The board of ICANN unanimously approved sweeping changes to the rules governing domain extensions today. The broad based changes allow top-level domains (.com, .org, .edu, etc.) to be created without restrictions previously in place.
The new posture opens the door for almost any domain suffix imaginable, likely with .sex and .xxx leading the way. With most memorable names consumed under “.com,” that this ruling will pave the way for more descriptive suffixes, such as “.resort” or “.books”.
The AP reports that new TLDs won’t surface for several months. Regulation? Domains will need to be proposed to ICANN at which time they will go through a review phase allowing anyone to raise an objection.
Welcome to the next domain rush. Or maybe not. Citing ICANN, Ars Technica reports that “if approved, registering the TLD will cost anywhere from $100,000 to $500,000.” Maybe it’ll be the domain rush for everyone but the little guy.
Limited by how many times a video has been viewed, publishers of YouTube videos have been left largely in the dark about how their video is consumed by the public. Last week YouTube made a step in the right direction for content publishers with the announcement of YouTube Insight. From the YouTube blog:
…uploaders can see how often their videos are viewed in different geographic regions, as well as how popular they are relative to all videos in that market over a given period of time. You can also delve deeper into the lifecycle of your videos, like how long it takes for a video to become popular, and what happens to video views as popularity peaks.
The blog posting on YouTube’s site indicated that new features will be added to the reporting capabilities quickly. That’s good news—the initial roll out features are welcomed, but aren’t all that robust or useful—especially after the drought of information previously available. YouTube, here’s a few useful metrics to add to your list:
Average duration of video view in minutes:seconds
How many times the video was shared
Views on syndication sites by syndication URL
Viewer demographic information
YouTube: if you need more ideas on what your users really want, contact me, or better, look at your user feedback over the past few years.
Oh, and one more thing. I’ve got enough places to track data. Why can’t we just get this data inside Google Analytics?
Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results
Somehow Call to Action escaped my reading list for years. I learned about it from someone I recently interviewed. The book is based on Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg’s concept of Persuasion Architecture—a methodology which, at a high level, combines consumer psychology, business goals and website design with an overall goal of maximizing conversions.
Web Analytics: An Hour a Day
I’m one of those people who can’t get enough of web analytics. Written by respected blogger and Google Evangelist Avinash Kaushik, this book demystifies web analytics in an easy to read, enjoyable manner. The practice of web analytics isn’t as simple as it may appear at a glance. Avinash’s book provides new perspectives in a concise manner.
The board of ICANN unanimously approved sweeping changes to the rules governing domain extensions today. The broad based changes allow top-level domains (.com, .org, .edu, etc.) to be created without restrictions previously in place.
