closed (IDN single character) .com

[Olney]

This is actually incorrect the Asian market does well without going to Yahoo.com Japanese go to Yahoo.co.jp & Google.co.jp & the data results are actually different.

Japan & China (I'm in Tokyo now) are big enough markets to actually care about what's going on within those markets only for some. Every criteria for the value of a domain name for the English market does not hold true for Asian domains.

Every Japanese potential customer can input Japanese without hesitation, whether on a computer or a cell phone. Inputting a domain name in the native language would just be:

1. Easier to remember
2. The actual native keyword for the domain could finally be used in Yahoo or Google's algorythm.


Not saying that the sale of these domains will skyrocket overnite but you shouldn't kid yourself to think that a whole nation doing anything in their own native language wouldn't be just darn easy... Japanese are NOT good at spelling things in their own language with English letters, it's a fact.

Absolutely agree. But if you have a name that most Internet users cannot type in it's a bit problematic IMHO. On the other hand I would assume most web users, even in the Far East or elsewhere, can switch to ASCII keyboard layout when needed (because Latin characters are sometimes needed: a Japanese presumably goes to yahoo.com just like anybody else), so IDNs are still at a disadvantage.
Now if the company is Greek, has a website in Greek and does not care about the rest of the world and other languages it's OK (ie. for national use).
Well I know IDN debates are often heated but there are sensible views here :cheesy:

 

[none]

Absolutely agree. But if you have a name that most Internet users cannot type in it's a bit problematic IMHO. On the other hand I would assume most web users, even in the Far East or elsewhere, can switch to ASCII keyboard layout when needed (because Latin characters are sometimes needed: a Japanese presumably goes to yahoo.com just like anybody else), so IDNs are still at a disadvantage.
Now if the company is Greek, has a website in Greek and does not care about the rest of the world and other languages it's OK (ie. for national use).
Well I know IDN debates are often heated but there are sensible views here :cheesy:

I just wanted to emphasize Olney's point:

yahoo.co.jp
yahoo.com.hk
yahoo.com.cn
kr.yahoo.com

I can confidently say that the vast majority of searches are made in their respective character sets.

Look up アイコン (icon) in http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/?mkt=jp

 

[Sarcle]

I would also like to add....

雅虎 mean's yahoo in simp chinese. or (xn--y71a305a.com)
雅虎.com has an alexa ranking of 3,612,752
I would also like to add NO Link Popularity. Hm...

Absolutely agree. But if you have a name that most Internet users cannot type in it's a bit problematic IMHO. On the other hand I would assume most web users, even in the Far East or elsewhere, can switch to ASCII keyboard layout when needed (because Latin characters are sometimes needed: a Japanese presumably goes to yahoo.com just like anybody else), so IDNs are still at a disadvantage.
Now if the company is Greek, has a website in Greek and does not care about the rest of the world and other languages it's OK (ie. for national use).
Well I know IDN debates are often heated but there are sensible views here :cheesy:

 

[Rubber Duck]

Absolutely agree. But if you have a name that most Internet users cannot type in it's a bit problematic IMHO. On the other hand I would assume most web users, even in the Far East or elsewhere, can switch to ASCII keyboard layout when needed (because Latin characters are sometimes needed: a Japanese presumably goes to yahoo.com just like anybody else), so IDNs are still at a disadvantage.
Now if the company is Greek, has a website in Greek and does not care about the rest of the world and other languages it's OK (ie. for national use).
Well I know IDN debates are often heated but there are sensible views here :cheesy:

Yes switching to ASCII characters is always an option, a least for the time being. Frankly most of them only actually use ASCII to imput domains and email address, and then only because there is perceived to be no choice.
The only real reason for the non-implementation of IDN at every level in Japan as far as I can see it is that we are still waiting on Microsoft to come through with browser support.

Once the use of Phishing takes off in the Far East, it will become clear to everyone that far from being a threat IDN will actually be the main solution. This is because these people think in local characters, they are at best uncomfortable with ASCII characters and the ambiguities that are created by transliteration will provide wonderful opportunities for Scamming. Just as we would be unhappy signing a contract written in Chinese, even if we had a English Translation, they too will feel and will actually be much safer using their own characters to navigate.

Chinese is also far less ambigious as a domain name medium. Chinese characters are more like Icons than words. There are no conjugations, no tenses and no singular or plural. They make the most wonderful domains as there is little scope for the myriads of me-too domains that you get in English.

Best Regards
Dave Wrixon