.

• Currently .UK does not accept IDN (Internationalized Domain Names, i.e. accented characters).

This study reveals a very positive situation with huge potential for further growth in the .UK Internet space. United Kingdom businesses appear to be showing a preference for .UK as a TLD wishing to brand themselves as a UK company rather than using the more generic .COM. With peoples’ online buying increasing there is evidence that purchasers feel more confident when they buy from a website with their own country extension, hence Amazon offering different country domain names for each country. 

Will country code domain names become more popular than the generic top level domain names? 

The United States government with the help of a US registrar lays down the law, whilst Big Brother remains vigilant in the United Kingdom. 

When the domain name jotform.com was suspended by the US Secret Service more than 500,000 innocent people paid the price for the crime of a single user. Wednesday, February 15, the US Secret Service ordered the domain name registrar GoDaddy to suspend the domain name jotform.com. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have previously seized domain names without warning for hosting music, live sports streaming, movies or child pornography. What does JotForm offer? It helps customers create online forms to embed in their websites, customers that include web hosting companies, universities, schools, etc. 

David vs GoLiath

Following the order from the US government, the domain name registrar GoDaddy suspended the site for suspected spam and abuse, blocking two million online forms thus creating havoc for over 500,000 JotForm customers and untold damage to JotForm’s reputation. JotForm immediately migrated all files to jotform.net restoring access to their customers. Yes, this new site carries the same ‘dodgy’ content, yet remains live with no threat of suspension. JotForm suspected a user of uploading a phishing form missed by the Bayesian filter they run, 2011 saw 65,000 accounts suspended, but the company remains in the dark having received no information with regard the suspension. 

Unfortunate consequences for GoDaddy are that JotForm has subsequently moved its domain names to a new registrar.

Across the water, Big Brother goes by the name of SOCA!

In the United Kingdom a similar event occurred when in February 2012 SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency) seized the domain name rnbxclusive.com, a website offering often unpublished music for download. No court order was issued and it is a domain name registered under the gTLD.com controlled by American registry Verisign, yet SOCA was able to block the .COM domain name and post its own inflammatory page on the website stating, “The individuals behind this website have been arrested for fraud”. 

SOCA claims RnBXclusive made available music files stolen from artists, allegedly 70,000 per day for download, causing the music industry a huge loss of approximately 15 million pounds per year. Be afraid, with SOCA no one escapes, it goes on to threaten users of the site with a possible prison sentence of ten years plus an unlimited fine under UK law. Be very afraid, the original SOCA page displays the user’s IP address, browser name, operating system, and date and time of connection to the site. 

Big Brother is watching, and will catch you.

The original SOCA page has since been replaced with a less menacing message stating simply “SOCA took control of this domain name”, but the threat remains.

“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.” Chinese proverb

Choosing a domain name is one of the most important and hardest decisions your business will have to make. It’s your electronic business card displaying your brand, product and activities to the world. It’s with you for life, you may make many changes to your business but you cannot change the name. Ok, technically you can change it but all that work that went into SEO will be lost, along with clients and backlinks. An important fact to remember is search engine ranking is influenced by domain name age, so always trust your elders.

If it’s easy to remember, it’s easy to recommend.

Your domain name is as important to your business as your company name so it’s worth taking advice from people who know, companies recognising this have been known to change their name to match the website domain name. Building a professional online presence is primary in the race with your competitors. Make it memorable, people may love your site but are unable to find it a second time.

Short and sweet

A short name is generally better, for clients it’s memorable and it’s the preference of search engines, several search engines (i.e. Google) may penalize too lengthy URLs. It should be a relevant combination of characters and not too difficult to spell. Relevance to website content is essential and if possible, the name should be exclusive to your business, using keywords if possible to improve the ranking, thus improving traffic.  Beware of acronyms – they may be dangerous, don’t keep it short just for the sake of keeping it short, random letters are easily forgotten. In general, names can be two to 67 characters in length but, just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Hyphens, camels and human beings

Domain names without hyphens look more professional, although names with targeted keywords of no more than three words work well with search engine spiders. But, users often forget to type the hyphen, or ignore it when relating your web address, unwittingly directing a prospective customer to a competitors’ website. It is commonly accepted that a domain name with multiple words does not contain hyphens but with the availability of names decreasing the hyphenated option may be your only choice. A popular workaround is using CamelCase, although the domain name is registered in all lowercase when written the words are differentiated, e.g. FedEx, YouTube.

It is worth noting that human beings are fallible and when typing your website address they may misspell your name, or mishear over the phone. Explaining abbreviations, special characters, etc., takes time and increases the possibility of error, consider this when purchasing your domain name. If available you could do bulk domain registrations to include possible variations to your company name, incorporating possible misspellings, plural/singular forms etc.

.COM, .BIZ, .ORG, .CO.UK ?

When choosing a suitable extension for your domain name you should consider your targeted audience, nature of your business and country of operation. Recent SEO studies have indicated that ccTLDs may suffer in the ranking stakes when competing with gTLDs.  So, .COM and .NET are the most common and therefore the most trustworthy, but it’s not always possible to obtain these highly desirable extensions.

.COM could be anywhere

If your business only caters to the local community it makes commercial sense to register with a country specific domain name, i.e. a taxi company based in the UK would benefit from the extension .CO.UK as customers will recognize they are viewing a local business. Triumph Motorcycles’ main portal is triumph.co.uk, it is using a ccTLD for advertising reasons as it is a trusted brand always associated with its country of origin, the UK.

Only .COM will do?

When a user types a domain name without an extension the browser will primarily search for .COM, not so good for your ccTLD, so make it a rule that you always promote your business or website with its full domain name. More and more countries have released their country code TLDs hence allowing international registration, a clever example of exploiting this would be Del.icio.us, or consider Italy’s .IT domain with purchase.it.

Avoiding the long arm of the law

Ensure your chosen domain name does not infringe on the trademark of another company. The responsibility lies with you, the domain name registrant, as the laws applying to hard copy also apply on the Internet.

Is it safe?

You will purchase your domain name through a registrar. Selecting your registrar is an important decision as they will be responsible for the security of your personal and business information, and domain name. It must be reliable, offer maximum uptime and provide add-ons such as free email hosting. In February 2011 a change to Google’s search results ranking algorithm was released under the name Google Panda, this release rates the quality of your registrar when ranking your websites. Domain names are no longer in abundance, using the above suggestions will help you find the perfect name for your website. But don’t leave it too late, another business is about to find your name!

EuroDNS, the world of domain names

EuroDNS is a domain registrar specialized in international domain extensions, offering a host of complementary solutions and services. With customers around the globe and hundreds of domain name extensions on offer, we are one of the market leaders in the domain name industry and have established accreditation with more than 70 registries worldwide.

We currently offer email and collaboration on the cloud, monitoring and recovering of domain names, provision of an anycast DNS network through ProDNS, issuing of SSL certificates and a domain research service. We have a large portfolio of generic (gTLDs) and country code (ccTLDs) extensions, along with premium domains in the secondary market, for you to choose from.

Looking for help with your domain requirements? Please visit the EuroDNS website or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.

A dozen .xxx sites terminated, and they won't be back

In February 2012 the National Arbitration Forum (NAF), exclusively administering the Rapid Evaluation Service (RES), ordered 12 .XXX domains to shut down. 

The RES has dealt with 15 complaints since December 2011 and February 2012 saw it publish the results of the 15 cases handled since the .XXX domain went live. 

• 14 of the 15 complaints were from trademark owners;

• Non-compliances saw two rejected;

• 12 cases won by the complainants, of which 11 were trademark owners. The 12 domains suspended forever.

facts&figures.xxx

The .XXX domain was designed to be a trusted brand for the adult entertainment industry. Recognized globally, it is a tool for people wanting to provide and access pornographic material on the Internet, and for those who want to prevent access, e.g. children, workplaces.

Initial figures:

• The first domain name purchased during .XXX general availability was IOwn.xxx.

• During the first 24 hours of general availability, the ICM sold 55,367 domains.

• Including the sunrise and landrush periods bringing this total to 160,000.

• On the first day ICM brought in approximately $3.3 million in revenue.

• The highest priced .XXX domain name so far is gay.xxx, sold in October 2011 for $500,000.


RES to evict squatters

The ICM Registry (the operator behind .XXX) launched RES with its anti-cybersquatting policy, in August 2011, to assist trademark holders with complaints when they have been associated with a .XXX domain name, against their wishes. The complainant, employing RES, has the power to get a registered domain name suspended in under a week, following which it will be terminated.

RES is based on the UDRP (Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy) with several differences, the key one being that unless you are filing to protect a personal name, RES is for nationally registered, current trademarks only.  

In February 2012 Richard Branson won control of the domain name richardbranson.xxx when NAF ruled that the name had been registered ‘in bad faith’.

NAF, the only organization authorized to deal with RES cases, can name its price and currently charges $1,300 per domain, with each new domain name invoiced as a separate entity. Although the complainant won’t get control of the domain name, they don’t have to pay renewal fees. Once the domain name is down, it stays down.

Gone in the blink of an eye

The 12 cases won by NAF earlier this year took, on average, 12 days from initial complaint to domain name shutdown. Two working days from the issue of complaint for administration, registrants then have ten days to respond before judgement is passed. If the registrant defaults for any reason they still have three months to launch an appeal. 

The complainant must prove:

• The registered domain name under dispute is identical or confusingly similar to a registered trademark of national effect that the complainant owns and uses.

• The registrant/defendant has no rights over or legitimate interest in the domain name.

• The disputed domain name was registered and is either being used in ‘bad faith’ or, if unused, cannot be used in ‘good faith’.

To protect the identity of the complainant the ICM, NAF and RES, unlike UDRP, will not be publishing cases, only releasing accumulated statistics. Therefore there is no way of judging the fairness or accuracy of these decisions, which may lead to concern in the .XXX TLD world. 

Britney and Beyonce placed under ICM protection

To avoid the possibility of legal action, thousands of celebrity names were placed on permanent reserve lists by the ICM Registry. The lists contain approximately 15,000 names; including britneyspears.xxx, beyonce.xxx, elvis.xxx, marilynmonroe.xxx. Names have also been included on cultural grounds: the world’s capital cities, culturally sensitive affiliations such as several spellings of Mohammed and osamabinladen.xxx, and numerous premium names intended for auction.

The reserve lists thwart any plans cybersquatters or unscrupulous porn webmasters may have had to register a celebrity domain name purely to drive traffic to their site.ICM will not be publishing its list of protected names nor will it reveal its criteria for inclusion. Suffice to say, if your name is not protected but becomes affiliated with .XXX, you would be well advised to contact the RES.

Let’s talk about .XXX

EuroDNS became one of the first domain registrars officially accredited by ICM, allowing private individuals and companies the right to apply for .XXX domain names. When you choose to register your .XXX domain name you will appreciate many benefits, namely your website will be scanned daily by McAfee for Malware. The .XXX domain has created such a buzz around the world that it brings its own publicity to your site. Your web address becomes unique, promoting your profile and corporate image, enabling you to communicate with audiences in the online adult entertainment industry.

EuroDNS has announced an exceptional promotion on .XXX domain extensions. Register your .XXX domain name today with EuroDNS at an unbeatable price of €49.99, using the promo code NLXXX12C, this promotion will remain valid until the end of April. It’s too good to miss, so hurry! 

To register your .XXX domain name at this ‘special offer’ price, visit the EuroDNS website now!