7 September 2022
With AU due to enter General Availability (GA) within a few weeks, we would like to communicate key dates and our analysis of what GA means for corporate brands.
- 20 September 2022, the .AU priority allocation process closes. This is the last day Registrants of existing com.au, and net.au domain names will have to apply to register the .au exact match of their name(s).
- 04 October 2022, .AU opens up to the public (GA). Given the relaxed restrictions, It means that anyone with an Australian ID can register any .AU they want. There could be opportunities for brands to register some high-value domains, but also some threats to consider.
Have a plan before 20 September 2022
Australian businesses that use a .com.au domain name should consider the opportunities and threats as it applies to them, their risk appetite and budgets. At a minimum, we recommend that brands register their public-facing websites in the .au space and consider brand protection registrations as well.
We have developed an AU GA SWOT analysis here that dives into the opportunities and threats of the opening of the program. You access it by clicking here.
Have you applied for your core brands?
Brands still have two weeks to secure their AU domain names for any .com.au or .net.au domain name they own in either the Priority 1 or 2 category. Here are our basic recommendations:
• Register your public-facing websites in the AU space.
• Register your trademarks in the AU space.
• Consider your industry keywords, and check if they are available for registration on 20 September.
If you haven’t already, we strongly recommend getting in touch with your brandsec Account Manager to ensure that your core brands are secured before AU opens up to the public.
Are the threats real?
It is likely that there will be some malicious activity focused on this domain name space, for the following reasons:
• AU domain names are relatively cheap to register,
• AU domain names are easy to register (unlike a .com.au domains that are restricted to commercial entities)
• AU is a trusted domain name space, so could easily confuse people.
We are encouraging our Clients to avoid .au attacks by registering at least their core brands and or names that could be used against them.
How do I assess the opportunity?
There will be a wave of applications when the AU domain name space opens up for general availability. Competition for good keyword domain name will be fierce, but it is worth assessing what high-value keywords match your industry, product and services – and seeing if you can secure them in the AU GA launch. There could be a lot of SEO upside with these type of domains.
Our recommendation is to create a list of keywords that are important to your business, send it to your Account Manager, and we will run an analysis to determine:
• Whether the domain name has been claimed or is still available.
• The pre-registration process.
If in doubt, contact your Account Manager
If you would like support on any of the above, contact your Account Manager, or email us at support@brandsec.com.au and we will help to create a tailored plan for your business.
About brandsec
brandsec specialises in corporate domain name management and brand protection. We look after many of Australia, New Zealand and Asia’s top publicly listed brands, providing monitoring and enforcement services, DNS, SSL Management, domain name brokerage and dispute management and brand security consultation services.