locations in Europe.
Broadband internet services in Mann are available through five local operators:
• Manx Telecom- the primary telecommunications provider on the Isle of Man. The ISP represents a wholly owned subsidiary of Telefónica Europe.
• Wi-Manx – is a current market leader based on the Isle of Man, specialising on Home Broadband, Business Internet connectivity, VoIP, Internet Telephony and network solutions. It’s the only ISP on the Island to utilize WiMAX wireless technology and manage its own SIP termination service for VoIP
• Domicilium
• Manx Computer Bureau – offers a full range of services, all supported by company’s helpful and knowledgeable support team. Being a small ISP the company offers a personal service to its clients, tailored to their needs, using some of the most up-to-date hardware and software

available.
• BlueWave Communications

The .RU registry has introduced new registration rules. Registrants of .RU domain names need to verify their identity by submitting documents to the .RU registry.

What documents have to be submitted?
Legal entities / companies: A copy of the company registration document confirming the registration of the legal entity issued by the relevant state authority.
Natural persons and entrepreneurs: copy of passport.

These changes also apply to all existing .RU registrations. If the documents are not submitted to the registry it may result in the deletion of domains.

IDN TLDs: pre-registrations, declined requests, and other misconceptions
Recent statements and speculations have been made concerning the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process and related issues. People seem to be most concerned about:

• ICANN denying some countries/territories access to the Fast Track Process
• ICANN approving IDN ccTLDs
• The notion of pre-registrations in new TLDs

This blog post is intended to set the record straight on these matters.

Is ICANN denying access to the Fast Track Process?
Let me be very clear: The Fast Track Process for submitting requests for IDN ccTLD strings is available to all eligible countries and territories. Statements like ICANN has refused IDN ccTLDs to some countries are incorrect. ICANN encourages eligible countries and territories to participate in the process and submit their IDN ccTLD requests.

This is an exciting new opportunity for Internet users around the world, and we would like to see as many users being served by these new initiatives as possible and as are deemed useful.

ICANN also has a support function in place at idncctldrequest@icann.org for interested parties.

So far, ICANN has received 17 requests encompassing 10 languages. These numbers will be updated from time to time at http://icann.org/en/topics/idn/fast-track/.

To comply with the confidentiality requirements of the process, ICANN cannot disclose any additional information. We cannot state whether a particular request has been received, or how far along the process a request is. We understand that the public has a great deal of interest in potential future IDN ccTLDs, and therefore some requesting entities have elected to publicly disclose information about their requests.

However, the only time ICANN can make information available about a request is after it successfully passes the String Evaluation step.

What strings are ‘approved’ and what does it mean?
Four IDN ccTLD strings were recently announced as successfully completing the String Evaluation step of the Fast Track Process. These requests are associated with Egypt, the Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The full announcement is here: http://icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-21jan10-en.htm.

However, passing the String Evaluation step is not the same as saying that ICANN approved these TLDs. These four entities must go through the final step in the Fast Track Process – String Delegation. The String Delegation step must be initiated by the respective country or territory, and that can only be done with requests that have successfully met the String Evaluation criteria. String Delegation follows the same ICANN IANA process that is used for ASCII-based ccTLDs, and thus String Delegation requests are submitted to IANA root zone management.

Only after String Delegation takes place will these TLDs be in the DNS root zone, and only then can resolutions requests against them be performed. In other words, this is when domains can be registered and used.

Has ICANN authorized pre-registration of TLD domain names?
ICANN has not authorized pre-registration of domain names in any potential future TLDs.

The reason is simple: There is no way to be sure that a certain string will become a TLD and hence available for domain name registration until all steps in the associated evaluation and delegation processes are successfully completed.

ICANN has previously posted warnings concerning speculative pre-registrations, and those warnings are still informative. You can review them at http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/icann-pr29sep00.htm

One area of the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process about which questions have arisen is community support for the IDN ccTLD and how such support can be demonstrated. I have provided some clarification here that I hope is helpful to present and future IDN ccTLD Fast Track participants.

None of this information replaces or changes the information available and defined in the Final Implementation Plan for the IDN ccTLD Fast Track Process. It is merely an elaboration of that published information.

First, note that community support for a string is different and specifies different requirements than community support for the IDN ccTLD sponsoring organization.

• Support for the string is required in the String Evaluation step of the Fast Track Process.
• Support for the sponsoring organization is required later, during the String Delegation step of the Fast Track Process.
This separation in process means:

1. Evaluation of the desired string is completely separate and distinct from evaluation of the appropriate sponsoring organization for an IDN ccTLD.

2. The sponsoring organization does not need to be identified until the String Delegation step begins.

3. Only rarely would the same documentation be appropriate to demonstrate support for both a string and its sponsoring organization, as two different types of support are being required and evaluated.

• While the letters requesting string selection and support involve a requester stating preferences for a string, the letters involved in the delegation process are used to corroborate a selection process and a community consensus-building process for the proposed operator.

The community string support requirement specifically ensures that the Internet community takes part in the decision for a string.

This requirement is part of the Linguistic Process Validation in the Final Implementation Plan, as stated here:

That the received documentation of community support for the string(s) is satisfactory.
• This should be demonstrated in a similar manner as required for delegation requests, see Module 5, Appendix 2 for guiding information.

The nature of community support can, and is expected to, vary from country to country and between territories. Differences in cultures mean different ways of consulting Internet users, and hence different ways of gathering the necessary supporting material. Signed form letters are not considered adequate for participants to express their support.

Despite the difference in the approach taken, the selection of a string to represent a country or territory must be in the interests of the Internet user community of the country or territory. Thus, there should be dialogue in the country or territory about what string(s) should be selected to best support the local Internet community.

The following are examples of questions a requester may be asked. They enable staff to successfully complete the Linguistic Process validation.

In particular we are looking for information such as:

1. What kind of dialogue, outreach, survey or other types of events has taken place to select the string requested?

2. How was consensus reached on the requested string during such activities?

3. What alternative strings were considered and why were they rejected?

4. Was any opposition to the requested string received? If yes, which?

In evaluating these information elements, staff will put weight on a process that:

• Allows for people that do not have the same view to participate;

• Is open and consultative; and

• Allows differing points of view to be expressed.

In addition, it is helpful for a requester to provide a chronology or narrative of the process (not just the final decision), and at least a general description of who had access to, or was involved in, the event(s) at which the decision was reached.

In today’s challenging economic environment, travel companies are exploring new and creative ways to gain new customers. With more consumers turning to the Internet for the best deals and the most convenient services, it isn’t surprising to see these companies starting to invest in descriptive and generic domain names to draw in new business.According to Forrester Research, online leisure and business travel spending will reach $158 billion by 2013. Owning a descriptive domain name — or a portfolio of these domains — may help travel companies tap into this revenue pool.

Descriptive or generic domain names present a good opportunity for travel companies to expand their reach and bring more customers to their doorstep. That’s because more and more consumers are bypassing the search engine and typing in terms relevant to their searches directly into web browsers — also known as direct domain navigation. Descriptive domains generate natural type-in traffic that can be redirected to a company’s primary website.

A private jet service company recently purchased Jets.com to strengthen its brand. By working with a domain auction site to secure this domain name, the company now has a competitive edge that is powerful for its industry and the service it is offering. Domains like these are considered highly valuable because of the direct navigation traffic they innately offer.

While descriptive domains may be a smart investment for existing businesses, they are crucial for new businesses looking to make their mark on the industry. For example, one hotel deal finder snagged an easy-to-remember domain name and says of it, “It is easy to remember and stands out from the crowd. We have been advertising [our domain name] to build brand awareness, but the name itself has been driving visitors to our competitive hotel rates.”

This growing interest in acquiring additional descriptive domain names has been encouraged by newer and easier methods of attaining them. In the past, the process of obtaining a premium domain name sometimes resulted in companies haggling for a fair price and executing risky transactions with private parties, in order to meet their branding goals. Now, with the support of domain marketplaces, organizations can tap into the secondary domain market to find and obtain the name they desire, even if the name is already owned.

What if your desired descriptive domain name is already taken?

If your desired descriptive domain name is already registered by someone else, it’s still possible to obtain that name by yourself or with the help of a domain brokerage company, which can help ensure the legitimacy and credibility of the domain seller and help you avoid being overcharged.

By understanding the value of owning the right domain name for their business and harnessing the power of descriptive domains, travel industry organizations can implement an effective online marketing strategy that drives more traffic to their doorstep, save money on search engine marketing and improve their position in search rankings.

I have spoke with several domainers who own ccTLDs but have no information on how to market to end-users or what to do to get their interest. I can tell you upfront, it is not a quick flip industry for ccTLDs. There are certain things you need to do and how to do them. So I will attempt to give you a simple strategy that will allow you to your odds of selling a ccTLD for more than you thought and with a larger audience. So let’s get started.

Rule #1

DO NOT park your page after you register the domain name. If it is on the net, it will be indexed and usually end up in search result with the title being “xyz123.de”. Unless someone is typing in your domain name as a domain to search, you will never be found.

Rule #2

Your chances of selling your domain for real money are nil unless you invest a few bucks and time. Generally you can get a hosting service of up to 100 domains and 50 MySQL databases for $10 a month. These services include click and build sites as part of the package.

Rule #4

DEVELOP IT! Having a real functioning website or blog that someone can find and see is critical. Take time to optimize your meta-tags, graphic tags, and SEO cloud. All of these tools can be found on SEOChat.com. Ensure original content is within the site. If you cannot do this, Post articles from eZineArticles.com and ensure you give credit to the writer.

Rule #5

Ensure any hosting package for ccTLDs is placed on a server in the country of origin. Any reputable host can fulfill this request. An example is if you want to market .co.uk domain names, host it on a U.K. server.

Rule #6

Submit the site after rule 1-5 to Bing.com, Yahoo.com and to Google.com. If you can, ensure you submit the link to local directories in the country of origin.

Rule #7

Contact other .co.uk websites with related content and ask for back-links. This helps your ranking.

Rule #8

Wait 60-90 days after all other rules have been followed and post your website to Flippa.com for sale. I use Glirk.com to set a price for the website.

Rule #9

Do not let your content get stale. An end-user evaluating your website and domain name will be looking to see the traffic growth. You want new visitors from referrals… That only happens if there is something new to read or use.

Rule #10

Follow rules 1-9

Most domainers don’t realize that the value of a domain name is 80% less than the value if the domain name is strong and the domain already contains a website with traffic. The United Kingdom spends a phenomenal amount of money on CPC. By providing a site with organic traffic you are reducing their marketing costs dramatically.

Yes it is work, but build site templates or use WordPress templates and have a plan. If all of the rules are applied, it should take less than 30-days to sell on Flippa.

Lastly, use babelfish to translate you content to the country of origin.

UK Internet advertising market is proving to be unaffected by recession. Internet advertising overcame recession mode market conditions and achieved growth as per the marketer’s expectations. As the recession is hitting the entire advertising spend, the online ad market was expected to grow slowly than predicted previously. But the recession made the ad spending to shift from traditional advertising to online advertising. The change in advertising preference helped to maintain the growth numbers even in the worst part of the recession. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau, Internet advertising grew by 4.6% in the first half of 2009 and represents 23.5% of the total advertising market.

Performance of Online Advertising
Online advertising spend for the first half of 2009 is accounted for £1.75bn and surpassed Television category. It grew by 4.6% when compared to the corresponding period of 2008. Industry experts say that this is a record performance in an industry where it actually contracted by about 17% during the corresponding period in 2008. According to industry experts, the reason is the shift in ad budgets from traditional advertising to online advertising, as it allows tracking results easily and gives better ROI.

Search Marketing Holds the Largest Share
Search advertising continued to dominate the advertising market, according to the UK Interactive Advertising Bureau. It accounted for 59.8% of the online ad spend and grew by 6.8% year-over-year. Display advertising, another main advertising category staged a poor performance by declining 5.2% over the period with 18.1% of online market share. On the other hand, Classified ads fared better by growing 10% and accounted 22% of total online advertising spending.

The Growth Will Be Little For 2009 and Set To Peak In 2011
Online advertising spending is expected to show a growth of 0.9% for the entire year of 2009, according to eMarketer. However, this is a positive sign as the other media are expected to drop by 5% to 18% during the period. Online ad spending is expected to grow by 4.7% and 9.6% respectively in 2010 and 2011. The growth streak will reach a double digit figure of 11.3% in 2011 with the help of a major spending contribution from London Olympics.

In the first half of 2009, online advertising emerged as the biggest category in UK advertising market surpassing Television. With this, UK became the first major advertising market that is lead by internet advertising. The recovery from recession and increasing consumer confidence are expected to stimulate more spending on online advertising that cements the it’s market leadership.

Contrary to the widely held belief that the majority of business-related blog traffic is made up of loyal audiences, a recent study reveals just the opposite. Marketers must develop blog and social media content for first-time visitors in order to be effective, according to the survey conducted by Compendium, an enterprise platform for social media and search.

In data gathered from 266 companies about blogging traffic, visitor trends and Twitter usage, the Corporate Blogging and Social Media Trends Survey found that almost three-quarters of respondents from companies selling directly to consumers reported more than 80 percent of all blog traffic was from first-time visitors. More than half of those companies said 41 percent or more of the traffic came through searches.

“A keyword-optimized blogging and social media content strategy geared towards first-time visitors is a valuable tool for marketers to increase conversions,” said Compendium co-founder and CEO Chris Baggott. “More traffic is being driven to corporate blogs through organic searches and more first-time visitors are landing on blogs.”

Of the business-to-business companies surveyed, 64 percent said that between 61 and 100 percent of visitors were first-timers. The study also revealed that less than half of the companies surveyed (approximately 43 percent) had established a Twitter account. The B-to-B companies had the highest reported Twitter usage with 87 percent maintaining an account.