Wednesday, May 31, 2017

What does "oui.sncf" mean

One might have noticed the recent announcement of the SNCF to start using "oui.sncf" as a domain name in a close future.

The SNCF is not only changing domain name, it is changing one of its major brands so, as you can expect, "we're in France" and very few seem positive about this for the moment. I read a lot of critics in regard to this change of name so if such announcement does not mean much for train travellers - at least for today - it means a lot for the promotion of new gTLDs, here is why.

What does it mean for end users?
People don't like change so one can imagine what's happening when the number one train company, which has existed for generations, changes its name. If I strongly believe that the French company will be sanctioned by train travellers when the new website is announced, I also imagine the kind of question the SNCF online support will receive: "I don't understand, the website does not work anymore, I cannot order my ticket". Clients will need to adapt, and they will.

"oui.sncf" instead of "voyages.sncf"?
There is a change of Brand and "Oui.sncf" seems to be coming with an offer entitled "inOui" I see two changes here when the previous website was named www.voyages-sncf.com. Was a new name absolutely necessary? Wasn't it less confusing to innovate with a name clients could understand? I fear that there will be a little confusion but let's be optimistic: innovation remains here.

Security is highly increased for clients
Unfortunately, the SNCF clients won't be able to see it but their security, navigating on the new https://oui.sncf website (not live yet) will be highly increased. With the complete ownership of the ".sncf" domain name extension, the SNCF controls every registered domain name. When a domain name extension is open for registrations "to all", it means that anyone can register an homoglyph...

What does it mean for "new gTLDs"?
Who worries about what it means for our industry? :-)

".com" Domainers
".com" Domainers don't like new gTLDs and they like to make it known. We read a lot about how negative ".com" domainers can be about the ICANN new gTLD program. After so many months trying to understand why, there's two things that I noticed:
  1. Domainers are professionals of the domain name industry: they buy and resell domain names. It is important to understand that new gTLDs have flooded the market so when the offer of domain names becomes so high in such a short period of time, it means a lot more domain names available on the market. This can kill the ".com" demand: ".com" domainers' benefits.
  2. Domainers are not representative of users: live website owners are.
The reason why I refer to the domaining community here is that, combined to the annoyance of a change, the message sent to end users is bad to our business: our industry has a hard time promoting new domain name extensions. There is a new market where those affected by this change are the one to talk loud because they reside online all day long. When reading between the lines, this is just a matter of time. New gTLDs need time to become popular and used and not to forget that the young generation is growing up with new gTLDs.

Communication
There are plenty of methods to promote (and sell) new domain names: press releases, advertising online, on TV, paper ads, affiliation, price reductions at the Registrar, direct deals with major institutions, and I won't certainly talk about those that are not made public.

The number one communication that our industry needs is "use" and it is exactly what the SNCF is about to contribute to. The advantage that I see in the SNCF announcement is that it is going to communicate loud and this will go right into the ears of BtoB and BtoC consumers (future Registrants).

In one word; the SNCF is about to do the best "new domain names" promotion job that our industry needs. Whatever end-users say or write then, what matters is that they are trained to see new domain names.

Who's next?
SNCF is a major French player to help us develop our business but we need more. If the SNCF sends a strong sign to other French .BRAND new gTLD applicants, I believe that McDonald's and its .MCDONALDS and MCD new gTLDs would contribute to educate consumers too.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

“.brand” new gTLDs and Homograph attacks

Homograph attacks are a good reason to definitely get rid of “.com” and move to a “.brand” new gTLD. Here is why.
Most domain name extensions accept IDNs (Internationalized second level domains = non ASCII characters) and all browsers read them. The problem with IDNs is that they can be used to fake a domain name and if most browsers would detect homoglyphs and “translate” them, it is not the case for old browsers. On a “.brand” domain name extension, the Brand has the hand on domain name registrations and can control which domain is registered: not the case with “.com”. This article is the third update of an article written on the 18 of May 2017 and previously entitled “.brands" & Homograph attacks“.

Why protecting consumers matters
The reason why it matters for Trademarks to protect their consumers online is that their clients won’t complain to them nor they will ask their money back if they face an homograph attack. Image is important too...of course.

Restricted access to registering “.brand” domain names makes a huge difference in terms of security: attackers won’t have access to creating an homoglyph. They will on a “.com”.

What are we talking about?

Homograph attack free
An attacker will be able to launch an homograph attack using any open extension that accepts IDNs, but if he will be able to cheat, hiding inside the second level domain name using homoglyphs (when the registry allows them) or mistypes, he won’t be able to do it with a “.brand” domain name because he is not allowed to register such domain names. Only the owner of the “.brand” Registry is.

Recognition: the extension is the seal
With a client being trained by the Trademark to visit hyperlinks ending in a “.brand” domain name extension, he becomes used to it so the ending of an email received or a website visited certifies that the content is from the Trademark.

Beware of browsers
Some browsers, like previous version 57.0.2987.146 of Chrome (in Chromium) still translates homoglyphs. It means that examples below will still show in a browser!!!

Phishing and homograph attacks
In a phishing attack, you would receive an email asking you to click on hyperlink - which title would be “clicke here” - clicking would take you to a fake website (asking money or information). Such links can be double checked, passing the mouse on the hyperlink, so it becomes possible to see the real hyperlink prior to clicking. Some more sophisticated phishing attacks even offer mistyped domain names such as GuiІІon.com (fake site) for Guillon.com (real site). Note that the two letters “l” in the fake site are in fact two decimal “i”, a letter of the cyrillic script (it also works with “0” replacing “o”). When you pass your mouse on the hyperlink, you will note that the domain name shows two “i” (instead of two “l”). Phishing attacks are in fact spam campaigns asking you to click on a hyperlink to take you to a fake website.

Homograph attacks are the same but the problem is that the link you are asked to click onto...is the exact same “visually speaking” so you cannot double check if the link you are about to click onto is the good one or not. Homoglyphs are used here: they are words which letters’ shapes appear identical or very similar one to the other: International Domain Names (IDNs) are used here. A recent example given in the press was “epic.com” (real site), which is also “xn--e1awd7f.com” and “epic.com” (fake site). Try the two of them in version 57.0.2987.146 of Chrome’s address bar and you will note that both read to “epic.com”. The problem? They are two different websites under the exact same “.com” domain name. Imagine such an attack using your domain name: scary isn’t it?

Why change now?
If .BRAND new gTLD applicants still don’t know what to do with their own domain name extension, changing now allows:
  • To start training and informing their consumers to visit a new website: “this takes time”;
  • To homogenize their domain name portfolio and stop registering more domain names they will probably never use: there will be more domain name extensions created in the future and unless I am wrong, this means more domain names to register for any Trademark who wants to secure its assets.
  • To enhance their client’s level of security: chances are high that attacks’ level of sophistication won’t lower in the future and “.brand” domain names are a barrier to these.
Banks should consider
Banks who did not (yet) apply for their own domain name extension should consider using a .BANK domain name for the same reasons. Attackers cannot have access to “.bank” domain names since these are restricted to banks. In one word, it means that a bank can drastically increase its existing and future clients’ level of online security by using an extension which is not open to the public.

Making sense
Migrating to a single .BRAND new domain name extension makes sense if:
  1. All other domain names are redirected to new “.brand” domains so existing users are trained to visiting the new .BRAND domain name;
  2. Existing and new clients are informed about this change early in advance so it does not cause confusion;
  3. Existing and new clients are explained that all other information coming from other domain name extensions (emails or websites) are not certified coming from the Trademark.
The objective of such move is to:
  • Guarantee existing and future clients the highest level of security;
  • Lower the level of confusion due to the important number of new domain name extensions created;
  • Increase the level of trust with one single source of information.

The .STOCKHOLM new gTLD

The Trademark Clearinghouse just announced the Sunrise Period for .STOCKHOLM new domain names.

WHEN
  • START: Thursday, 15 June, 2017 - 16:00;
  • END: Saturday, 15 July, 2017 - 16:00.
Check the TMCH calendar for details.

WHAT
Here are interesting extracts of what the application submitted to ICANN says:

The purpose of the City of Stockholm’s own gTLD .stockholm is twofold:
  1. First, .stockholm will be a strong marketing tool, being part of a greater strategy for the City of Stockholm, aimed at the international business public. The purpose is that the City of Stockholm once more states its strong position as a highly modern and innovative city, using cutting edge technology to deliver the infrastructure needed in order to enable its business community to be successful in their area of expertise and to continue to attract international companies for investment.
  2. Secondly, .stockholm shall be used as reliable and trusted communication tool for the citizens of Stockholm in their contacts with the city and its service providers. It will be the official channel for communication from its own institutions like municipal offices, schools, hospitals, events etc. to the citizens of Stockholm. .stockholm will be used as a strong communication tool aimed at Stockholm’s citizens, ensuring the origin of message, communicated either by email or web, leading to enhanced consumer trust in the field of online communication and marketing. .stockholm is part of a greater plan to enable the citizens of Stockholm the ultramodern lifestyle they expect from their city. 
There are more than 1400 ICT companies in the area – employing approximately 25 000 people. In order to continue this positive development, the City of Stockholm has to keep up the pace, taking advantage of new possibilities such as controlling its own gTLD .stockholm in order to remain the top city of innovative forerunners.

Digital technology is not only important in order to improve service, but also from a sustainability perspective. Having a well developed service sector and a wide use of broadband services among citizens, schools and companies gives the opportunity for a sustainable life style. Thus Stockholm was appointed Europe’s first Environmental Capital by the EU in 2010. Stockholm sees its own gTLD .stockholm as natural further development of the digital services already offered to the local business community as of today.

However, with more and more services available online, the city’s need for a high control and security level increases. The demand is for 100% reassurance when using e-services with private data. Communicating with the City’s inhabitants via .stockholm websites and email addresses, will have the possibility to enhance citizens trust that can increase the citizen´s use of city e-services.

Objectives of the gTLD .stockholm
Stockholm is growing and sustainability and smart services are used to attract citizens, investors, business people and visitors. The City of Stockholm wants to take an active part in shaping the Internet of the future, and contribute to the digital development. Therefore, the City of Stockholm is investing in creating its own gTLD for all city services and activities.

In conclusion, the objective of .stockholm is to:
  • Increase the visibility of the City of Stockholm, as well as the accessibility and usability of e-services for its citizens.
  • Attract companies and coveted business people to the Stockholm region and to enable them a smooth and successful business entry by facilitating information transparency and increasing service availability."
Check the complete application here.

Monday, May 29, 2017

Coming: "oui.sncf"

Friday, May 26, 2017

New gTLDs: "last week"

Each week, there is an important cover about new generic Top-Level Domains: events, delegations, launchings, innovations, etc...and a lot is said. This post covers what was said yesterday. I strongly suggest to subscribe to this Newsletter to receive all NEWS directly in your email.
  1. Two new gTLDs were just delegated:
    1. .ARAB
    2. .xn--ngbrx (عرب, "Arab", /arab/)
  2. New Gtlds, the series: Read chapter 1;
  3. Event coming: http://brandsand.domains/ ("the only event dedicated to .brands");
  4. Approval of the Global Amendment to the Base New gTLD Registry Agreement;
  5. Successful Domain Investor Hates New GTLD Domains!
  6. A .com Domain is No Longer Necessary;
  7. “The Domain Sector is Simply Fascinating";
  8. Richemont kills off two more dot-brands;
  9. Interesting move: https://www.sixt.global/
  10. INTA cover:
    1. Don’t read too much into the lack of ‘.brand’ registrations;
    2. Dot Brand Domains: A Work In Progress (download the PDF).
  11. What the New gTLDs Mean for Higher Education Institutions;
  12. Just dropped 198 New gTLD domains and saved $45,000;
  13. Event coming: The NDD.camp (June 26, 2017, from 11 am to 18 pm);
  14. The DomainTools Report Spring 2017;
  15. The CSC new Brand (read the short story).
Read more NEWS  (much more)

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

The CSC new brand

I just read the publication about CSC announcing its new brand. CSC is one of the largest Corporate Registrars worldwide, also offering to submit ".BRAND" new gTLD applications to the ICANN.
I like the new logo by the way.

The website explaining the change says: "Our email addresses will remain the same, and our home URL will still be cscglobal.com". OK.

CSC is not the owner of the ".CSC" new gTLD. The owner is the client of another company which application was submitted by one of its closest competitors: Markmonitor. I went to the ".CSC" new gTLD application and ended on this website which says (read on top): "CSC and HPE Enterprise Services are now DXC Technology".

Two questions:
  1. I understand that DXC Technology does not really need the" .CSC" new gTLD anymore so what to do with it: drop it or sell it...something else?
  2. What about a ".DXC" Technology new gTLD in the next round of the ICANN new gTLD program?
Caroline: reading this?

Monday, May 22, 2017

French students soon equipped with new domains

Some French business schools will soon equip their students with new domain names from the ICANN new gTLD program.

The idea is simple: have a email (or a website) that catches the eye of a recruiter on your résumé.

Article is available in French:
La majorité des étudiants ont déjà un email avant de commencer leurs études, c’est un email qu’ils garderont probablement...toute leur vie. Quand bien même leur employeur leur en fournira un pour travailler, des écoles de commerce prennent les devants pour préparer leurs étudiants en Finance à se différencier en abordant le marché du travail avec un email plus “pro”.
Read my article on the Journal Du Net (in French)

Monday, May 15, 2017

New gTLD Subsequent Procedures

Below are the action items and discussion notes captured by staff from the meeting on 15 May.

GDD Summit Recap
  • Held last week, Jeff Neuman and others were there;
  • GDD Summit is intended for contracted parties:
    • registries;
    • registrars;
    • consultants.
  • Many of the people are not members of this PDP WG (Working Group);
  • Some don't pay attention to policy processes and may not be aware of the work we are doing;
  • There are a number of contracted parties that would like to see a subsequent gTLD procedures sooner rather than later and wanted ICANN staff to set a date;
  • Not sure how realistic it is to set a date;
  • Comment by Akram Atallah: "There are a number of items that are gating items before we write any procedures, including whether it will be first come, first served";
  • Don't want to wait until the policy process is completely over before ICANN org starts to work on implementation processes;
  • Asked Akram if he could produce a list of the gating items could be so that we could consider them and in theory prioritize them;
  • Other subjects: application fees and whether there should be a refund of excess application fees; transitioning backend registries or assigning from one entity to another. Did not pertain to the RSP Program but there are some parallels;
  • GNSO Council could set a target date if they wanted to;
  • No policy decisions were made; it was just a forum for contracted parties to express their views. Everything will come back to the policy process. Nothing will happen without bringing it back to this WG;
  • From ICANN staff: Developing a list of items, but don't view them as gating items, just those that would be very helpful for implementation planning as to what the policy direction may be. For example, if it is first come, first served it could fundamentally affect how implementation is structured;
  • GDD Summit can provide an insight into the practical operational issues and concerns for contracted parties;
  • Of the 2 1/2 days of meetings there were maybe just a couple of hours on subsequent gTLD issues. Most time was spent discussing operational issues.
Participation is welcome and Community comments are available here.

Friday, May 12, 2017

New gTLDs are a problem to .COM

People I work with know my passion for ".com" domain names (...) and I am often proud to say that I kept my legacy jovenet.com domain name to redirect it to my new jovenet.consulting one.

Checking the list of objections filed with Dispute Resolution Service Providers' archives, I noticed that Verisign, the .COM Registry, filed objections against all registries with a similar new gTLD:
  1. .BOM
  2. .CAM
  3. .COMPANY
  4. .ECOM
If this isn't a sign... I updated the list of confusingly similar new gTLDs with this information.

Free ".broker" & ".forex" domains

Boston Ivy is what I call a "Multiple Registry", it means that it is one company which applied for several new domain name extensions.


6 new domain name extensions
Highly specialized in financial domain names, it applied for six new gTLDs:
  1. The .FOREX new gTLD for Forex service providers, brokers or individuals providing information on the forex markets;
  2. The .TRADING new gTLD for Traders and Trading companies;
  3. The .BROKER new gTLD for - guess what - Brokers;
  4. The .MARKETS new gTLD for financial markets;
  5. The .SPREADBETTING new gTLD for spread betting providers;
  6. The .CFD domain name extension, a highly specialized financial extension, which requires to hold a regulatory permission granted by a financial regulatory authority in respect of the CFD space.
Free domain names
Got an idea for a website using a .forex or .broker web address? Join Boston Ivy's Innovator Programme to have the opportunity of securing a free ".broker" or ".forex" domain name for two years. Being part of the programme, will help you to:
  • Expand your reach with co-marketing initiatives;
  • Promote your business through Boston Ivy’s publishing network;
  • Be at the forefront of the new Top Level Domain revolution and showcase your business online.
For more details, please contact innovators@bostonivy.co

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

New gTLDs: what said the press recently

Everyday, the online press, bloggers and new gTLD service providers talk about new gTLDs. Some TLDs were acquired recently, some .BRAND new gTLD applicants launched more new domain names and some community TLDs are still pending activation for some obscure reasons. Note that, added to the Newsletter, we launched www.gtld.events to announce new gTLD events.
  1. The .HEALTH Sunrise Period;
  2. New gTLD event: the GDS (Xiamen, China during 7th -9th July,2017);
  3. Applicants in limbo as ICANN probes itself (.MUSIC - .GAY - ...);
  4. Jovenet Consulting turns Five;
  5. Another Cool $25 Million Bet on New gTLDs (.ART);
  6. The .CLUB Registry turns Three;
  7. How should I present .BRAND domains in advertising? (Part 2);
  8. The .CREDITUNION Sunrise Period;
  9. .PRESS Supports Press Freedom Day;
  10. MansfieldBankOnline.com is now MansfieldBank.Bank
  11. Event: the NDD.camp (June 26, 2017 - Paris);
  12. Countries with Weird TLD Habits;
  13. Can a New Domain Finally Bring the Art World Into the 21st Century?
  14. Brand Control: The Next Stage for Digital (.NIKE - .BMW - ...);
  15. Μόλις κυκλοφόρησε το νέο gtld .SUCKS
  16. Buy Rightside: A Fast Growing Digital Toll Road;
  17. The .STORAGE new gTLD was acquired;
  18. The future of gTLDs (second round of applications just ahead?);
  19. .XYZ domains can’t be registered in China;
  20. MarkMonitor severs relationship with .FEEDBACK TLD;
  21. The .CLOUD case study (Publication Date: 28 April 2017);
  22. French: questionnements autour des modèles des nTLDs;
  23. .NYC tech domain name auction kicks off at SnapNames;
  24. HOT: the May 2017 update. All new gTLD reports have been updated;
  25. .ART – the new digital dress code for the art world;
  26. .AMAZON Final Hearing scheduled for 1-2 May 2017;
  27. New gTLDs: someone said "STOP" (.RED - .BLUE - .PINK ...);
  28. A silly premium strategy at .ART;
  29. Domain Names to Become Insignificant within 20 Years or Less;
  30. Oh, Those Wild and Crazy New TLDs;
  31. Happening in May 2017 (.MARKETS and .TRADING): release of 35,000 ".markets" and ".trading" names at Registrars;
  32. Domain Names Are Fading From User View;
  33. Another forum post full of "new gTLD haters";
  34. .ART will have 3.5 million premium domain names;
  35. Dot-Com is Still King - of Domain Name Disputes;
  36. More live .BRAND Websites: .STATEFARM / .MINI / .ABBOTT / .SBI / .SONY / .LIXIL / .SWATCH and many more...
  37. HOT - The .ETH new gTLD;
  38. 50K Domains Registered on The New gTLD .REALTY
  39. Local Popularity & Global Influence: Nations and nTLDs;
  40. ICANN - Shape the future of the New gTLD marketplace;
  41. .AFRICA : La Chine très friande de la nouvelle extension africaine.
Find all these news in our Archives. Note that, due to the important volume of info published everyday, all titles cannot be added to the list above.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Country & territory name in new gTLDs

To register country and territory names in a new domain name extension, the permission must be asked to ICANN: "as required per Section 4 of Specification 5 of the Registry Agreement, the release of country and territory names from reservation is subject to review by ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) and approval by ICANN".


2 letters domain names
Let's imagine that the .LEXUS new gTLD wants to have the use of www.fr.lexus for a French version of its website, it means that this request has to be "approved": the LEXUS Trademark does not have authority to create the domains that it wants.
Registries are required to reserve such names, and must propose the release of specific country and territory names upon agreement with the relevant governments.

6 requests
Six .BRAND registries just made that request:
  1. .PIONEER
  2. .FUJITSU
  3. .OBI
  4. .SHARP
  5. .TOYOTA
  6. .LEXUS
If this is now a common procedure at ICANN and chances are high that theses requests will be approved, it also means that these specific Trademarks probably have a plan to use these country & territory name in their domain name extension.

Can't wait for www.shapr.fr www.fr.sharp
;-)

Monday, May 8, 2017

The .HEALTH Sunrise Period

The Sunrise Period for the .HEALTH new gTLD starts today:
  • START: Monday, 8 May, 2017 - 16:00
  • END: Friday, 7 July, 2017 - 16:00
There were four applicants to the .HEALTH new gTLD and one for .HEALTHCARE.

Mission and Purpose of ".HEALTH"
This is an extract of the new gTLD application submitted to the ICANN:
"At DotHealth, LLC, in recognition of these opportunities, challenges and risks, our mission is to establish .health as a safe, trustworthy and secure top-level domain for global health stakeholders. Our goals and objectives are to establish .health as the preferred online namespace for the trusted communication, dissemination, exchange and fulfillment of health-related information and resources. In support of the safety and protection of online health consumers and rightsholders, DotHealth has identified a series of policies, safeguards and standard operating procedures for the .health gTLD that collectively comprise our proposed registry services and procedural framework. 
We have also executed an exclusive agreement with LegitScript to provide enterprise fraud and abuse monitoring and intelligence services for the .health gTLD. LegitScript’s continued cooperation with leading U.S. and international industry organizations, including the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, The International Pharmaceutical Federation, the US Food and Drug Administration, and the International Medical Product Anti-Counterfeiting Task Force will play an important role in the creation and ongoing enforcement of DotHealth policies and standards for registrant compliance. LegitScript’s is the healthcare industry’s leading provider of online fraud intelligence and monitoring services, and works with several of the world’s most successful and recognized major e-commerce channels and search engines including Google, Amazon, Yahoo, and Microsoft. Additionally, LegitScript increasingly cooperates with major domain name registrars throughout the world, which will help DotHealth to execute on its goals and objectives for the .health TLD.
DotHealth’s proposed policies and registry services have been developed with consensus and affirmations of support from numerous global and regional health sciences industry organizations including the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), The Inter-American College of Physicians and Services (ICPS), The Association of Black Cardiologists and the World Federation of Chiropractic. Our continued cooperation these organizations and others will play an important and influential role in advocating and promoting widespread adoption and the meaningful uses of .health domain names".
Check the Trademark Clearinghouse calendar.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

The .CREDITUNION Sunrise Period

The Sunrise Period for the .CREDITUNION new gTLD starts today:
  • START: Thursday, 4 May, 2017 - 16:15
  • END: Saturday, 3 June, 2017 - 16:15

Mission and Purpose of ".CREDITUNION"
The intention of CUNA Performance Resources, LLC (ʺCUNA LLCʺ) in filing this application is to provide a trusted, hierarchical, and intuitive namespace for entities that have a meaningful nexus with the credit union sector. Such entities include but are not limited to, credit unions, credit union trade associations and leagues, credit union service organizations, regulatory bodies, and entities offering products and services aimed primarily at credit unions.

Potential Business Models
CUNA LLC is still analyzing potential use case options for the type of domain names that will be permitted to be registered and by whom. Specifically, CUNA LLC is relying upon CUNA Inc. and other members of the credit union sector to help develop a framework that will ensure that the credit union community is provided information and services in a safe and trusted environment. The current best thinking involves a two-stage roll-out.
  • Stage One (3 months – 12 months)
    The primary use of the .CREDITUNION gTLD will initially be primarily defensive in nature, with CUNA LLC registering a small number of second level domain names to CUNA Inc. and select members of the credit union sector. This initial use will provide select IT and security personnel within the credit union sector the ability to run a number of tests to ensure seamless and secure access to various websites, and interoperability with various software and web-based applications. This will take at least several months, and up to one year.
  • Stage Two (Following Conclusion of Stage One)
    Once appropriate security and stability issues have been satisfactorily addressed, CUNA LLC will implement the appropriate Sunrise and Trademark Clearing House Rights Protection Mechanisms and expand the allocation of domain names within the broader credit union sector as identified above. This phased roll-out will likely take place as soon as CUNA LLC makes a business decision that it is the appropriate time to expand the registration universe and use of the new domain name, but any final decision is subject to change depending upon a range of external factors. During this same period of time CUNA LLC, in consultation with the credit union sector, will evaluate potential strategies to integrate with and⁄or migrate traffic away from the current patchwork network of second level domains registered in various TLDs, to the new .CREDITUNION gTLD. 
Check the Trademark Clearinghouse calendar.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

New gTLDs: someone said "STOP"

The 2 of each month is a long day for me because I update new gTLD reports at Jovenet Consulting. These reports are a good monthly indicator on what's going on in the new gTLD industry. It also allows me to note when something is...strange.

Many already offered me to automate this but I like to do this manually so I can "see".
This morning, I "saw"
When I am done with updating a new gTLD report, I tweet about it so readers can click and check the report. Some reports are more interesting than others so, for example, I would tweet about the report on finance, but note about the report on alcohol.

The "Colors" new gTLD report is one I would not tweet the update about but this morning, while updating it I said: "Wow: someone must have said "stop" somewhere here".

Very early, I wondered why registration volumes were so high on domain names ending with a color name such as ".red", ".blue" and ".pink". Somewhere, I read that "red" was a special color in China and this explained these high registration volumes.

If you look at the ".red" domain name registrations' curve, you note that is has a hard time to maintain in 2016 and this evolves even hardly in early 2017. Then registrations drop significantly in a one month period of time (from April to May 2017) and for four TLDs in a row. Something happened.

I don't think that these TLDs, which belong to the same new gTLD applicant, lost domain name registrations because the registrant (the person to have bought the domain names) suddenly said "I am not renewing my domain names".

I think someone said - somewhere - that this strategy, which consists to increase the number of domains on the market for whatever reason, is too expensive and generates...nothing.

So...where was taken the decision to stop such strategy? At the registrant level...or at the registry?
;-)

Monday, May 1, 2017

The CircleId Newsletter

I sometimes write articles on CircleId and noticed that a newsletter's field now appears on top of articles.

CircleId is an excellent source of information to follow what's going on in the new gTLD world and, since round one of the ICANN new gTLd program, it has become THE place where to announce.

For those to write there, I strongly recommend to add the "Top-Level Domains" tags to your article.

I am now a subscriber.

.BRAND new gTLD Reports are updated once a month: CLICK HERE !