[menog] New Arabic TLD and idea's popularity

Mon Oct 28 07:32:35 UTC 2013

UNESCO and EURID do publish an annual report on the use of IDNs worldwide;
it got useful statistics including for Arabic IDNs. The 2013 edition was
published and discussed at the IGF meeting last week. It can be downloaded
here: 
http://www.eurid.eu/en/about-us/publications/insights-research-reports.

Best
Baher

From:  Ahmed Abu-Abed <ahmed at tamkien.com>
Date:  Monday, October 28, 2013 6:54 AM
To:  Fahd Batayneh <fahd.batayneh at icann.org>
Cc:  "menog at menog. net" <menog at menog.net>
Subject:  Re: [menog] New Arabic TLD and idea's popularity

I agree, the term “www” may seem redundant at first look, but it certainly
indicates what is coming next is a web site. In other words, it is like a
“Mr.” or “Dr.” title that give you a rough idea of the person you are
referring to. 
Should we have an Arabic “www” equivalent to grab peoples attention to
Arabic IDN ? Something like نت  (translated into “net”) so instead of
عمان.الاردن  the website owner should promote   نت.عمان.الاردن

This will likely get more attention to Arabic IDNs.

My 0.02 Dinar thoughts ...

-Ahmed

From: Fahd Batayneh <mailto:fahd.batayneh at icann.org>
Sent: Monday, October 28, 2013 12:23 AM
To: Ahmed Abu-Abed <mailto:ahmed at tamkien.com>
Cc: mailto:menog at menog.net
Subject: RE: [menog] New Arabic TLD and idea's popularity

I have actually seen Arabic URLs posted in public areas in the UAE, yet it
is not gaining the marketing advantages it seeks.

There have been discussions within New gTLD applicants on whether to
encourage New gTLD registrants (once these new gTLDs are delegated and are
generally available) to advertise their online presence using “www” in front
of the URL or not; i.e. www.menog.anything <http://www.menog.anything>  vs.
menog.anything. For those who might not know, the inventor of the term “www”
in front of URLs has admitted that such an addition was a mistake in the
first place. Yet, after thorough discussions, those involved have concluded
that in order for people to understand what menog.anything is, it is best
that “www” is added in front of the URL for advertising purposes. I believe
this to be the case for IDNs we well; i.e. some just don’t understand what
مثال.اختبار is.

My 2 cents.

Fahd

From: menog-bounces at lists.menog.org [mailto:menog-bounces at lists.menog.org]
On Behalf Of Ahmed Abu-Abed
Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2013 9:51 PM
To: Tom Paseka
Cc: menog at menog. net
Subject: Re: [menog] New Arabic TLD and idea's popularity

Hi Tom,

Country code TLDs have been available since 2010 for 4 Arab countries at
least. Unfortunately its not on most peoples priority list for implementing,
and I have not noticed any advertising for an Arabic URL over the past
couple of years (I live in the MENOG region).

As for CloudFlares IDNs, it would be good to filter out which are using the
Arabic alphabet and know how many Arabic IDNs are actually out there. That
would require a good understanding of Punycode used to translate an IDN into
Latin characters.

Regards,

-Ahmed

From: Tom Paseka <mailto:tom+menog at cloudflare.com>

Sent: Sunday, October 27, 2013 7:20 PM

To: Ahmed Abu-Abed <mailto:ahmed at tamkien.com>

Cc: mailto:menog at menog.net

Subject: Re: [menog] New Arabic TLD and idea's popularity

Hi Ahmed, 

I've had a look through CloudFlare's customers and we see thousands of
IDN's, but this is nothing compared to what exists in pre-existing romanized
domains. 

For a pre-existing company to move to a IDN, or any new domain in general,
they have to revamp their presence, re-market to everyone to make sure they
visit the correct address. I assume this isn't an easy task.

I suspect you'll see new starters coming out from the get-go with an IDN,
but it'll take a while for the existing content to start adoption.

Cheers,

Tom

On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 1:54 AM, Ahmed Abu-Abed <ahmed at tamkien.com> wrote:

ICANN is in the news with the new شبكة  TLD, see
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24637673

I am yet to see Arabic TLDs widely implemented, although most browsers are
ready, even on iOS and Android which I tested with an Arabic URL. Any idea
on why is the delay in implementing Arabic URL by content providers
(newspapers, etc.) ? People in the region prefer Arabic websites, so I am
wondering what’s stopping content providers from having Arabic URLs.

Also, anyone know if major portals, like Google or Yahoo, have implemented
IDNs in any language for their URL ? Something like ياهو.شبكة  (which
translates to Yahoo.net , as I cannot find an equivalent to .com as an
Arabic TLD).

Best Regards,

Ahmed Abu-Abed

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