The new gTLD program has been a controversial topic for MarkMonitor customers. Many understandably blame new gTLDs for inflating defensive domain name budgets, creating new environments for cybersquatters and other bad actors and creating new free speech challenges to brand protection with the introduction of gripe TLDs like .sucks. On the other hand, companies have capitalized on the opportunity to secure powerful keyword-rich and hyper-localized domains, like spanish.academy and toureiffel.paris, and have reached new customers with non-Latin character IDNs. Many companies also now enjoy unprecedented security, innovation and control with their own .brand TLD. For better or for worse, new gTLDs... Read More

We’re delighted to announce that MarkMonitor came home with, not one, not two, but three awards, following this year’s ACQ5 Global Awards 2018. As well as scooping up the Domain Management Company of the Year and Brand Protection Advisory Company of the Year awards, our President, Chris Veator, won the prestigious Game Changer of the Year trophy. The ACQ5 Global Awards are some of the most hotly-anticipated in the calendar, designed to recognise organisations and individuals that have achieved outstanding commercial success across a range of areas of expertise. We were particularly proud to have won these awards given that they... Read More

The GDPR enforcement deadline may have passed, but that’s not to say its impact isn’t still felt by businesses of all kinds. The consequences on the likes of WHOIS have been enormous, and they are set to continue long into the future. Statton Hammock, Vice President of Global Policy and Industry Development for MarkMonitor, discussed this at length in a 30-minute presentation at this year’s MarkMonitor NYC Summit in April. As our resident GDPR expert, Hammock is perfectly placed to discuss the finer details of the regulation and throughout his talk provides a wealth of insights as to what we can... Read More

Much occurred at the Global Domains Division (GDD) Summit in Vancouver last week, and contrary to popular belief it did not revolve 100% around General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDD Summit provides ICANN accredited registrars, gTLD registries and the ICANN Global Domains Division the opportunity to engage and discuss issues of mutual importance. MarkMonitor sent a team of employees to the GDD Summit to take part in the sessions, working groups and to meet with strategic partners including ICANN staff, registries and registrars. Although General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) monopolized much of the conversation, there were many other topics discussed.... Read More

There has been a lot of movement in the domain space recently, partly due to the upcoming compliance deadline for the new European Union’s (EU) General Data Protection Regulation, and partly due to the looming Brexit deadline. The implications of the latter, which involves the United Kingdom withdrawing from the EU, are far-reaching. While there is still a lot of uncertainty around these changes — particularly around trade, law and immigration — the effects are being felt in industries such as retail, financial services and automotive, to name a few.    It seems that the domain space has not escaped the... Read More