IDN Talk

There is a lot of talk about IDNs but the most important thing to think about is the value they will bring to business’ that can use them. PPC & boatloads of free traffic doesn’t work the way most lay it out. PPC for domains is not going to suddenly get better. Traffic can come a lot easier for clients who own generics.

While we are at it can we actually start to give consumers credit to think that they are NOT going to suddenly think of a keyword, place either dot com, jp, ru, cn & actually buy something. Before IE6 used to direct the keyword by default to the dot com. This is something either people don’t know, or just won’t blatantly say. It still happens with Apple’s Safari even with IDNs but this is how people got tons of traffic. IE7 doesn’t do this, nor does most other search engines. People were not putting in dot com they were typing in the keywords & being automatically taken to the keyword plus dot com.

But with IDNs keywords for a business’s market can be bought. You can buy your category killer keyword. no misspelling, no translated version that your customers won’t understand. You get the word that defines your business. Some of the big boys will try to own these for the sake of not letting their competitors have the keyword.

Companies will get most of their traffic from PPC, SEO, banner ads, Social Media Marketing, & videos anyway. It will just cost less when consumers go back using an IDN.

A few years ago when I started to buy ccTLDS (mainly dot jp) I could easily see how IDNs & the country extensions would end up. If & when IDN.IDN is introduced, blam you got registered a great IDN.jp you got the IDN.日本 also. Only unknown fact is will this cost us more? Realistically I don’t want to pay more as a portfolio holder. So saying that IDN.IDN will make the domain registration companies more money is not actually a good thing for domain portfolio holders.

The other extensions I own .com which I do like alot & some dot nets I don’t think dot com in IDN is any easy road. There are many variables.

1. Do they add a com version for every single language?
2. Will the domain registrations sites have to upgrade their site back end for this? What ever way it goes yes, they will.
3. Will non IDN domains have this option for a translated version of dot com too? If so every domain service will have to upgrade.
4. Do you just choose one language mapping?
5. Who incurrs these increased costs for dot com? Is it all of us? Can we opt to not pay for the translated versions but still reserve it for us?

Anyway I tried to write a long time ago the ccTLDs with IDN.IDN looks like its easy to do. Not because I personally own them but it really seems like there is just one option for each ccTLD in each country. For Com Net etc are they going to add all of those translated versions?  These are the reasons who no one is saying anything. Nothing clear.

What exactly is best in everyone’s interest is completely uncertain.

Verisign - create aliases, that cost as far as system upgrades etc. If they are at cost who is going to drive promoting them locally in countries? For the dot jp JPRS will do press releases etc but only to say dot jp is available in IDN form.
Domain resellers - If their sites are not IDN friendly already will they have to upgrade their technology to compatible anyway.
End users - Yep IDN.IDN will be good for end users for example dot com in latin letters might mean international & worldwide but will .コム in Japanese be seen the same? My hunch is probably not. It might be totally different for Arabic & other markets.
Domain investers/holders - I always had 3 points to tell IDN domain investors 1. Take what I say about the Japanese market & apply it to the market you know. 2. Develop if you can, it’s better 3. Invest with your budget in mind. I can easily pay for my portfolio out of pocket but I don’t want prices to suddenly increase because of new extensions for my existing domains. If the new prices are for new registrations that’s different.
As of this point we can tell clients IDN.jp will go to IDN.日本 we can’t give them accurate advice yet on what will happen with dot coms & IDN extensions. I do suggest them to start with their important IDN.jp & also get the IDN.coms too.

In the past week there has been a lot of buzz on the net about IDN. Many view the terms next year will bring “entire domain” in other languages as next year will bring domains in other languages. No matter which way it’s worded it’s actually working. Since I’m working at one of the biggest digital agencies in the world personal investments & what clients need to do in a reccession have to be seperated. Right now though agencies need to be brought up to speed.

Corporations are not speedy with decisions. Sometimes there can be one head of the entire market who suggests something. Other times agencies pitch things to their clients & it takes months for them to come back with decisions. This is just the way it works.

So what do many corporations want? They want plans. Initially corporations may not jump head in & just buy in the aftermarket. Truthfully good fresh regs are still available in every language. They will initially create sites to test. This phase is certainly coming this & next year. Agencies do want to know how to leverage IDNs for client’s benefits by making either their brand stronger, increase their marketshare, or bring in more revenue.

I’ve been writing a few “IDN for Digital Agencies” documents & “IDNs for clients” to speed up the learning & how to present IDNs to clients. “It’s the best generic term” just won’t cut it for most of the decision makers. The Agencies do have solid data on comparison cost, & those of us who work also as paid search analyst, & media can tell clients what would be the benefits exactly based on their current monthly or yearly spends.

Anyhoot, think about domains as part of a whole marketing strategy. Reverse your position with each potential company employee who you think may want your domain for their company. If you were them & had a boss screaming at you to increase revenue & marketshare, do you have enough data &/or a strong presentation to convince them to purchase an IDN domain? The US digital market is really domain savvy & may not need this for domains.

Making an IDN based dot jp site - Repost

Written on March 26th, 2006 in IDN Market by Olney

As I launched my first Japanese IDN site with a .jp extension I started to realize a bit of a difference between using an IDN with a dot com extension & a dot jp.

Japan Registry reminds me of Network Solutions of years back when I started to buy domains for my online projects. You bought the domain but it took about a day for the whois to update. I see many posting dot jps IDN Domains directly after they purchase them. Currently we don’t even know if the domain sites registering jp domains are in realtime because after the purchase if you check immediately afterwards on several domain sites the domain is sometime still shown as being available.

When adding a domain to your server you must still add the domain as punycode. When you change over the nameserver that also can take a day to transfer over.

The best part of using the dot jp was in firefox if you type in a dot com IDN Domain it will resolve to the punycode. With the IDN dot jps Firefox never resolves to the punycode. It stays as a native Japanese term in the browser.

The site I made is an online tutorial, currently I’m promoting it within a popular Japanese social network so I can see the direct feedback & comments. Mac users can use IDN Domains already so this is the best way to get feedback on what young Japanese think. So far what I’ve never heard from a single Japanese person here in Japan is “why do need IDN Domains” or “we can’t use those”. 100% of the people I’ve informed that they can use them thought that they are better than using English Domains for Japanese. This also isn’t media hype.. It’s a fact.

I realize that many proceed with caution when buying domains in general from a seller that is not fluent in the language, or not residing in the country that the domain stems from. Even for my portfolio older does not necessarily make certain domains the best keyword or even the best translation. These are few things to research yourself or just ask the seller.

1. Katakana translation of the word in English
This has been something I thing most don’t want to point out. For many keywords this is the only word or even the best in Japanese. But just putting the English keyword in katakana & selling it, would be something to look out for. Many times the seller is thinking this is the best term for the keyword & it isn’t. Honestly with many sales no one ever usually states “Hey this isn’t the most common translation for this”. But it is “a” translation so it is correct. One of those catch 22 things.

2. Why are there so many searches for this keyword?
I’ve seen some people sell keywords that the answer for this has been “Cause its popular in Japan”. Please don’t think Japanese are just strange everything usually has a reason. The domain is mostly associated with something like a magazine, TV Show, Celebrity, or even a band name.
3. What other translations are there for this term?
I bought a term, that I was only thinking of one translation of it. It was a location. I realized later it was associated with a bigger keyword. This only happened to me once, & I was pretty one minded in thinking about matching that IDN domain with the Ascii (Romaji) in the same extension. Unfortunately to me the set as a location is more valuable to my later plans.

4. Is there a Company, service, music group. magazine etc. With this keyword as the name?
This happens all the time, & most often unknowing by the seller who might not have time to research every domain they own.

5. Would a native think this is valuable?
Try to make a Japanese friend who might have some association with the keyword. If its shopping related go on facebook or any of those SNS & meet someone & just send a message. You only need one or two people to reply.

6. Is this keyword even used in Japan?
Yep I’ve seen this too, selling keywords that are popular services in the States but aren’t in Japan.

7. English keywords with an s added to it in dot JP
Japanese “usually” use many English words in singular form even when describing something in the plural. For example Convertible.jp  works, register Convertibles.jp & selling it well, the seller just got duped. Japanese are going to forget the “S” at the end.

Anyway just my tribute to this… right back to work.

I recently started to think about unbiased domaining. Think about removing yourself from the picture as the domain owner & think of what could truly be best for the client.

With IDNs many had the change to invest in very valuable domains in various markets.

Afterwords what happens to those domains is up to the investor.

At the corporate Ad Agency level one of the things we learn is to be unbiased (for the Agency I work for especially).

What if you can unbiased?

1. Is your domain the best?
2. How many other domains might be just as good?
3. If you owned a company relating to that domain what would you pay for it?
4. Are you really giving the potential customer the best value?
A lot of the domains owned by those I knew really were the best domains for many keywords.

I believe there are also more reasons for companies to buy domains other than “Its Premium” or “Its the best”.

1. It stops the competitors from having any advantage a.k.a. Cockblocking
Toys.com just a domain redirected might be used in a campaign later but certainly blocks their competition from getting their market keyword.

2. High converting keyword
A keyword that is associated with conversion, or even as assist. The game is not just about eyes but conversions.

3. As a campaign keyword it is cheaper than the monthly PPC bill
This is my personal expertize for APAC having running campaigns. For certain markets you would be surprised how much just certain keywords make the PPC companies.

Long time ago I kept reading about Rick Schwartz & Madison Avenue getting it, or not. Its not that simple. Everything in advertising has a lot of hands in the pot. If you can go direct to the top then you are all set, if not things have to be approved, analyzed, data given to clients etc.

I do wish more tools were available to domain investors to properly document value. The old Overture bid tool was actually really helpful. Now these tools are only available to digital agencies in the local countries. Not even the North America counterparts realize that these local tools are even available.

So my point is, take yourself out the picture. Think a bit corporate if you have the real premium IDNs. The world economies are changing & we are seeing more campaigns funds being transferred to Asia especially. sit tight..

When I first started to buy Japanese domains in the dot jp extension I noticed a few of the really good premium dot coms I had they keywords were reserved by JPRS in .jp.

Its been a few years since I’ve held my portfolio & a lot of time if you talk to the same people it’s sometimes hard to think in new & different ways. What I realized is that these are reserved to sell later. JPRS is from all those I’ve talked to over in Tokyo a much for profit organization. They have reserved only the best quality Japan IDN domains to issue for sale later.

This is one of the things you have to plan in the beginning. So before anyone knew that Internet Explorer wouldn’t be IDN compatible for years they had faith in IDNs to sell. I assume so because they didn’t reserve non IDN .jp domains & both were actually launched at the same time. You can’t really launch the domains & take them back so keeping the high quality keywords was planned.

Anyway what does this mean for dot com holders. It means that later on these domains will be in use.
It also means please put some time in to develop those keywords you have before the reserved domains get sold off to Dentsu, Hakuhodo, or the government agencies. I began to notice this when a premium keyword I knew was reserved seemed to have a company name on it later when I checked it.

This is not to say which is better actually. Both dot com IDNs & jp IDNs are valuable in my opinion. With the world of advertising budgets being cut left & right this might be a chance for smart media people to pitch new ideas like domains more for adding branding.

Anyway as always just rambling from my perspective…

Released about 2 months ago

J-Word the Japanese PPC listing service now is IDN domain compatible.

Before Yahoo! Japan moved J-Word’s Ad Real Estate location on Yahoo! Japan’s portal front page J-Word listing had the best location on Yahoo! Japan’s portal. The top left location above Overture ads were owned by J-Word. Now they have been moved to the right sponsored listings location.

J-word services are based on buying keyword(s) for a set amounth each month. One keyword can be bought by only one company.

http://www.jword.com/info/info_news.jword.htm?newsid=20081022&text=LW&Link=HOME20081022

IDNForums members had a very big surprise when Tina Dam the director of ICANN’s IDN program joined to graciously answer questions by members.

http://www.idnforums.com/forums/13914-welcome-tina.html

One of the biggest concerns to IDN members is why does the media portray IDN Domains as coming out in 2008 when together IDNF members have at least hundreds of thousands of IDN Domains & even fully functional IDN based sites.

Questions like

Tina: That is a mistake and not the intention at all. We are well aware of the IDN implementation at the second level of various TLDs. The experience from this implementation and use is what is driving the IDN TLD development. I will try to see if we can find a way to make this more obvious.I expect this to be one of the longest threads on IDNF

You can join the discussion at

http://www.idnforums.com/forums/13914-welcome-tina.html

And it’s a unanimous feeling of security in knowing that one of the biggest group of IDN investors may have their voices heard.

I miay have to post this on the Japanese social groups to see if I could get questions I might not have thought of.

Again IDNF says thank you TIna.

Yahoo’s site explorer since about March had a bug where you couldn’t explore sites developped with IDN domains nor could you even add them to your site list. The intial workaround was just to include your site with punycode instead of using the native unicode characters.

http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/ 

Since the reason update the way to input an IDN domain is just simply to put the domain in it’s native characters
for example
アニメ.com

Now you can just write your domains in Russian, Chinese, German, Japanese, Korean or whatever. Existing domains in punycode are ok but with this addition I found it doesn’t accept new sites punycode well anymore.

Who needs punycode anyway, I’ll be glad when all programs make Native language seemless with new applications.