The domain landscape is ever-changing. Consider how far it’s come since the 1980s when the first domain names were registered. These were of the .net and .com variety. Fast-forward 25 years, and businesses are registering innovative .Brand extensions for reasons that range from marketing promotions to protective online protection of IP. The industry has been shaped by the launch of generic top level domains (gTLDs), ongoing legal and political changes, as well as the encroachment of cyber threats — all factors which make the management of your domain portfolio that much more important, yet complex. There are many factors to consider,... Read More

In a market characterised by intense competition and change, domains are key to establishing brand identity. They also form the core of a broader business strategy and therefore must be protected at all costs. But what are the best ways to approach domain management and security? How does this fit into the broader brand protection strategy? And how do different elements, such as dealing with infringement, fraud and brand abuse, affect one another? We sought these answers in our latest Global Business Survey by speaking to 700 marketing, legal and IT decision makers about the state of brand protection, domain and cyber... Read More

At MarkMonitor, we are set for a busy month this May. We will be hosting two events; both focusing on the best in online protection and assisting all industries to build a smarter and stronger online presence. The first event is the MarkMonitor Spring Symposium, taking place in London on May 1. The topics covered will include everything from enforcement best practices and domain portfolio optimization to multipronged approaches that fuse both infringement and fraud solutions. The day will consist of interactive customer panels, keynotes, roundtable discussions and networking opportunities — all underpinned by a consumer-centric approach to brand protection. A... Read More

I took an informal poll of my non-industry friends on Facebook about the padlock in the address bar and what it meant to them. I either got “I don’t know,” or a variation of “it means that the website I’m visiting is secure” or “it’s why there is an ‘S’ in https.” Unfortunately, we’ve been led to falsely believe the padlock, or the “s” in https, means we are at a valid, legitimate site, and any communication with that website is secure. However, that is not entirely accurate. The padlock icon (or the word “Secure” or sometimes the organization name) along... Read More

Last week, more than 1,700 individuals from around the globe attended the first ICANN meeting of the year, hosted in Kobe, Japan. Members of our Domain, Sales, Marketing and GRM teams actively participated in the ICANN policy development and informational working sessions and held important meetings with valued Japanese clients and business partners. As has been the case for the last year, the most important discussions at ICANN last week involved the work of the Expedited Policy Development Process (EPDP) and the working group tasked with developing a new policy for the collection, storage, transfer, and display of registrant data, commonly... Read More