Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend, but the latest .AT Report shows how registrars are a registry’s best friend. And nic.at has 430 official registrars that look after over 95 per cent of the .AT domain names with the remaining 4.6 per cent having their domains managed by the registry directly. Two-thirds (67% or 290) of the 430 registrars that can register a .AT domain name are located in Austria, 22 per cent in Germany although Germans register 37 per cent of .AT domains and 11 per cent in the rest of the world. Interestingly, when looking at domain names registered through registrars, 15 per cent of Austrians use a German registrar. Conversely, German clients account for just 2 per cent of Austrian registrars’ .AT customers. The top ten registrars show an even breakdown between Austrian- and German-based with five based in each country and accounting for two-thirds (65%) of all .AT registrations. However among the top ten, Austrian registrars accounted for 245,571 .AT registrations while German registrars accounted for 195,732 registrations. Overall there were 1,061,729 active .AT domains as of the end of June 1,068,007 active domains as of 24 August. Registrants also have a strong link with their registrars, keeping them busy, with .AT registrants interacting with their registrar around 2,000 times each day. Of these interactions in the first six months of 2011, 187,077 were for data changes, 62,047 were for transfers between registrars and 105,813 were for new registrations. When asked how important .AT domains were for them, a total of close to two-thirds (64%) of all registrars indicated that the .AT TLD had a high or very high priority for them. When asked “How many registries are you accredited with?” the reasons become clear. Almost 80 per cent offer a maximum of ten TLDs, and just ten per cent have secured accreditation with more than 25 registries. For the majority of respondents .AT was one of the main extensions used in their domain registration business. The move into the new world of potentially unlimited generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) moved a step closer in June when ICANN approved its applicant guidebook, with applications being accepted in a three month window from 12 January 2012. Registrars were optimistic about the introduction of new gTLDs in a survey by ECO, the German internet association, and nic.at, with Austrian registrars showing greater optimism than German ones. Overall 42 per cent of registrars saw new gTLDs having a good to very good chance of taking off while just over a third (34% for Austrian registrars, 36% for German registrars) being optimistic about the likely success of geographic gTLDs. There was even greater support for generic gTLDs being successful with 42 per cent of registrars in both countries believing they would succeed. Brand name gTLDs were viewed as being the least successful with around one in five (22% and 18%) thinking they would succeed, however the lack of optimism here might be because registrars would play a very limited, if any, role in their introduction. The latest .at report is available in German and English . To register your .AT domain name, check out Europe Registry here .

Domain name aftermarket sales continue to grow at Sedo with $25 million of sales in the second quarter of 2011. Sales increased 13 percent compared to Q1 2011 and four percent year-over-year according to their Q2 2011 Domain Market Study, which reveals domain industry trends based on its marketplace transactions. Notable sales in the quarter included datacenter.com for $352,500 and navidad.com for $100,000, supporting the .COM’s continued strength and relevance. However, domain sales priced at $5,000 and below accounted for 48 per cent market share, proving that there is a wide range of affordable domain choices for both established companies and SMBs looking to extend their brand online. For example, sunburnt.com recently sold for $8,800 and boatoutfitter.com was purchased for only $1,000. Of sales at the other end of the market, one per cent of sales were in the $50,000 and over category. During the three months ending 30 June, 10,600 domains changed hands on Sedo’s Domain Marketplace. Leading with the substantial $2.5 million sale of gambling.com, Q2 2011 represented the strongest quarter the marketplace has seen in over a year, once the record-breaking sale of sex.com from Q4 2010 is factored out. “The significant increase in sales – one of several optimistic benchmarks this quarter -seems to disprove the theory that the announcement of new gTLDs will diminish the value of existing TLDs,” says Jeremiah Johnston, COO and general counsel of Sedo. “The wide range of relevant keyword domain names available to support seasonal and holiday initiatives provides marketers, entrepreneurs and businesses with boundless investment opportunities that are not only affordable but provide the most significant ROI possible.” In addition, the average sale prices of .com domains in Q2 2011 reached $3,114, a 20 per cent increase over Q1 2011. Average .com sales prices for Q2 2011 were also higher than those for every quarter last year, excluding Q4 2010, which saw the record-breaking sale of Sex.com for $13,000,000. Other highlights of Sedo’s Q2 2011 study include: The .COM extension continues to be the most popular TLD, accounting for 52 per cent of all Q2 TLD sales. The .NET extension came in a distant second with 6 per cent of the market share. Overall in Q2 2011, .DE continued to be the most frequently traded ccTLD on the marketplace, accounting for 18 per cent market share, while .co.uk and .EU each accounted for 6 per cent of the market Ten TLDs contributed to at least one per cent of the overall transaction volume of Q2 2011 apart from the above with the remaining TLDs being .ORG (5%), .INFO (3%), .CO (2%) and .NL AND .ES (1% each) The top ccTLDs according to their average price were .ES (with an average sale per domain of $3,540) and .FR ($3,473) with .ES boosted by a confidential record-breaking sale Median sales prices for gTLDs remained fairly consistent quarter over quarter, despite a significant increase in Q2 2011 median sales prices for gTLDs across the board The .CO extension maintains its position as a top TLD, revealing its staying power since its debut on the top TLD list in Q1 2011 and marks it as a valuable contender for investment and as a valid alternative to .COM and other top gTLDs Fixed price sales accounted for 27 percent of all Q2 transactions, putting it in second place as the most popular form of seller-buyer interaction, following offer/counter-offer transactions (41 per cent). Top US sales include gambling.com ($2,500,000), datacenter.com ($352,000) and consolidation.com ($200,000) with the only non-.COM public sale in the top ten being business.co Sedo’s complete Q2 2011 report can be found online at: www.sedo.com/fileadmin/documents/pressdownload/Q2_2011_DomainMarketStudy_US.pdf

Research into small business and the internet. Prominence on Internet Search Engines is a significant stress and concern for one third of UK small businesses, according to research released today by Fasthosts Internet Ltd, a leading web hosting provider.  The study of 467 small firms also finds that a large number have not addressed these concerns by attempting to improve their rankings.  Furthermore, 27 per cent of firms with a website admit that they have never used online methods to interact directly with customers, and only 23 per cent of businesses participate in social networking.  Data from 1000 UK consumers shows that 38 per cent of Britons regularly look for social networking material from businesses.

Sedo has increased its sales commission by 50 per cent to 15 per cent of the sale price as of 4 January, according to a report in The Domains. The report says a notice from Sedo that says the increase, from ten to 15 per cent of the sale price, was not widely publicised, and was only on the front page of customer accounts after they logged in.

GLOUCESTER, England, December 13, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Fasthosts has revealed that British web designers continue to face tough market conditions, according to recently conducted research. The study of 300 web design firms* by Fasthosts, a leading web hosting ( http://www.fasthosts.co.uk/hosting/ ) provider, finds that whilst 72 per cent have seen an increase in expectations from their SME clients, the majority are struggling with lower budgets and under-cutting by cut-price competitors. 71 per cent of web designers believe that insufficient investment is holding back SME websites

With the supply of IPv4 addresses likely to be exhausted in May 2011, the slow adoption of IPv6 is becoming troubling even though most businesses are aware of the need to according to a global survey by the Number Resource Organization. The NRO is concerned about the slow rate of adoption of the technology that will give an almost limitless supply of internet protocol addresses despite the majority of organisations being aware that the change needs to happen. While most businesses are aware of the need to adopt IPv6, there are also concerns about the cost of adoption, a misconception, as any delay in adoption will lead to increased costs in the near future

31 August 2010, London: British firms are losing time and money from out-dated office practices and a struggle to handle and store electronic documents, according to research released today by 1&1 Internet Ltd, www.1and1.co.uk , the world’s largest web host. From a study of 410 small firms, 37 per cent report money is lost from employees failing to share updated versions of documents