The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published the findings from its ICANN Global Consumer Research Study, to measure aspects of consumer awareness, perceived consumer choice, experience and trust related to the current generic top-level domain (gTLD) landscape and the domain name system (DNS).
The global study surveyed 6,144 consumers aged 18+ representing Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America, and was administered in 18 languages and drawn from 24 countries.
Since the first new gTLD was delegated in October 2013, more than 630 new gTLDs have been delegated.
To gauge perceptions of the new gTLDs, the survey focused on the new gTLDs with the greatest number of registrations at the time the questions were developed in January 2015 – .EMAIL, .PHOTOGRAPHY, .LINK, .GURU, .REALTOR, .CLUB, .XYZ and a regionally relevant TLD, including internationalized domain names (IDNs).
Across all survey respondents, 46& reported awareness of at least one new gTLD, with 65% of those who are aware reporting they have also visited a new gTLD.
.EMAIL and .LINK led in awareness and visitation of new gTLDs.
The survey also examined consumer attitudes toward a subset of legacy TLDs introduced before 2012 – .COM, .NET, .ORG, .INFO, .BIZ, .MOBI, .PRO, .TEL, .ASIA and .COOP. Among these legacy gTLDs, three extensions (.COM, .NET and .ORG) lead awareness, with nearly 8 in 10 (79%) respondents, on average, reporting knowledge of these domains.
These TLDs also had relatively high visitation, with an average of 71% of respondents reporting they have visited one of those domains.
72 percent of respondents reported high levels of trust with entities that offer domain names. These high trust levels were linked to a perception that the industry will take precautions, give consumers what they think they’re getting, and screen companies or individuals who register for certain domain names.
90% claimed to trust the top three legacy TLDs (.COM, .NET, and .ORG), with the highest numbers found in North America, South America and Africa.
Consistent with other study findings, the results show trust among new gTLDs is lower than legacy TLDs, but growing: nearly one person in two (49%) on average reports that they trusted the sample of new gTLDs provided in the survey.
Abusive Internet behavior, including spam, malware, phishing, and cybersquatting remain an issue for Internet users.
At least three quarters of the respondents (74$) are familiar with malware, phishing or stolen credentials.
Cybersquatting is the only bad behavior that the majority are unfamiliar with — just over 1 in 3 (37%) report awareness.
When asked to describe new gTLDs, the most common words included: useful, informative, helpful, practical, interesting and innovative.
While people are increasingly using different devices to surf the web, 64% of respondents report using a search engine as their preferred way to find a website.
This is only slightly lower than Internet users report they did two to three years ago.
53% report that registering a domain is either “very easy” or “somewhat easy” and roughly half want the process of registering a website to be less complicated (50%), cheaper (55%) and quicker (49%).
ICANN is also working with Nielsen to conduct a global survey of domain name registrants and their perceived sense of trust and choice in the domain name space. Results from that study will be available later in 2015.
The Global Consumer Survey was conducted by Nielsen on behalf of ICANN.
The data collection and analysis phase of the survey took place in February 2-19, 2015, and the final report was delivered in April 2015.
A total of 6,144 consumers aged 18+ representing Asia, Europe, Africa, North America and South America were selected based on the number of hours per week spent on the Internet.
The survey was administered in 18 languages and drawn from 24 countries. In addition, significance testing was performed at a 95% confidence level throughout the survey.
For a complete methodological summary, including weighting variables, please contact karen.lentz@icann.org.
The research, conducted between February 2-19, 2015, was designed to create a meaningful baseline of data on consumer attitudes and will be followed by a second survey approximately one year later. This will also be a key input to a team set to be reviewing competition, consumer trust and consumer choice in the domain name system later this year.
I don’t know why but this just does not sound logical.
If I asked my wife if she had heard of the new domain extensions. she would say ‘yes’.
If I asked her to name one, she probably could not easily name one. She probably would just guess.
And, it seems my wife is always on her laptop, tablet or smart phone.
If I asked her what the new gTLD’s are. She probably would not know what I am talking about. (the term gTLD) Which is understandable. That would fall under the category of a technical term.
I am sure she has visited a website using a gTLD. I doubt she realized it. It was because she used google search. I believe google and yahoo search will make or break the new gTLD’s. Not brand recognition or type in traffic.
Amazing. 46% of the general public knows about these new gTLDs? No, it was 46% of ICANN’s “respondents” who said they knew about the new gTLDs. And considering that ICANN’s welfare depends on their success, this ICANN “study” is fairly meaningless.
“The Global Consumer Survey was conducted by Nielsen on behalf of ICANN.”
It sounds like the study was conducted by a 3rd party and not by ICANN themselves.
Agreed, but I really doubt this was a typical “average man on the street” survey. I have no doubt that ICANN gave Nielsen some kind of audience “direction” here. I doubt if even 5% of the people on the street know what a gTLD is.
I don’t agree that the level of awareness is up to 46% for the new gTLDs, perhaps the parameters for the survey are not comprehensive enough.
out of 126% is relatively new term i guess 🙂
In addition to the raw statistics, some of the conclusions that were drawn by the authors as statistically significant outcomes are equally or more important. Quoting or paraphrasing some of the study conclusions (with my thoughts in parentheses):
– Trust in the Domain Name Industry is high; the domain registration industry is seen to be at least as credible and trustworthy as other tech oriented businesses.
– The new TLDs that lead in awareness are those that appear to convey a purpose to the common user (to me that means domain names with semantic meaning, especially linked meaning between the top and second-level name) — the new TLDs carry a connotation of innovation.
– Less than 50% stated that having a well-known extension is the most important factor in purchasing a domain name (meaning people are open to new extensions).
– Of those that used new extensions, 80% or more had Very/Somewhat Positive experience with new extensions.
– >80% favor light or no restrictions on purchasing domain names from new extensions. Users would like to simplify the domain name registration process. (Adding steps and lengthening the time to register will deter expansion of domain name use.)
– URL shorteners and QR codes are not showing widespread adoption, with Asia being a potential exception for QR codes.
– Consumers remember the actual web addresses for the sites they visit most often.
– Over 90% take charge of their own security by buying personal software or changing their Internet habits. <10% curtailed online purchases due to security concerns. (Demonstrating that individuals are willing to take on and address the current risks in order to gain the benefits of the Internet)
– A clear majority believe governments (police, consumer protection agencies, international police agencies) are the ones responsible for stopping abusive behavior.
Kurt Pritz
Domain Name Association
This ICANN “study” kind of reminds me of the ones the tobacco industry did in 1960s that “proved” cigarettes had no relation to lung cancer. Again, there is no way that this was a random study of the general public and this statistic is the canary in the coal mine: “Of those that used new extensions, 80% or more had Very/Somewhat Positive experience with new extensions.”
Seriously?
Most I know won’t renew or can’t dump them fast enough.
Here is a video demonstrating the situation:
https://youtu.be/ZZA-nxn6EnM
Here’s an even funnier video of Briant Gumbel and Katie Couric trying to explain the internet. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtSzrKHbfVw
Those who fail to learn to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, and miss the golden opportunities around them, yet again.
Based on recent articles here, I’ve noticed three major trends in new gTLDs:
– Increase in public awareness
– Low rate of abuse
– Major brands (GM and Barclays) transitioning away from .com
The market is demonstrating new gTLDs are here to stay.