Industry News Digest: June 2024
- by Ilona K.
Table of contents
Welcome to our monthly Industry News Digest. Explore new online trends, platform features and domain industry news to stay up-to-date. Here’s a summary for June 2024.
Tesla loses domain name lawsuit
The electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla attempted to sue a Polish company operating under the TeslaShop.com domain, but lost.
The Polish company had opened a business selling spare parts for Tesla electric vehicles, so technically, their use of the brand in their business and domain names was justified.
According to the Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy (UDRP), companies that provide services or parts related to a specific brand have the right to use the brand name. Jeffrey Samuels, a lawyer from the ADR Forum, drew attention to this exception and recognized the legal use of the domain. As a result, Tesla’s complaint was rejected.
Why should you care? If you want to prevent other organizations from using your brand name in their web addresses, consider purchasing several domains with variations of your business name in different domain extensions.
This approach can also help you protect yourself from various cyber criminals, such as cybersquatters, who can use domains similar to yours for fraudulent purposes.
Source: Domain Name Wire
Gen Z use social media to search
American Zoomers are increasingly choosing social media like TikTok and Instagram over Google to search for information.
Research by Forbes Advisor and Talker Research shows that 46% of Zoomers and 35% of Millennials choose social media for their searches.
On TikTok, they look for information about hair and makeup, gift ideas, wellness and fitness, as well as recipes and meal ideas. They are also drawn to fashion brands, ‘hair and makeup’, and ‘interior design’ on Instagram.
On Facebook, the most popular categories are ‘news and current events’ and ‘recipes and food ideas’.
Despite the rise of social media, Google remains the go-to search engine for finding information about restaurants, bars, services, and electronics. 66% of Generation Z and 77% of Millennials use it for this purpose.
Why should you care? The rising popularity of social media for searches is forcing businesses to change the way they approach content strategies. Make sure to develop your content strategy holistically across your website and social media to optimize your social content for searches.
Source: Forbes
New AI assistant comes to WhatsApp Business
Businesses with a WhatsApp Business account will have access to an AI assistant to help them manage their customer interactions. This feature will be first available in Colombia, India, Brazil, and Indonesia, then rolled out globally.
Additionally, businesses will be able to manage their WhatsApp Business accounts using multiple devices. The AI will assist in creating social media ads and answering customer questions. To make it clear to users when they are communicating with a human agent and when they are interacting with the AI, messages from the AI can be labeled accordingly.
Why should you care? Technology plays a crucial role in business growth by analyzing data, automating tasks, and enhancing communication with customers. However, to work more effectively, it’s important to find the right balance between AI capabilities and human know-how.
James Williams, the Vice President of Business Development at XConnect, suggests that the best approach is to view AI as a powerful tool to be combined with the expertise of specialists. The ability to communicate effectively, build strong relationships, and understand human behavior are qualities that always make successful businesses stand out.
Source: TechCrunch
ICANN internet content regulation initiative rejected
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has always focused on technical aspects related to domain names. However, it recently proposed a project introducing content control (the Registry Voluntary Commitments, orRVC project).
These are ‘voluntary commitments’ made by domain name authorities, which were to be included in their contract with ICANN. The idea was to regulate content by third parties and, in case of violations of these obligations, apply sanctions, including being stripped of control of the domain zone.
However, if the RVCs were adopted, it would violate the fundamental provisions of ICANN’s bylaws, which state that it should not control content. This could also conflict with the Independent Review Process (IRP) for challenging ICANN decisions.
As a result, the ICANN Board of Directors decided not to include content control obligations in contracts. This is a significant victory for domain administrators, the online community, and freedom of speech.
Why should you care? Online security in the domain industry has always been one of the main areas of focus for ICANN. The organization regularly holds purges of domain zones used for illegal purposes. Additionally, ICANN has many initiatives, such as rules to tackle DNS abuse.
However, content regulation is outside the organization’s scope, although, in theory, it could improve security and reduce the number of cybercrimes. Maybe one day such an initiative will be adopted by another organization, able to draw the line between regulating content and upholding the rights and freedoms of the online community.
Source: ICANN
X launches a new platform for short videos
X (formerly Twitter) will launch a TikTok analog for live video content. The platform’s video feed will be personalized based on the user’s preferences. A beta version of this feature will be available to a select group of users during the summer.
The idea of creating a platform for short videos originated with Vine, which enabled users to edit 10-second videos. However, Twitter closed Vine in 2016 due to its inability to compete with other social media platforms.
Elon Musk previously wanted to launch an updated version of the Vine app, which was integrated into Twitter after he purchased the platform in October 2022.
Why should you care? The popularity of TikTok and Instagram Reels Indicates that users enjoy this type of content, so it’s not surprising that X wants to revive one of its most successful projects.
This will provide businesses with another platform to engage with their customers. They can use it to share company news, establish their reputations, or simply entertain users by showcasing their activities.
Source: New York Post
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