Does auDA's advertising increase .com.au name values?

[DomainNames]

auDA spends a lot of money advertising itself and the benefits of the .au namespace.

Does this increase the value of .com.au names?

What is their advertising really achieving and is it worthwhile? Maybe it is? Seems to be a lot of online ads they are doing online at the moment including on yahoo

http://www.letstalknet.com.au/

http://www.letstalknet.com.au/consumer.php

http://www.letstalknet.com.au/business.php


Should we support their advertising campaigns or question it's success and target market? It seems to be a contstant thread in the advertising words and themes they claim .au namespace is better than .com as it is more regulated ( by them) ! This is highly debatable and sad to see them pushing as a positive selling point still.

Against this auDA campaign is the recent godaddy.com TV ads on TV promoting the benefits of .com being No red tape, easy to register, sell etc and no over regulation.

 

[bradderick]

It probably doesn't hurt. Is it the best use of dollars? Probably not. The two biggest things AUDA could do to help increase the value would be to remove the ABN requirement and relax Australian ownership rules. The Abn rule would make things easier for a lot of sme's too. Both would cost a lot less too, in fact it would add to their revenue. Fixing the regulations would be the best advertisement they could issue.

 

[DomainNames]

It probably doesn't hurt. Is it the best use of dollars? Probably not. The two biggest things AUDA could do to help increase the value would be to remove the ABN requirement and relax Australian ownership rules. The Abn rule would make things easier for a lot of sme's too. Both would cost a lot less too, in fact it would add to their revenue. Fixing the regulations would be the best advertisement they could issue.

well said Agreed!

 

[DavidL]

auDA spends a lot of money advertising itself and the benefits of the .au namespace.
...

Does it - I hardly see anything? Can you be more specific?

I would welcome more promotion of .au from auDA and Ausregistry as I really don't see anything.

Last thing I saw was a full page ad in The Australian -

funnily enough two days before this terrible article came out http://www.theaustralian.com.au/aus...internet-domains/story-e6frgakx-1226044678166

which bizarrely contradicts the pupose of the ad - the notion that .au is a good space

"At the moment, if you type Melbourne into Google, chances are you will be inundated with a heap of monetised websites that provide you with links to a heap of other monetised websites that then provide links, eventually, to something that might be of use," he said

Not to mention the statement simply isn't remotely true!

 

[snoopy]

auDA spends a lot of money advertising itself and the benefits of the .au namespace.

Does this increase the value of .com.au names?

Waste of money in my view, the extension is the default for the country, it doesn't have real competition and doesn't need money spent promoting it. It would be like Verisign advertising .com....pointless.

The poor decision making can be seen by the way they are still trying to promote .id.au in the ad, no commercial entity would keep trying to sell something that has near no interest. This is other people's money being wasted here.

 

[Shane]

The Abn rule would make things easier for a lot of sme's too.

How?

 

[DavidL]

The poor decision making can be seen by the way they are still trying to promote .id.au in the ad, no commercial entity would keep trying to sell something that has near no interest. This is other people's money being wasted here.

Not as bad as the CGDN's (eg dunedoo.nsw.au) which were the subject of a recent review:

http://www.auda.org.au/reviews/cgdn-2010/

The majority of submissions called for it to be wound up. Brett summed it up quite well:

During that time a total of just over 200 domains have been registered, at an
expense in excess of approximately $2,000,000.

That is in simple terms some $10,000 per domain registered.

Clearly by any measure, this program has been an abject failure.

I've not read the response from auDA before but here is the part responding to this

As at 30 November 2010 the total number of CGDN registrations is 247,
with a further 30 applications pending approval.
 CGDN domain names are not used for a single organisation, group or
individual, they are for all of community use. One CGDN can be providing
a web presence for hundreds of small businesses, community groups and
individuals. Therefore, the number of registered CGDNs translates to a
much higher number of actual CGDN users. On this point, the Committee
notes that the total population of towns/suburbs with registered CGDNs is
over 1 million.
 Of those that have been due for renewal to date, 99% of registrants have
renewed their domain name, which indicates that existing registrants
derive or perceive some benefit in having a CGDN. This is further
supported by user surveys which have clearly indicated that CGDN
registrants see the key benefits of having a CGDN in the intuitive and
unique nature of the domain name, and providing a community with its
geographic identity on the Internet, as well as providing community
groups and businesses within localities around Australia a web presence to
enhance economic and social sustainability for their communities. For
examples of outcomes and benefits for some of CGDN communities, see:
http://www.cgdn.org.au/outcomes/
 The CGDN model is unique, in that it deliberately restricts the type of
domain name that can be registered, the type of entity that is eligible to
register, and the use to which that domain name may be put. Therefore, a
simple cost comparison with other domain spaces, especially commercial
domain spaces, is not valid.
 As previously noted and published, the CGDN project was funded from
proceeds of the commercial geographic domain names ballot by auDA in
2005. Ongoing support of the CGDN initiative has now been absorbed into
auDA’s operating budget and there has been no impact on any of the
domain name, registrar and registry fees charged by auDA.

Drawing some long bows there IMO. Esp the last one - it's kind of implying that because the costs have been absorbed into the operating budget, it's all OK

 

[Cooper Mills DomainLawyer]

This is an issue which was taken up at the AGM, refer to the minutes:

7. Other Business


• Erhan Karabardak queried the status of a letter he sent to the Board on 18/10/10 regarding membership issues. C Disspain advised he had a conversation regarding this matter with Erhan Karabardak at the time and will follow up with a written response. C Disspain also advised updates had been made to the membership application process in response to the issues raised following the 2010 AGM.

• Jon Lawrence queried whether the cost of auDA membership covered administration of same. C Disspain advised it did not, however the Board did not want to create a barrier to membership applicants with increased membership fees.

• Brian Coogan queried if the Board had the necessary contingency plans in place following the recent events with attacks on hosting of Distribute IT and highlighted concerns regarding security in general. C Disspain advised that auDA is looking at security issues and will consult with Registrars in the near future. auDA is also investigating insurance requirements for Registrars for any future security incidents.

• Simon Johnson queried what are the tangible benefits to members via the Education & Media budget expenditure. C Disspain that auDA has a constitutional obligation to all Australian internet users to educate the community about the .au domain space.

Also auDA's objects (as contained in its constitution) are here:

3 OBJECTS

3.1 Principal Purposes

The principal purposes of auDA are:

a. to be the administrator of, and the Australian self regulatory policy body for the .au ccTLD and its associated Second Level Domains;

b. to maintain and promote the operational stability and utility of the .au ccTLD and more generally, the Internet's unique identifier system, and to enhance the benefits of the Internet to the wider community; (Amended by Special Resolution, 14 August 2006)

c. to ensure a cost effective administration of the .au ccTLD and its sub-domains;

d. to develop and establish a policy framework for the development and administration of the .au ccTLD including:

i. rules governing the operations of second level domain registries;

ii. the creation of second level domains;

iii. rules governing the accreditation of registrars and registry operators; (Amended by Special Resolution, 23 September 2002.)

iv. rules governing the registration of names within second level domains and access to second level domain registries;

v. ensuring that registrars have equal access to second level registry services.

e. to manage the operation of critical technical functions including:

i. the primary and secondary .au name servers;

ii. zone files for second level domains; and

iii. a searchable data base containing information on registrations within the .au ccTLD.

f. to liaise with national and international bodies on issues relating to the development and administration of domain name systems.

g. to establish appropriate complaints handling and dispute resolution processes to provide for conciliation or redress of grievances on matters associated with the administration of the .au ccTLD.

3.2 Activities

Without reducing the effect of clause 4, auDA will enhance the benefits to Internet users through:

a. ensuring the continued operational stability of the domain name system in Australia;

b. establishing mechanisms to ensure it is responsive and accountable to the supply and demand sides of the Australian Internet Community;

c. the promotion of competition in the provision of domain name services;

d. the promotion of fair trading;

e. the promotion of consumer protection;

f. adopting open and transparent procedures which are inclusive of all parties having an interest in use of the domain name system in Australia;

g. ensuring its operations produce timely outputs which are relevant to the needs of the Australian Internet Community.

(Amended by Special Resolution, 14 August 2006)

I think an issue for consideration is whether the advertisements conveyed the messages required under the objects (clause 3.2(c)(d) and (e)), and whether the advertisements comply with the clause 3.1(c) of the objects 'c. to ensure a cost effective administration of the .au ccTLD and its sub-domains; '

On the flip side, it is not unreasonable for auDA engage in some marketing and promotion, it is more about how it is done and what objects it advances.

 

[johno69]

remove the ABN requirement and relax Australian ownership rules.

An ABN takes 15 minutes to get online. I don't see that as a barrier at all.

The Abn rule would make things easier for a lot of sme's too.

Surely they all have ABNs. Unless someone is trying to avoid the ATO there is no reason for them to not get an ABN.

 

[brettf]

On auCD, they basically accepted for discussion the material they were interested in .. ie expanding the program. And for the responses noting this was a waste of time and money, said sorry it's outside the scope of the review.

Funny that I see submissions on the auDA foundation being treated the exact same way.

 

[bradderick]

The problems regarding the abn situation:

i) if you accidentally let an abn expire, your domains can be deleted by policy. Having seen that happen to a few people, it makes them less likely to want to invest in .au (and additionally, make that mistake again!) Maybe you could say that is hard luck, but the prospect sends shivers down my spine.
ii) I think that some Australians are a bit to close to the problem and say that it might only take 15 mins to register an abn. Maybe it does. I will take your word for it. I get my accountant to do that for me anyhow, so I can't say and that certainly isn't the main point I was getting at in the first place.

If you want to understand where I am coming from ask some foreigners that are living in Australia that want to register a com.au and tell them what is required and then gauge their reaction. Some of them think that the rules ‘round here’ are from another planet.

“Why would I have to do that? I don't have to do that for <insert almost every other country specific domain name extension>. Maybe I’ll just get a .com instead”

It is just another hoop to jump through...and the more hoops you make someone jump through the less likely they will be to jump through them.
Then there is the whole commercial aspect and what entities are eligible to hold a com.au. It is my opinion that it shouldn't be restricted to just commercial entities. But then you may hold a different view. Just my 2 cents.

 

[DavidL]

Don't forget the many thousands of micro businesses too. Eg the stay at home mum who sets up a little cake decorating business on the side. She isn't going to get an abn until she sees how it goes...

But as you say Bradderick, the main people who miss out are the bloggers, students, hobbyists etc... Everyday Australians who end up regging a .com because they aren't catered for within .au

 

[AnthonyP]

The problems regarding the abn situation:

i) if you accidentally let an abn expire, your domains can be deleted by policy. Having seen that happen to a few people, it makes them less likely to want to invest in .au (and additionally, make that mistake again!) Maybe you could say that is hard luck, but the prospect sends shivers down my spine.

It is true this can happen but in my experience Registrars, who are the ones who deal with this type of complaint, generally can get new eligibility details within the 30 days and they can correct the details for most legitimate business users.

ii) I think that some Australians are a bit to close to the problem and say that it might only take 15 mins to register an abn. Maybe it does. I will take your word for it. I get my accountant to do that for me anyhow, so I can't say and that certainly isn't the main point I was getting at in the first place.

From memory after the 15 min registration it takes 28 days to get issued, so if anyone is in a rush it is quite frustrating.

If you want to understand where I am coming from ask some foreigners that are living in Australia that want to register a com.au and tell them what is required and then gauge their reaction. Some of them think that the rules ‘round here’ are from another planet.

“Why would I have to do that? I don't have to do that for <insert almost every other country specific domain name extension>. Maybe I’ll just get a .com instead”

I think the trick to understanding the value of the ABN association with a .com.au is to look at it from a consumers point of view. As I consumer I feel more at ease when transacting with a .com.au knowing that there is an association with a company which with a bit of effort I can discover the address and owner of. The equivalent of this in the .co.uk world is with getting Extended Validation (EV) certs for your website. The EV certs I applied for in the UK for my co.uk 5 years ago certainly cost a whole lot more than $20 and they basically did the same thing.

It is just another hoop to jump through...and the more hoops you make someone jump through the less likely they will be to jump through them.
Then there is the whole commercial aspect and what entities are eligible to hold a com.au. It is my opinion that it shouldn't be restricted to just commercial entities. But then you may hold a different view. Just my 2 cents.

I like to keep com.au for commercial entities, it just seems to make sense to me.

The other day I was talking to a friend and I told them the URL for a website was xyz.com and my five year old daughter added helpfully ".au?", So I think my entire household might fall into your definition of "too close to the problem" even though she was born in the UK and I am from South Africa (having worked in the UK for 5 years).

 

[johno69]

From memory after the 15 min registration it takes 28 days to get issued, so if anyone is in a rush it is quite frustrating.

When I registered mine, I completed it online and my ABN was displayed on the screen and active at the end of the process.

 

[DavidL]

As I consumer I feel more at ease when transacting with a .com.au knowing that there is an association with a company which with a bit of effort I can discover the address and owner of.

Except scammers can easily put in whatever ABN they want. The could just put in a random ABN of some plumber and away they go. Also if a scam is perpetrated, I would expect an investigator would head to the financial institution first and foremost to track the sale back to the bad guys.

Didn't help these guys either

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/fury-at-late-call-to-cancel-formal-20111112-1ncun.html

I like to keep com.au for commercial entities, it just seems to make sense to me.

So what about Australians who are just individuals, bloggers, students etc? What should they use?