ICANN

Companies can now own the 'Right Side of the Dot’ of their own domain

editor — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 14:08:02 -0700

ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, has approved the new gTLD (Top Level Domains) programme, allowing any company that meets the requirements to apply for its own domain name extension and own the Right Side of the Dot.

Forecasts suggest there will be 1,500 applications for domain names globally, with between 1,100 and 1,200 names being approved. Of those approved, it is expected that fewer than 5 per cent will be owned by businesses or governments in the Middle East.

The new gTLD program will be the biggest expansion of the Internet since its inception.

Lack of awareness in digital marketing a major barrier to Middle East businesses

editor — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 22:33:38 -0700

Digital marketing is capturing the imagination of Middle Eastern businesses, revolutionising client engagement and unlocking increasingly innovative ways to boost the bottom line. But according to research published this week by Dubai based research company Real Opinions, 37% of businesses say their organisation's use of digital marketing is poor and a further 30% claim that effective and accurate assessment of return on investment is inadequate.

In a separate study by digital marketing experts Econsultancy, entitled 'The State of Digital in MENA', while investment is increasing, a lack of knowledge is becoming a major barrier to online marketing. According to the report, 58% of businesses in the region are increasing their digital budgets this year, and 53% doing the same for mobile marketing.

Social media is also thriving, with 56% of Middle Eastern companies currently using social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter to attract business - but nearly 39% of the marketing professionals surveyed said that a lack of understanding was holding back digital marketing that was effective and influential.

A sentiment that is backed by some of the region's - and the world's - most influential digital marketeers: "As the Internet continues to evolve as a creative platform for marketers, it is developing into a digital canvas which offers marketers a medium that in many ways rivals the impact of broadcast and print advertising. But in order to unlock the full potential of this online channel, we need to create more awareness about the possibilities that the digital world offers," said Ahmed Nassef, Vice President and Managing Director, Yahoo! Middle East.

GITEX Digital Marketing delves into this exciting new development, providing attendees of GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK with a unique opportunity to assess, evaluate and realise the full potential of what is rapidly becoming an essential business tool.

"GITEX Digital Marketing is a great platform to provide such essential insights to marketers and business leaders," added Nassef.

Key areas of focus include the increasing importance and adoption of Search Engine Optimisation, web analytics, bulk email providers, as well as internet payment gateways and online shopping.

With sponsors including Yahoo Maktoob (Pearl Sponsor), Ikoo (Emerald Sponsor), ICANN (Opal Sponsor) and Khellan and TkXel among the exhibitors, Gitex Digital Marketing will be strongly attended by experts hailing from digital creative agencies, email software companies and mobile advertising, among others.

Trixee Loh, SVP, Dubai World Trade Centre, organiser of GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK, said: "GITEX Digital Marketing will be an important segment at the event and will offer an excellent opportunity to assess the benefits of what is potentially one of the most lucrative advertising arenas in a relatively untapped Middle East market.

"The future for digital media and marketing in this region is extremely bright and there is a very real need for some practical advice and insights on how to optimise these opportunities. Gitex Digital Marketing will provide that."

Baher Esmat, ICANN Manager of Regional Relations, Middle East, added: "GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK's new Digital Marketing feature is a great opportunity for brand owners and business leaders to learn more about the new generic top-line domains (gTLDs) Program. ICANN's session on new gTLDs will be an opportunity to share information, and to inform GITEX participants on the application process and the way forward."

Following three decades of continued modernisation, GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK will this year further expand, providing new features which reflect growing regional and global trends, offering new highlights to exhibitors and attendees alike.

GITEX TECHNOLOGY WEEK 2011, taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre from 9 - 13 October, is introducing brand new elements to reinforce its position as the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region's to further cement its position as the leading 'finger on the pulse' technology event. Other new features for 2011 include GITEX Digital Marketing, and Cybersecurity@GITEX, two of the most relevant ICT sectors to the business community today.

As one of the three largest ICT exhibitions in the world, the show connects more than 136,000 industry professionals from five continents with over 3,500 suppliers, and is one of the most influential and high-profile events in the global ICT sector today.

New top level domains - Golden opportunity for Middle East entrepreneurs

andrewpink — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:18:43 -0700

In January next year an online revolution is set to usher in the most expansive and fundamental change to the Internet in its history. The new Top-Level Domain Program, administered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), will see web addresses move beyond the traditional .com to .anything in a dramatic shift that will introduce a new platform for creativity and major new revenue streams for online investment.

For those not aware, the program will allow brands, entrepreneurs and governments to apply for their own version of .com – moving from qantas.com to .qantas for example – and secure a unique slice of Internet real-estate that will dramatically change the way Internet users around the world navigate to find content online.

Savvy entrepreneurs should take note; the domain name industry has been valued at more than $12 billion and this is set to increase dramatically with the introduction of new Top-Level Domains.

There is no clearer demonstration of the value of a domain name than the high values associated with the sale of .com domain names. Recent sales such as beer.com, toys.com and shop.com have all made multi-millionaires out of their owners, with the former selling for $7 million, $5.5 million and $3.5 million respectively.

However, the .com game is highly saturated with almost all of the valuable names already taken resulting in a severe limitation in availability.

This is where the new Top-Level Domain Program comes in.

This once in a lifetime opportunity offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to reap extensive financial rewards through the new Top-Level Domain Program.

The biggest revenue-making opportunity under the program lies within the formation of generic word Top-Level Domains. Rather than trying to become the next .com, entrepreneurs should look to create boutique name spaces, turning over lower registration volumes, but at higher margins.

Examples of possible generic word business models include .shop, .law or .hotel.

Take .law for example, registered and verified lawyers and law firms from around the world could establish an online presence under .law to deliver improved Search Engine Optimisation through a trusted and authoritative online namespace. Based on modest projections, yearly revenues of $4.5 million could be attained for an entrepreneur with a sales target of 3000 clients at a premium price of $1500 per year. Considering the US market comprises almost 1 million lawyers and nearly 50,000 law firms, this is an easily achievable goal on a global stage. This is also before considering other potential revenue sources from targeting users with news and directory content businesses like news.law and firms.law. And this does not include the sale of premium, highly sought after names like litigation.law or family.law which could be sold for tens of thousands of dollars.

However, the clock is ticking on this limited opportunity. The application window for new Top-Level Domains will open on 12 January 2012 and we’ll start to see new ‘.anything’ domains in operation from early 2013. If entrepreneurs miss the application window (12 January 2012 to 12 April 2012), it may be a long time before they have the same opportunity again (not to mention you’ll miss the first opportunity to secure the most valuable names). Get moving now to make sure you don’t miss the boat. There is less than 120 days until the application window opens and you’ll need all of that time to make sure your approach is on the money.

DotBrand Solutions launches in the Middle East

editor — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:16:31 -0700

Ben Crawford, CEO, CentralNic

DotBrand Solutions MENA has launched in the Middle East to empower Arab companies in protecting their trademarks in the era of new top-level domain names, acquiring and operating their own in TLDs as alternatives to .com, .net and country codes in addition to securing a leadership role in the introduction of domain names in Arabic script.

DotBrand Solutions MENA is a partnership between the world's leading "dot-brand" supplier, global domain name registry CentralNic, and a consortium of Middle East businessmen including UAE based Nabil Alyousuf.

New TLDs are the result of a policy change announced on June 20 by domain name regulator ICANN, which now allows new domain extensions in addition to the traditional ".com" and country codes, including empowering companies to end their domain names with their own brand name, such as .canon or .unicef. Middle Eastern companies will also have the opportunity to run their own generic TLDs such as .music or .green. And all these new domain names can be in multiple languages including Arabic.

"The introduction of dot-brand and Arabic top-level domains signals a new era of internet growth in the Middle East," commented Nabil Ali Alyousuf. "The Middle East is one of the largest emerging markets in the world, and DotBrand Solutions MENA gives local businesses the opportunity to supply our markets with our own domain names, as well as putting local companies with international ambitions on the same level as their competitors from other regions."

"Companies and their legal advisors in the Middle East have been contacting our London offices for months, wishing to protect their trademarks through .brand TLDs and to secure the most valuable real estate on the internet," said Ben Crawford, CEO, CentralNic. "Now we have a local presence with account executives on hand to assist companies throughout the GCC and North Africa. We acquire the TLDs for our clients, and equip them with intelligence on best practice and innovation in this new space, while also serving as a turnkey outsource solution to handle the technical execution."

Among many benefits, the introduction of .brand TLDs will enable companies in the Middle East to join the world's leading brands in creating a truly global presence free from both the American .com and the local country codes. Dot-brand TLDs will also reduce cybersquatting, knock-off sites and brand abuse.

Icann increases web domain suffixes

editor — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:05:48 -0700

A global internet body has voted to allow the creation of new website domain suffixes, the biggest change for the online world in years.The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) plans to dramatically increase the number of domain endings from the current 22.

Internet address names will end with almost any word and be in any language.

Icann will begin taking applications next year, with corporations and cities expected to be among the first.

The Launch of Jordan’s Arabic top-level domain (.alordon) announced at the MENA ICT Forum 2010

editor — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 14:26:13 -0700

The National Information Technology Center (NITC) has announced the launch of Jordan’s Arabic top-level domain at the MENA ICT Forum 2010. A ceremony attended by H.E. the Minister of Communications and Information Technology Mr. Marwan Juma, , the Regional Director of ICANN to the Middle East Mr. Baher Esmat, NITC’s Director General Dr. Nabeel Al-Fayoumi, and others will inaugurate the commencement of the top-level domain.

At the launch, Mr. Baher Esmat commented on Jordan’s new Arabic top-level domain: “The face of the internet has been drastically changing as a result of International Domain Names (IDNs). It is now bringing communities closer to internet technologies as a result of more accessible international with familiar languages. Our launches of domains in other countries in the region such as Egypt and the UAE have proved highly successful, and Jordan will continue this momentum.”

Dr. Nabil Al-Fayoumi had the following to say: “Jordan’s current Internet penetration rates currently run at 30%, and with the introduction of (.alordon), we hope that these numbers will reach to an impressive 50% by the beginning of 2012 since we will be reaching new audiences that have been hindered from using the Internet. This new step for Jordan will be breaking language barriers and opening new opportunities for internet users.”

H.E Mr. Marwan Jumaa also commented on the significance of this launch: “The decision to widen the language scope of the internet will have a landmark impact on how the Internet will be received not only in Jordan but around the world. This comes at a critical time when expanding the language of the Internet is vital to its growth and reception to all users.”

Widely considered as one of the Region’s foremost Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Information and Communications Technology Enabled Services (ICTES) industry events, the biennial MENA ICT Forum™ 2010 will be held in Jordan under the Patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II, on October 10 and 11, 2010 at the Business Park in Amman. The Forum will present several keynote and panel speakers, who together with attendees, will tackle the MENA Region’s most pertinent and pressing ICT concerns of today through a number of specialized sessions.

The efforts to launch the top-level domain came as a result of the need to develop a means to further encourage the use of the Internet and increase the dissemination of it to local communities. Research has indicated that 80% of Internet users do not know English - the prevailing language of the world and the Internet, while 80% of Internet content is in English.

Jordan has been keen to increase the penetration of the Internet through the bridging of all gaps that prevent inaccessibility. NITC recognized the need to submit a formal request to reserve a top-level domain under the name (.alordon) in Arabic (.الاردن). Facilities for all the required procedures were completed on 9/12/2009. The efforts of NITC culminated in the award of ICANN to approve the proposed top-level domain (.alordon) in Arabic on the Internet. After strenuous efforts, the delegation of (.alordon) was initiated on 20/08/2010. After the launch, registration will be open to government institutes and ministries, diplomatic missions, and Trademarks for a period of time, punctuated by a period of registration closure, and then is open for anyone who is interested in the Arab Jordanian domain name under (.alordon).

Jordan’s Arabic domain (.alordon) announced at the MENA ICT Forum 2010

editor — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 03:48:08 -0700

“GO” registers Arabic domain names for its website in an unprecedented step in Saudi Arabia

editor — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 13:00:50 -0700

Etihad Atheeb Telecom Co. “GO”, the first Cloud Telecom in the Region, announced today, registering and assigning the Arabic domain name (جو.السعودية) for the company website, for the first time in Saudi Arabia’s Internet history, Arabic speaking internet users can visit the site directly using their native language by typing (جو.السعودية) or (شركة-اتحاد-عذيب-للإتصالات.السعودية) directly into their web browser without the need to use English characters or search engines.

Eng. Raed Kayal, Acting chief Executive of Etihad Atheeb Telecom Co. “GO” commented on this step stating: “The registration of Arabic Domain Names is the first practical step towards ending the monopoly of English domain names, and a crowning achievement to the efforts of Arab countries claiming the right of users to access the Internet in their native language. As a Saudi operator, we believe in the importance of preserving the Arabic language and our Arabic identity, thus, “GO” has registered two domain names to facilitate access to our website and enable users to take advantage of our various services in Arabic Language, which contributes to supporting the spread of Arab culture and content over the internet, and most importantly, remove all obstacles and the language barriers facing Arab user. I would like to extend my gratitude to our colleagues at The Saudi Network Information Center for all their efforts and support in this field”

The Internet Cooperation for Assigned Names and Numbers “ICANN” has selected Saudi Arabia as the first country to use country code specific top level domains, in addition to 2 other countries, Saudi Arabia has acquired the domain (.السعودية) and The Communications and Information Technology Commission “CITC” had announced Arabic Domain Registration open by the end of last September. “GO” is keen to provide Domains using both official company name and commercial name in addition to all website features; users can access the website and subscribe to Broadband Internet and voice services directly via the website and home delivery service, for more information kindly visit (جو.السعودية) or (شركة-اتحاد-عذيب-للإتصالات.السعودية).

Social media expert calls for more native Arabic content on the web, which is now just 1.4%

editor — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 03:37:15 -0700

A noted social media expert has urged Arab communities to use standard Arabic on the web that will let the outside world to treat Arabs as an integrated community and prevent the Arabic language from getting marginalised on the web through different colloquial versions.

Mohamed Elzubeir, Managing Director, Mediastow who is sponsoring the Click 4.0, the leading digital marketing conference to be held in Dubai from June 20 to 24, 2010, said: “Arabic is the language of government, media, education and businesses for many countries in the Middle East and North Africa. We were pleased that Saudi Arabia, Egypt and UAE are among the first to get internet addresses in Arabic, following final approval by ICANN. This represents the first major change to the internet domain name system since its creation in the 1980s. However, the real issue lies in using a standard Arabic that everyone understands in the Arab world so that our content on the web becomes bigger in size and usage”.

Over 20% of Arabic speakers have internet access, resulting in approximately 100 million users. Arabic is the fifth most widely spoken language in the world and yet, despite dramatic recent growth of internet penetration in the Arab World, only 1.4% of online digital content is in Arabic.

Elzubeir added: “Now names could be registered using the country's Arabic suffix. Arabic websites generally did not have that option because Arabic characters are written right to left, conflicting with Latin suffixes written left to right. This will enhance the web penetration especially amongst people who do not know English so they will be more comfortable using Arabic letters instead.”

Elzubeir said: “There is a paucity of native Arabic content in the web. It is not acceptable anymore that Arabs use English alphabet to write Arabic in their chats and social media websites. Adding salt to the wound, the lack of Arabic support in software is a big stumbling block in enhancing the Arabic web presence. We need to encourage people to write in real Arabic terminology and preserve the Arabic alphabet which will result in more Arabic content on the web.”

The quantum of Arabic content on the web is very low. This has created a vicious cycle, where the lack of content discourages people to search, which in turn de-motivates content creators from publishing in Arabic.

Standard Arabic is what brings the Arab world together, and what makes knowledge transfer easy between Arab countries. The usage of standard Arabic makes the published content understood by everyone in the Arab world and, most importantly, easily searched for.

“On the other side, colloquial Arabic will hinder the development of the Arab web by having 22 versions used on the web, instead of having one language used by 22 countries, reducing the impact of our language with the outside world,” added Elzubeir.

Regional and international organizations and government institutions agree that this lack of Arabic language material online inhibits the ability of Arabic speakers to effectively use the internet to gain information and exchange ideas.

.ae Domain Administration confirms technical readiness to support the Arabic domain name .emarat

editor — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 01:31:27 -0700

Left - Mr. Mohammad Gheyath - Executive Director, Technology Development Affairs at TRA, and Mr. Mohammad Zarooni - Director of .ae Domain Administration

As part of its strategy to support and enhance Arabic content on the Internet, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has announced its plan to launch .emarat.

This step has been made under the new directions of ICANN -- the international corporation responsible for managing the assignment of domain names and IP addresses, which allows the use of languages other than English as an equivalent to the domain names for countries.

".emarat" is the Arabic equivalent for the currently used domain name ".ae". The Ministerial Council for Services has previously approved the usage of ".emarat" as a domain name for UAE in Arabic.

In his comments, H.E. Mohamed Naser Al Ghanim, TRA Director General, said: "Our objective is to support Arabic content over the internet and build a strong identity for UAE and Arab countries across the World Wide Web. We encourage all companies and entities in the UAE to register for '.ae' and Name '.emarat' as it represents their local business identity and brings their country pride."

Using an Arabic domain name would expand the number of Internet users and enhance the Arabic identity of UAE and increase the contribution to the Arabic content available on the Internet. The .ae Domain Administration of TRA has updated its systems to support domain name registration in Arabic.

Mohammed Gheyath, Executive Director, Technology Development Affairs, said: "Our Systems have been upgraded to handle the registration of .emarat, the Arabic domain name of UAE Our goal is to become the first Arab country to introduce an Arabic domain name."

Gheyath added, "Introducing a new TLD will lead to acquiring several unique web addresses that attracts website owners and Internet users. Moreover, using the Arabic language in internet addresses is a new and unique experience. The launch of registration for the Arabic domain .emarat is expected in the Q2 2010."