The historic decision from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to open the top-level domain market has received a lot of criticism ever since its announcement last year. Recent developments, however, are bringing even more concerns to table about the stability of the program.
The application process for the new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), which was originally scheduled to end on April 12, has been put on hold indefinitely after a technical glitch was detected in ICANN’s software system. What’s more, the security issue also resulted in a data breach that allowed some applicants’ information to be compromised.
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has raised issues about the program from the beginning claiming that it could be harmful to both consumers and brands. Dan Jaffe, the Group Executive Vice President of Government Relations at ANA, told us that ICANN needed to check the security of the system before the application process began.
ANA has asked that ICANN bring in a third party consultant to investigate the issues. It is also requesting that the Commerce Department press ICANN for answers and transparency before allowing it to move forward with its plan. Jaffe said he would like to see ICANN take steps that ensure these problems don’t arise in the future as well.
At this point, ICANN is notifying the applicants that were compromised and is expected to re-open the application process once everyone is informed.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on May 3rd, 2012. 
Although the rivalry between Facebook and Google is already high, a new study from Appcelerator and the International Data Corporation (IDC) indicates some surprising results that will likely heat up the competition even further. The study, which surveyed, more than 2,000 mobile developers, found that 39 percent of developers plan to focus on Google initiatives instead of Facebook’s social graph this year.
Since this was a bit of shock to everyone, Michael King, Appcelerator’s principal mobile strategist, told us that the companies actually did a follow up survey to find out what was really happening. As he explained to WebProNews, developers think Google is better in terms of its network assets such as YouTube, search, maps, and Android. They also felt Google was better about engaging with them and offering guidance for how they should develop social applications for mobile.
King said that Facebook really needed to step up its efforts because, if not, Google could move ahead of it.
The study also found that developers have a smaller interest in Android apps, but that both HTML5 and cloud development are on the rise.
Do these results come as a surprise to you, or did you expect developers to gravitate toward Google instead of Facebook? Please share your thoughts.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Mar 24th, 2012.
Last year, YouTube announced several partnerships with media and production companies in an effort to bolster original programming on its site. One of the new partners, the Young Hollywood Network (YHN), launched last month and is finding that YouTube is quickly turning into a “destination viewing” site.
WebProNews spoke with RJ Williams, CEO and Founder of YHN, who told us that this trend is happening since YouTube now has its own exclusive content. As a result, more people are watching the content and the engagement level is higher.
The YHN channel focuses on the entertainment industry and includes exclusive celebrity interviews and behind-the-scene footage. Williams told us the network has a new show six days a week at 10am PST/1pm EST.
Although the channel is new, Williams said the results have been phenomenal and that YHN plans to continue to please viewers with its content.
What do you think of YouTube’s plan and all the new channels? Let us know.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Feb 14th, 2012.
Popular forum Topix and Equation Research recently conducted a study to learn more about the relationship between the Internet and politics. The companies surveyed 1,000 U.S. voters and found that people are increasingly turning to the Web for their political information.
WebProNews spoke with Chris Tolles, the CEO of Topix, who told us that voters are trending online because they get a more balanced view. The study also found that voters are going online in order to participate in political discussions and debates.
Tolles told us that this trend would increase in the coming years as voters strive to have a “personal relationship” with news. He also said that politicians would have to learn how to leverage online platforms such as Topix, Facebook, and Twitter, to ensure that they are connecting with the conversation.
Where do you go for your political information? Let us know.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Jan 29th, 2012.
A Google search can deliver results in .18 seconds, sometimes faster. Google has made efforts to filter results to be as relative as possible to all queries, but there are steps to you can take to have Google bring back more specific and practical results. Hack College put together this informative infographic showing a few pointers that help refine searches and get more favorable results when using Google.
Created by: HackCollege
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Nov 28th, 2011.
