Been back in beautiful FNQ (Far North Queensland) for a week now, and it’s great to be home. This photo is from the top of Castle Hill in Townsville (looking across to Magnetic Island) – and yes, we’ve had some rain!
This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy my travels. Far from it – it was absolutely wonderful to catch up with so many people that have some connection with domain names in Australia.
I’m off to Brisbane this time next week for a few days. Looking forward to meeting up with Frank Schilling and Heather Pierre from Uniregistry who are having a whirlwind introductory visit to Australia. They’ve potentially agreed to a podcast interview, so stay tuned for some exciting news.
Reflection 1
The auDA Board meets tomorrow, and amongst other things on the agenda, the 2015 Names Panel Report will be discussed more fully. For those not aware, this deals with the issue of whether Australia should introduce direct registrations – e.g. being able to register Domainer.au.
I can’t imagine that the Board is simply going to approve or disapprove of the recommendations tomorrow. (But of course, I might be wrong). Good corporate governance and past auDA practices would probably suggest further investigation by a working group of Directors. Why? Because it is such a huge issue with potential ramifications for a lot of people.
Importantly though, as I understand it, the report will be published on the auDA website very soon. This way some good discussion can start! Having been a member of the Names Panel, I am aware of the contents of the report, but confidentiality restricts me from saying anything at this stage.
Reflection 2
AusRegistry have recently published Edition 6 (February 2016) of BEHIND THE DOT. This looks at the “State of the .au Domain”. It is well worth a read as there are some excellent articles. The main emphasis this time around is on the important issue of security. AusRegistry are to be congratulated for highlighting this important theme.
Two other items I found interesting were “Under the microscope”; and the “Channel Talk”.
The first one (page 6) deals with the numbers of .au domains, and the trends. You don’t need to be “Blind Freddie” to see that there “ain’t much growth”. Though the registry makes a good effort to put some “spin” on the situation. đŸ˜‰ I hope that the auDA Directors take good note of these stats when they are contemplating “doubling the size of our tiny market”.
The second one (page 19) gets some contributions from three registrars. They are asked to give their predictions for the .au namespace in 2016. I understand that this is a “registrar centric” publication, but in the interests of balance, I would urge the editor of “Behind The Dot” to also get opinions from large portfolio holders and domain investors. We are an important ingredient in the recipe!
I thought this contribution from Angelo Giuffrida (CEO, VentraIP Australia & Synergy Wholesale) was interesting. It certainly seems that he isn’t bullish on the growth prospects for .au.
“I believe that in 2016 there is going to be a small but noticeable contraction in the market due to two main driving factors”.
To read why he thinks this, have a look at page 19.
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As always, I welcome your comments and thoughts.
Best wishes for your online success.
Looks like a beautiful spot Ned!
I also thought the ‘Channel Talk’ section lacked diversity. It would be good to have perspectives from a broader range of people, so I’ve put my hand up to be included in future editions đŸ˜‰
Good on you Luke. Hopefully George Pongas will welcome your comments. đŸ˜‰
Want to contribute to the next
‘Channel Talk’ feature?
Reach out to us at
behindthedot@ausregistry.com.au
with your expression of interest or
topic suggestion.
Proof that the brightest minds always rise to the top:
Verity Meagher – Chief Marketing Officer, Melbourne IT on p. 14 of Behind the Dot:
“The growing number of new gTLDs available has caused dilution of .au in the market, and there is ever increasing competition for .au from from the myriad addition extensions available to new business getting online.”
Uh, no, Verity, there is no such “dilution of .au in the market”. Supply-side fear-mongering drivel. REALITY: There are, at this second, 121,681 new TLD names registered by Australians. There are, at this second, 3,039,901 .au names registered. That means that the total number of new TLD names registered by Australians currently would comprise no more than 4% of the new TLD + .au pie. When Melbourne IT switches to MelbourneIT.xyz or MelbourneIT.top or MelbourneIT.wang, some of us just *might* be stupid enough to swallow what you’re pushing.
Angelo Guiffrida – CEO, VentraIP Australia & Synergy Wholesale on p. 14 of Behind the Dot:
“..the new TLD market will begin to mature, stabilise and raise brand awareness, which will further erode the .au namespace and provide customers with a direct [sic] alternate for their domain names. As an example, the Republic of Indonesia recently chose to use the .travel extension as its official tourism website over .id, its own ccTLD.”
Uh, no, Angelo, there has not been any ‘erosion’ to the .au namespace. 121,681 new TLD names registered by Australians does not of itself mean that fewer .au names have been registered, especially when 71.59% of all new TLD names are parked (not used). Even if some correlation could be drawn, 4% is far from material. Thank you for the .travel example, it really brought some comic relief to what was otherwise dry-reading. I won’t even waste my breath explaining how idiotically irrelevant your reference to that example is. What I will point you and other readers to is the renewed prominence GoDaddy has been giving to .com and .com.au in its Adwords campaigns of late and its Australian homepage overhaul, which promotes .com and .com.au above all else. GoDaddy is fast realising that new TLD names aren’t selling like .com and .com.au. GoDaddy cares about its bottom line. Can’t wait for the other registrars to wake up and smell the roses in similar fashion.
@Paul – why don’t you tell us how you really feel? đŸ˜‰
? At the end of the day registrars have a barrow to push, the purpose of my comment is to draw attention to this agenda and the weakness of the ‘new TLD threat’ assumption used to advance it.
I’ve said this a million times, as have a lot of us…
There’s no need for a direct ccTLD registration of a flat out .au and it will be silly if it is approved.
Silly.