Industry News Digest: November 2024
- by Ilona K.
Table of contents
Welcome to our monthly Industry News Digest. Explore new online trends and domain industry news to stay up-to-date. Here’s a summary for November 2024.
16.3 Million Cyberattacks via Domains Registered in a Year
Interisle, a company specializing in internet technology and network strategy, has released a report on cybercrime in various domain zones for 2024.
From September 2023 to August 2024, 16.3 million cyberattacks (phishing, spam, malware distribution) were recorded – 54% more than in the previous 12 months. This includes 8.6 million unique domains, which is nearly twice as many as the year before. Experts note that the registration of domains for attacks has increased significantly. In one case, over 17,000 cybercrime domains were registered in less than eight hours at the same registrar.
The largest number of dangerous domains were found in the .COM, .TOP, .XYZ, and .CN zones.
Experts of Interisle believe that cybercrime is becoming an increasingly profitable business, and existing security measures are no longer sufficient to prevent it. The income and economic damage caused by fraudsters are measured in trillions of dollars per year. It’s estimated that the global economic impact in 2024 will be US$9.5 trillion in terms of damage.
Why should you care? DNS abuse (a system that translates human-readable domain names into Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, which computers use to identify each other on the network) is a serious problem that affects both regular users and companies. ICANN is doing its best to address this issue. To achieve this, the organization has launched a DNS Abuse Mitigation Program.
However, you can minimize the risk of domain abuse yourself by taking a number of steps including analyzing the domain before registering it, regularly updating and patching your systems, and participating in security communities and initiatives.
Additionally, you can use more practices for domain security. These practices include implementing DNSSEC (DNS Security Extensions), using two-factor authentication, choosing a paid SSL certificate over a free one, and implementing DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance).
Source: Domain Name Wire
‘AI’ Keyword on the Top of Sedo Trending Keywords Report
The domain reseller Sedo has released its latest list of trending keywords. This ranking is based on the most popular user queries.
Unlike the Afternic report, where ‘AI’ has been in second place for the second month in a row, Sedo has maintained its top position.
One thing that both platforms have in common is the continued popularity of IT-related keywords.
Here is the top for October:
- AI
- Tech
- Coin
- Crypto
- Pay
- SEO
- Shop
- Business
- Digital
- Travel
Why should you care? Terms related to IT continue to be popular. If your company operates in the IT sector, you can confidently use these terms when choosing a domain name or domain extension. This strategy will help you find a unique domain name that accurately reflects the essence of your business.
You can choose from a wide range of domain names with popular keywords, such as tech.it.com and aitool.it.com on it.com Domains. This extension –.it.com – will perfectly match the keywords from the Sedo report, as it is also suitable for IT-related companies.
Source: X (ex-Twitter)
Hundreds of Companies Upgrade Domains to Premium Ones
Elliot Silver, a domain investor and the president of Top Notch Domains, has published a list of companies on his website that have upgraded their domain names to premium ones (short domains containing a popular keyword or brand names in the name).
According to Elliot Silver, in recent years, buying the most suitable domain has become a business trend. Nowadays, all the largest companies understand the importance of a domain name. A premium domain is an indicator of the company’s viability, strengthens branding and builds customer trust. For the perfect domain that perfectly matches their brand and consists of one word, they are ready to pay hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars.
Acquiring the ideal domain name for your brand can be a costly endeavor, with expenses that in some cases reach thousands dollars. However, the investment usually pays off quickly. A recent example of such a deal is the purchase of the Aries.com domain by the Aries trading platform for several million dollars.
Elliot Silver has compiled a list of companies that have upgraded their domains in recent years. The list includes hundreds of organizations that have moved to premium-class ones in the .com zone. For instance, Abby Connect changed its domain name from abbyconnect.com to abby.com, Acadia Pharmaceuticals changed acadia-pharma.com to acadia.com, and Afresh Technologies changed afreshtechnologies.com to afresh.com.
Why should you care? Premium domains have always been more appealing because they are often short and easy to remember and type. Having a premium domain is one way to develop a brand and enhance your reputation.
As digital transformation continues to take place across various industries, having a relevant, memorable, and affordable premium domain can significantly improve your brand visibility and credibility. The .it.com extension offers a wide range of attractive premium domains related to IT. These domains are perfect for businesses and individuals who are interested in technology, such as startups, software developers, IT consultants, and tech enthusiasts who want to create a strong online presence.
Source: Embrace.com
Google May Be Forced to Sell Chrome
The US Justice Department plans to force Google to sell the Chrome browser as part of an antitrust case. The department also wants to limit the use of AI in search results and separate Android from other Google services, including Google Play.
Initially, the US Justice Department wanted Google to sell the Android OS, but the idea was rejected. The sale of Chrome may be delayed if other measures prove effective in promoting competition.
Google holds 61% of the browser market in the United States. In August, the court found that Google had violated the law by forming a monopoly, citing agreements with phone and browser makers.
Why should you care? Many people use the Chrome browser on their devices. Google is usually their main search engine. If ownership changes, this could have a big impact on how users utilize the browser and search online.
Source: Bloomberg
ChatGPT Launched Web Search Function
OpenAI introduced its ChatGPT Search engine within its popular ChatGPT chatbot.
ChatGPT Search runs on an enhanced version of GPT-4o large language model. When a user types in a prompt, it creates a response using data from third-party search providers (e.g. Microsoft Bing) and content from publishers who partner with OpenAI.
The difference vs the usual ChatGPT experience is that a user gets answers based on fresh data, often published the same day. ChatGPT search can also pull rich results, such as images and maps, as well as updates such as weather, sports scores, stock prices, etc.
OpenAI highlights that the search engine works with reliable sources and provides only verified information. It has improved its ability to highlight and attribute information from trusted sources, including official news outlets.
The new feature is now available in the premium paid version of ChatGPT, but OpenAI plans to release it for the chatbot’s 600m+ free users in the next few months. .
Why should you care? The option to search using long prompts and specify the details makes ChatGPT Search a valuable tool for research and decision-making. For businesses, it creates a new source of traffic to the website.
If you own a website, some key actions for you are to check if the website is accessible to OpenAI crawling bots that are responsible for pulling the links to the answers, and optionally restrict the bots responsible for training ChatGPT model. It’s also worth monitoring traffic that comes from ChatGPT (typically under Referral in Google Analytics) to better understand how users interact with your content in AI search.
Source: OpenAI
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