net names

A global strategy for protecting your online brand : A global strategy for protecting your online brand Jonathan Robinson Chief Operating Officer NetNames


NetNames : NetNames European market leader – over 30% of FTSE 100 Ability to register in over 220 countries worldwide ICANN accredited registrar Over 10 years industry experience Offices in the US and Europe Part of GroupNBT plc


Domain names : Domain names Domain names are the basis of all web URLs and email addresses The fundamental off-line to on-line link, the brand navigator Every business should have at least one domain name Generally available first come, first served and all operate globally New names, name systems and modifications continually introduced The value of a domain name is substantially higher than its cost


How does the industry work? : How does the industry work? Registries (Database managers) Registrars (Database users) e.g. NetNames ICANN Accredited, Technically Qualified, Operational Service providers End customer e.g. Easily.co.uk, Wanadoo, NTL Domain name registration, renewal, DNS, email, web-hosting Consumer, SOHO, SME, Corporate


Latest trends : Latest trends Approximately 120 million domains registered worldwide 32% increase in domain name registration from 2005 to 2006 Over 10 million .de domains now registered Over 11.6 million new domain names registered in the Q4 2006 More than 240 ccTLD extensions globally 31% increase in ccTLDs end of 2005 to end of 2006 Domain names now available in 39 character sets Increased usage – 86% domain names resolve to a website Now driven by much more than simple registration


.uk Registrations : .uk Registrations


Recent developments : Recent developments After .info, .biz, .museum, .travel …. .eu 700,000+ applications in first 4 hours 1.5 million registrations within first week Lastminute.eu and polo.eu (Volkswagen) lost out .mobi .xxx .asia Covering 73 countries in the Asia/Australia/Pacific region Domain name disputes resolved by WIPO 2006 – cases rose by 25% (to 1,823)


Growth in online marketing : Growth in online marketing Online advertising spend increased by 41% in 2006 Advertisers are continuing to switch more of their budgets online to build their brands and interact with their customers Over 70% of TV ads, 80% of press ads and 22% of radio ads incorporate a domain name Domain names are brands in their own right ebay.com Amazon.com Domain names are and remain valuable Business.com sold for $7.5 million Vodka.com sold for $3 million PPC is a key driver – affects all aspects of domain name lifecycle


External threats : External threats Domain name tasting / kiting Cybersquatting fuelled by PPC Cybersquatting grew by 25% during 2006 Cybersquatting hits celebrities David Beckham announced move to LA Galaxy at 3pm lagalaxy.org, lagalaxy.info and lagalaxy.co.uk registered by 4:17pm Linked to sites featuring pay-per-click advertising Typosquatting exbox.com windowsexp.com Goggle Alliance and Leicester…


Typosquatting (goggle.co.uk) : Typosquatting (goggle.co.uk)


Hyphenation / Typosquatting : Hyphenation / Typosquatting


Mistaken identity : Mistaken identity


Domain names become a legal issue : Domain names become a legal issue Baa.com settled outside of court – purchase / recovery? DELL lost out to Paul Dell’s dellwebsites.com Microsoft settled out of court with MikeRoweSoft.com Bill Gates’ stock photography company Corbis Very recently failed to get Corbis.net from small web design company Microsoft 2006 - Average of 2000 domain names registered per day containing MS trademarks, three quarters owned by professional speculators


Why bother with domain name management? : Why bother with domain name management? Much more than registration Google failed to renew the Google.de domain name It expired and someone else had registered it Site was down “for many hours” The site showed a standard registrar “parked page” Google as industry leader and internet expert


Memorable Campaign URLs / CURLS – bethefullstop.com : Memorable Campaign URLs / CURLS – bethefullstop.com


Memorable campaign URLs / CURLS – diy.com : Memorable campaign URLs / CURLS – diy.com


Registering variations on a CURL : Registering variations on a CURL


Registration and management tactics : Registration and management tactics Offensive variations – inner circle Account masking to register brand names in advance of launch Names associated with the business area e.g. DIY.com Memorable domain names e.g. quotemehappy.com, reliablecopiers.com With and without a hyphen Renew more minor variation Campaign names to ensure that potential customers still using the campaign URL are directed to up to date information Defensive variations – outer circle May avoid risk of inappropriate content on similarly named sites e.g. whitehouse.org and whitehouse.gov


Domain name management in practice : Domain name management in practice Step 1: Choose a specialist corporate vendor Step 2: Consolidate and tidy up existing domain names Step 3: Implement a corporate domain name policy Whose mandate is it to manage? Which brands to register and in which countries? Hyphenations, misspellings, etc. Step 4: Identify potential infringements Step 5: Monitor for new infringements and changes Use a news feed to keep current


Unilever case study: 7,500 domain names in three months : Unilever case study: 7,500 domain names in three months The challenge: Unilever has the world’s largest trademark portfolio and needed their corresponding domain portfolio to work at securely in protecting their brands online. They also wanted to minimise the internal resource spent on all IP management. The solution: NetNames partnered with legal firm Baker & McKenzie who manage Unilever’s trademarks to offer Unilever a single agreement. NetNames then transferred Unilever’s 6,300 domains within three months, all with little impact on Unilever. The results: This partnership and single point of contact allows Unilever space to focus more time and resource on core competencies.


Prevention is better than cure : Prevention is better than cure Gartner research 1,000 to 100,000 times more costly to recover a single domain name than to budget for proactive domain name management Legal recovery process can be lengthy Be informed and act accordingly


Free Domain name guide from stand W418 : Free Domain name guide from stand W418