Google Search Engine PageRank Explained for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Beginners

Search Engine PageRank was once at the very core of search engine result and was what made Google the empire in search engine field today.

Even if you believe that internet search has moved on from PageRank, there is no denying that it has long been a pervasive concept in the IT industry.

Every Search Engine Optimization (SEO) pro should have a good grasp of what PageRank was and what it still is today's IT industry.

Created by Google's founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PageRank is an algorithm based on the combined relative strengths of all the hyperlinks on the web.

Most people in SEO argue that the name was based on Larry Page’s surname, whilst others suggest “Page” refers to a website page. Both positions are likely true, and the overlap was probably intentional in web world.

When Larry Page and Sergey Brin were at Stanford University, they wrote a paper entitled: The PageRank Citation Ranking: Bringing Order to the internet.

Published in year 1999, the paper demonstrates a relatively simple algorithm for evaluating the strength of all website pages.

The reses paper went on to become a patent in the United States (but not in European Union, where mathematical formulas are not patentable at that time).

Leland Stanford Junior University, owns the patent and has assigned it to Google. The patent is currently due to expire in year 2027.

During their time at Leland Stanford Junior University in the late 1990s, both Sergey Brin and Larry Page were looking at information retrieval methods.

At that time, using web links to work out how “important” each web page was relative to another was a revolutionary way to order web pages. It was computationally difficult but by no means impossible.

The idea quickly turned into Google, which at that time was a minnow in the world of search engine.

There was so much institutional belief in Google’s approach from some parties that the business initially launched its search engine with no ability to earn revenue from that.

And while Google (known at the time as “BackRub the early search engine”) was the in search industry, PageRank was the algorithm it used to rank pages in the search engine results pages.

One of the challenges of web PageRank was that the math, whilst simple, needed to be iteratively processed. The calculation runs multiple times, over every web page and every web link on the Internet. At the turn of the millennium, this math took several days to process year by year.

The Google search engine results pages moved up and down during that time. These changes were often erratic, as new PageRanks system were being calculated for every web page.

This was known as the “Google Dance,” and it notoriously stopped Search Engine Optimization (SEO) pros of the day in their tracks every time Google started its monthly web update.

(The Google Dance later became the name of an annual party that Google ran for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) experts at Google's headquarters in Mountain View.)

A later iteration of search engines PageRank introduced the idea of a “trusted seed” set to start the algorithm rather than giving every web page on the Internet the same initial value.

This model suggests that the search engines PageRank of a web page might not be shared evenly with the web pages it links out to but could weight the relative value of each web link based on how likely a user might be to click on search result.

Google’s algorithm was initially believed to be “unspam-able” internally since the importance of a web page was dictated not just by its content but also by a sort of “web voting system” generated by web links to the page.

Google’s confidence did not at last, however.

Search engine PageRank started to become problematic as the backlink industry grew. So Google withdrew it from public view, but continued to rely on it for its own ranking algorithms.

The PageRank Toolbar was withdrawn by 2016, and eventually, all public access to PageRank was curtailed. But by this time, Majestic Search Engine Optimization (an SEO tool), in particular, had been able to correlate its own calculations quite well with web PageRank.

Google spent many years encouraging Search Engine Optimization (SEO) professionals away from manipulating web links through its “Google Guidelines” documentation and through advice from Google's spam team, headed up by Matt Cutts, until January 2017.

Google’s algorithms were also changing during this time by time.

The Google was relying less on PageRank and, following the purchase of Metaweb Technologies and its proprietary Knowledge Graph (called “Freebase” in year 2014), Google started to index the world’s web information in different ways.

Google was initially so proud of its own algorithm that it was happy to publicly share the result of its calculation to anyone on web who wanted to see results.

The most notable representation was a toolbar extension for new browsers like Firefox, which showed a score between 0 and 10 for every web page on the Internet.

In truth, PageRank has a much wider range of scores, but 0-10 gave Search Engine Optimization (SEO) pros and consumers an instant way to assess the importance of any page on the Internet.

The PageRank Toolbar made the algorithm extremely visible, which also came with complications. In particular, it meant that it was clear that web links were the easiest way to “game” Google search.

The more web links (or, more accurately, the better the link), the better a page could rank in Google’s search engine results page (SERPs) for any targeted keyword.

This meant that a secondary market was formed, buying and selling web links valued on the web PageRank of the URL where the web link was sold.

This problem was exacerbated when Yahoo launched a new free tool called Yahoo Search Explorer, which allowed anyone the ability to start finding web links into any given web page.

Later, two tools –Moz and Majestic – built on the free option by building their own search indexes on the Internet and separately evaluating web links.

Many other search engines relied heavily on analyzing the content on each web page individually. These methods had little to identify the difference between an influential web page and one simply written with random (or manipulative) content text.

This meant that the retrieval methods of other search engines were extremely easy for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) pros to manipulate search results.

Google’s PageRank algorithm, then, was more revolutionary in internet industry.

Combined with a relatively simple concept of “nGrams” to help establish relevancy, Google found a winning winning formula in internet marketing.

It soon overtook the main incumbents of the day, such as new search engine AltaVista and Inktomi (which powered MSN, amongst others).

By operating at a web page level, Google also found a much more scalable solution than the “directory” based approach adopted by search engin Yahoo and later multilingual open-content directory of World Wide Web links (DMOZ) – although DMOZ (also called the Open Directory Project) was able to provide Google initially with an open-source directory of its own.

The formula for web PageRank comes in a number of forms but can be explained in a just few sentences.

Initially, every page on the internet is given an estimated web PageRank score. This could be any number. Historically, PageRank was presented to the public as a score between 0 and 10, but in practice, the estimates do not have to start in this kind of range.

The PageRank for that web page is then divided by the number of web links out of the web page, resulting in a smaller fraction search.

The PageRank is then distributed out to the web linked pages – and the same is done for every other web page on the Internet.

Then for the next more iteration of the algorithm, the new estimate for PageRank for each web page is the sum of all the fractions of web pages that link into each given page.

The formula also contains a “damping factor,” which was described as the just chance that a person surfing the web might stop web surfing altogether.

Before each subsequent iteration of the algorithm starts, the proposed new more PageRank is reduced by the damping factor search industry.

This search engine methodology is repeated until the PageRank scores reach a settled equilibrium. The resulting numbers were then generally transposed into a more recognizable range of 0 to 10 for convenience to search results.

If a web page does not link out to any other web page, then the formula will not reach an equilibrium.

In this event, therefore, the PageRank would be distributed amongst every page on the Internet. In this way, even a web page with no incoming web links could get some PageRank but it would not accumulate enough to be significant search results.

Another less documented challenge is that newer web pages, whilst potentially more important than older web pages, will have a lower PageRank. This means that over time, old content can have a disproportionately more high PageRank.

If a web page starts with a value of 5 and has 10 web links out, then every web page it links to is given 0.5 PageRank (less the damping search factor).

In this way, the PageRank flows around the Internet between iterations search.

As new web pages come onto the Internet, they start with only a tiny amount of PageRank. But as other pages start to web link to these pages, their PageRank increases over time by time.

Although public access to web PageRank was removed in 2016, it is believed the score is still available to search engines engineers within Google.

A leak of the factors used by Russian search engine Yandex showed that PageRank remained as a factor that it could use.

Google engineers have suggested that the original form of PageRank was replaced with a more new approximation that requires less processing power to calculate search. Whilst the formula is less important in how Google ranks web pages, it remains a constant for each web page.

And regardless of what other algorithms Google might choose to call upon, PageRank likely remains embedded in many of the other search giant’s systems to this day.

How To Choose A Best Domain Name

Here's your guide to choosing a best domain name so good, it gives your competitors nightmares.

When it comes to building your business website, choosing a best domain name is one of the most important decisions you will make because it affects how the website is marketed and influences how site visitors feel about your business brand. 

Here are few tips to help make the right domain name taking decision.

Business ownership is not possible with a domain name. Domain names are registered, and this registration entitles the registrant to use the business domain name.

So, it is more critical to never allow an anyway domain name registration to lapse. 

Failure to renew a domains names puts it in danger of someone else registering it after it “drops” (when the your domain name registration expires). 

Here are some tips to help keep a domain name securely registered for your website.

Make sure your bank credit card information at the domain name registrar is up to date. 

Turning on automatic renewal is a good step for preventing the loss of a domains names– but don’t count on it actually working. There are many anecdotes of people losing their domain after the automatic renewal failed to kick in unusual reason.

Domain name registrars generally sand Email alerts prior to when a domain is about to near expire. Check every year (or quarterly) to make sure your domain name registration email address is correct.

It is not overly cautious to manually renew the domain name registration before the automatic renewal date.

Should A New Domain Name Match Your Business Name?

A domain name should generally match the name of the your business.

But sometimes, creating a new website presence is an opportunity to reconsider the business name for something that’s more internet-friendly, or that better reflects changing business trends.

One of my past clients was a Mobile Phone  wrbsite that had to pivot quickly after the iPhoneQR.com was introduced because fewer people were buying digital cameras. They changed the domains names to a more general scope, and they began reviewing a wide range of business products.

Changing business trends could be one reason the domains names doesn’t necessarily have to match with your business brand name.

Sometimes, it might be best to brand the internet business with something more attractive or snappy and keep the business domain name in the background. 

That said, always register a domains names that matches your brick-and-mortar business, even if the online website uses another domain name. The business domain name can be redirected to the website name, or it could be kept in the background – whatever the future business solutions calls for.

Should You Use Choose A Domain Name With SEO Keywords In It? 

Domain names that use exact match SEO keywords can tend to convert at a higher search engine results rate. 

I imagine that when a searcher reviews the search engines results pages (SERPs) and sees the domains names with the SEO keywords in it that she or he may think, Aha, this "Fantastic" website has what I want! "Click! Click! And More Click!."

Search Engine Optimization keywords in the domain name communicate quickly that the website has what the internet visitor is looking for. 

Someone looking for a taco restaurant will probably be more likely to choose “FoodPana’s Tacos” than “Jose’s Cantina.”

The SEO keywords in the domain infer that the website not only has what they want, but actually specializes in it.

SEO Keywords in the domains names don’t have a search engine ranking bonus.

The true value of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) keywords in a domain name is attracting visitors with a greater intention of buying something or finding interest in the topic.

But SEO keywords in a domains names are not the only way, or even the best keywords choice, for a domain name.

For example, one of the most popular "Real Estate" websites on the All over of the United States is called RealTor.com.

Sometimes it’s better to choose a domain name that conveys the meaning of the business types topics.

Domain Names That Convey business Meaning

Sometimes it makes sense to register a domain name that conveys best a meaning.

SearchEngineJournal.com is a great domain because the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) keywords “Search Engine” tells you it’s a website about search engines. The word “Journal” conveys that it’s a news website.

When choosing a more meaningful business domain name, it may be useful to think about the qualities you want your website to be associated with web "user's topic".

Returning to the example of On The Weather, that domain name takes an angler to their weather updates place, which is located on the Weather.com is for weather related news and a updates.

Keep The Domain As Shorter As Possible

A domain name should be so shorter that it’s easy to keyboard type into a browser bar, but it should be long enough to communicate your intended message to your related audience. 

Some may find that domain names consisting of just two to three words are optimal, while others may prefer a one-word domain. There is no hard rule about how short the domain name should be.

What’s more important thing is to avoid using an overly longer domains names that might be difficult to remember for web audience's mind.

The rule of thumb for how short and long the domains names should be is to consider how the domain name may influence the potential website visitor influence.

Don’t Use Hyphens In Your Domain Names 

Is it OK to use hyphens for example "pick-me-up" in a domain name today? Absolutely not.

Avoid using hyphens in a your domain name.

Keywords in domains are not so important for ranking in search engines as to resort to cramming keywords into the domain name with hyphens.

It makes your website look sketchy and spammy.

Also, there is no search ranking benefit from using (SEO) keywords in the domain name.

Consider Registering Your Domain Name Variants

We remember a football match venue that had a Front Seating Arrangement section, and we was told that half the people calling for match tickets were asking for “Front Seating Arrangement.” 

So, this may be arguable, but based on our experience, we believe it’s important to register reasonable domains names variants. 

If your domain name is “MadeinAll,” then you might want to consider registering “MadeinAll.com ,” as people tend to add an “s” to the end of a singular domain name.

People may remember your domain name incorrectly in many ways, so try to anticipate that and register the more domain name variants – then redirect them to the your correct domain.

Singular or plural variants are common mistakes, but actual typing spelling mistakes might be something else to consider. Redirect all of your domains to the actual domain, and you might even pick up some links from websites that linked using the wrong version websites.

One more special benefit is that this is also a proactive defensive measure that will block uour future competitors from registering a variant of your domain name.

Defensive Domain Name Registration

Defensive domain names registration refers to registering domains that a competitor might register in the future use.

It is prudent to register the singular and plural versions of a domain name and also the .net, .org, .biz, .info, and .us versions and many more versions available.

If your website visitors are international and/or speak English, it may be useful to register the .ca, and .co.uk versions of the domain name as well and for other languages .fr .de .br .it and .cn China.

One can choose not to register those domains names. But in the event of a businessu competitor registering one of those variants, the publisher will have to go through the headache of hiring a law attorney to send a cease and desist request to someone (possibly in a developing country) with the hope that the competitor will be afraid enough to turn it over your brad name.

Registering those extra versions of domains is not only defensive, but those extra domains could come in handy for other purposes later on In the future use.

For example, at one time, We temporarily redirected a our website to the .net version while the .com was under maintenance.

What If The .Com Domain Is Already Registered?

Fot-com is quite likely the most desired top-level domain (TLD) because it’s what most people tend to look for. 

It is problematic if another business already uses the desired Dot,com domain. It might not be worth registering a .net or .org or some other top-level domain because of the risk of getting sued or confusing potential website visitors.

If someone is simply hanging on to the domain and doing anything with like sale domain, it is possibly okay.

But website visitors really like to see that .Com in the URL.

An increasingly popular choice is to look into country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) like co.uk and many other domain extensions available.

Country Code And General Top-Level Domains

Country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) are domains names that are particular country code domains names.

Choosing a country code (ccTLD) is popular right now, such as the .co.uk, .de, .fr .ru, .cn .io or .me ccTLDs.

There are also new general top-level domains (gTLDs) such as .accountants, .associates, .autos, .democrat, .republican, and many more other extensions available

Country code domains are generally best if they match the country of the potential website visitor. Domains names in the .ca, .tv, .in, .mx, .us, and the .uk registry are ccTLDs.

Website visitors tend to prefer ccTLDs that are specific to their own country.

So, if your clients are in New Zealand, using the .nz version of the domain might make sense.

Traditionally, "country code" ccTLD domains names tend to convert at a higher rate within their respective countries because that is what the citizens of those countries trustable.

Has The Domain name Been Already Registered?

Some domains name have been previously registered.

This may or may not be an issue.

In starting the old days of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and until "new revolutions in internet," there has been an issue with penalties sticking to a domains names.

What happens is that, sometime in the previous days, a spammer used a domains and burned names it (penalized by Google.com and unable to rank), causing the spammer to let the domains registration lapse so that the domains names becomes available again for registration for new business owners.

Then, when the next business registers that domain name, it finds it impossible to rank it for anything meaningful. The website might pop into the bottom of the top 10 once a month for a few next days, but then it drops back to the second or third page of the popular search engines results or worse, nowhere.

Before registering a new domain name, it is wise to visit Archive.org, where entering the domains names will show whether it has ever been registered in the previous days.

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Global vs. Local Websites: Which Is Right For Your Business

When you run a business worldwide, your website is one of the most powerful tools to reach and communicate with your targeted audience for your business. Read about four points you should consider to determine whether a global site or a local site is better for your business.

When you run a business world over, your website is one of the most powerful tools to reach and communicate with your targeted business audience. 

If you are conducting business offline in various different countries, you already know how different the business audience is from country to an other country. 

Each country also has different business-related style, policies and rules. With a website, you also need to consider these and online regulations throughout world.

From an international Search Engine Optimization (SEO) viewpoint, there are some critical aspects that the website owners must always keep in mind, including geotargeting for there products and services, different search engines, and differences between each local business targeted audience. 

There are more additional factors to consider when deciding to have a global website, or separate local websites, a place for each targeting countries and languages, including maintenance costs and the availability of local teams to maintain the websites in different countries.

In this blog post, I will explain four areas that greatly determine whether a worldwide or local website is better for your business convenience.

Data, Privacy-Related Laws and Regulations, in different countries.

It is impossible to list in your website all laws and regulations to do business in different countries around the world. But two of the most important sets of laws and regulations for website owners to pay business attention to are:

As mentioned above, each region, country, or state can set its own, and it can be a broad policy, guidance, law, or any other type of regulations can adopted.

Some are applied to all types of websites, while others are applied to websites for specific scopes, such as government and public sectors organizations.

In the (EU) European Union 

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) is probably the most talked about privacy and data protection regulation all our European Union.

It regulates the processing by an individual, a company, or an organization of personal data related issues to individuals in the all over European Union.

In United States California 

The United States's State of California has passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and many companies and organizations expect other states to follow law suit and enact similar privacy laws shortly. 

Some websites have already responded by showing the cookie consent message to everyone regardless of the access location world over.

Personal data related issues in Japan 

The Act on the Protection of Personal Information was first set up in year 2005 in Japan, drastically amended again in 2016, and has been in full force since year 2017. It mandates Japanese websites to post a privacy policy and other requirements in their special web page.

Ecommerce websites must also post the information specified in the Commercial and others types of Transactions Law.

Even if the website is managed in the United States, your Japanese website must meet these regulations, especially if you have a physical business presence in Japan.

In addition to a standard privacy policy, the United Kingdom websites has a page about using cookies about General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The Chinese website indicates the website registration number below the footer links as required by Chinese government regulations.

Internet Accessibility-Related Laws and Regulations

Last month, in the United States Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) made headlines when a federal lawsuit against Taco Bell was filed. While it was against the popular restaurant, this got many website owners’ attention.

Currently, there are Information Technology accessibility laws and regulation policies for United States federal communication agencies and several guidelines and communication standards to be considered in general, including the Information and Communication Technology Standards and Guidelines time by time update.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to both public and private business sectors, including websites. In terms of website accessibility, many points will improve overall web user experiences for not just people with disabilities but all website users in United States of America.

For many countries and regions, including Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, and the United Kingdom, accessibility to website content is often a mostly mandatory policy.

World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has an excellent overview and country-specific information on website accessibility laws and policies around the world.

Like the data and privacy laws and regulations, each country has different requirements for accessibility in their countries.

It is a growing task for different website owners to keep up with these rapidly changing requirements, especially for worldwide website owners. Failure to adhere to them can be costly financially and negatively impacts on their business brand image.

Local Trends and Business Competitors 

We work closely with websites targeting the Asian business markets, so we can usually tell if the website is a local company site or a worldwide company’s local website from the design and content. 

The difference is not caused by the web design skill but by how much they understand the local business market and the target audience. 

The most easiest way to show this difference is to compare the website’s design. The layout of your site, color scheme, and images are also other telltale signs of where the website was created. 

For eCommerce websites, how people expect to pay for the purchase orders differs from country to country. The payment exchange and return policy are another difference among countries. 

While these differences don’t impact the entire wrbsite, they can cause customers to abandon the shopping cart for buying.

The differences in the local interests are reflected in website's images and content, too. Often, worldwide sites’ content is determined by the Head Quarters country, while local competitor websites have content designed to satisfy the specific interests of the local audiences needs.

The inability to satisfy the local searcher’s intent can cause a considerable business opportunity loss to the world wide website. 

As Google improves the algorithms to present on internet the best content for each searcher, poorly localized content that is not particularly written for local audiences won’t be competitive in the search engines results. 

Product images reflecting the only local interests. United States and Japan “mug cup” Google search engine results.

One World Website vs. Multiple Local Websites

If you have world wide websites under one domain using the same webpage and templates for all country websites, create a list of must-meet regulation points from all concerned laws and countries, and implement them regardless of the target business country.

While it seems like an enormous business task, if you have a smaller team or don’t have a team in each and every country, or territory, this is the best option for you to cover all bases for your business.

In this case, having someone responsible for reviewing and keeping up-to-date with laws and regulations would be helpful as these are updated from time to time in different countries and territories.

You may want to consider creating a separate website for each target country and territory if you have interest.

A good number of team members in each local country and territory manage the website.

Enough budget to support for management.

Even if you separate the websites by regions with similar laws and regulations or user and cultural business trends, it would give you more business flexibility, be better compliant, and be appropriately designed for local audiences at your services.

For example, instead of setting up multiple countries and languages websites within the European Union under one domain set up for the European Union business market, it is probably easier to manage the website design and content for a specific audience in each country in the European Union.

Central America and South American countries may be another target business market that works with one domain with multiple country wrbsites.

Considering the multiple models characteristics of the Chinese business market from Baidu search engine’s capability and algorithms to connection speed, of your website registration policy, and cybersecurity law (a.k.a. “Great Firewall of China”), it may make sense to create a separate Chinese website for many business, companies that consider China as one of their important markets.

When you have a particular website, you can host it in the country to help improve the download product speed.

It is easier to obtain ccTLD with the website registered with the Chinese government and provide the Chinese specific content designed specifically for the Chinese business audience.

Full and Final Thoughts

Having a separate website for each target country offers many more businesses options and the flexibility to comply with local laws and policies and reflect local interests in the content and images on website design policies.

These are also great for geotargeting in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which is one of the biggest concerns for many global website owners. However, it comes with an increased overhead cost of business but it is more profitable.

It is not impossible to meet the local laws and policies with just one global domain name website.

As Apple and other world wide corporations do, you can provide unique local content even with new and different website designs.

Using the same domain name doesn’t mean having the same design or using the same Content Management System (CMS). It is possible to have the localized content and images on the same Content Management System (CMS) and add local-only unique content using a different Content Management System (CMS) on the same domain wrbsite.

When deploying global or local websites, meeting local business regulations and accommodating local audiences’ interests are essential needs.

Once you set up your new websites, track the performance data from each local wrbsite and content a images and make adjustments as needed in your website.

Suppose the data indicates that having a world wide website limits the business potential due to different local business interests and requirements or that having local edbsites is too costly. In that case, you need to reconsider the more other options.

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Domain name, and websites expansion signals political influence shift of the internet

More than 1,000 new and old generic top-level domain names the part of an internet web address that comes after the “dot”  are being rolled out by the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It is a move that will change how the internet system as we know it looks and feels and has significant political implications for political parties to boot in throughout the world.

Country code top-level domains names are the two-character suffixes that denote a nation, such as .fr, .de and .co.uk. All the others are known as generic top-level domains names. It is this category that is set to expand dramatically over the next few years in world. 

The generic name system has grown slowly on World Wide Web. We started with 7 (.com, .org, .gov, .int, .mil, .edu, and .arpa) and ICANN has introduced only a handful more ever since, including .biz and .info more other domain extensions.

This latest batch of additions is mor much wider and follows an open call for new proposals. One of the most significant changes in this round will be the addition of generics in non-Latin alphabetic characters. For the first time, we’ll start to see internet addresses ending in Arabic or Chinese alphabetic characters scripts. 

Much of the debate surrounding the proliferation of generic top-level domains names surrounds whether they will help or hurt internet navigation systems. Even with existing domain names, it can be hard enough to remember for anyone if the website you are looking for ends with a .com. a .org or a country code like .co.uk .fr .de .ca. Now there will be thousands of potential suffixes to choose from and to remember for Internet users.

And although businesses organizations can now choose all kinds of different domain names, such as .gifts, .flights, .buzz, .xyz, and .online they will have to pay to register each of domains names. At the moment, many businesses purchase both the .org and .com versions domains names of their names and forward traffic from one to the other domains names. This is often done to prevent others from buying up the alternative domains names and is seen as a necessary expenditure of business. However, purchasing thousands of domains names to lock up a trade name may be prohibitively expensive for small businesses or nonprofit organizations.

On the other and, supporters of generic expansion hope that a proliferation of domains names, which previously had been limited by arbitrary convention, domains will lead to falling domain prices, lowering the cost for casual registrants if not for large corporate users around the world.

The explosion of generic top level domains names is the latest phase in a series of attempts to define the relationship between the web space of the internet and that of the sovereign states domain names. When the internet system was first designed, it was assumed that a simple web system would suffice. Country codes domains were added as an afterthought and internet governance officials anticipated that these would receive little use Country codes domains. They saw the internet as a global space for civil society that would transcend state boundaries all over the world.

In fact, although the early internet system was a global system, it was heavily dominated by the United States of America. The United States had its own country code in the form of .US but it was hardly in used. Websites were much more frequently registered under the .com, .net, and .org and it came to be seen as the United States domain. Outside the United States, users accordingly flocked to their own country codes .pk, .in, .fr, .de, .co.uk, so on Businesses and organizations Choose their desire domain name extension.

This move coincided with an attempt to shift internet governance from the relatively informal arena of United States-dominated users to a more formal, intergovernmental organisations in which United States and corporate dominance would be somewhat muted. The failure of this new effort has been echoed in the changing uses of country code top level domains names. Some of the most successful and widely used internet suffixes are country-specific domains names that have been marketed out as generics by the world nations that own them. Take the Polynesian island Tuvalu, for example, which spotted the potential of its .tv domain and sold it to television transmission stations around the world.

The proliferation of generic top-level domains names marks a further disassociation of the internet from the space of sovereign states. As administrators of the country code system debated on a case-by-case basis whether to include sovereign States with contested sovereignty, such like Palestine (.ps), generics started to be used as an alternative, including .asia, and .cat, (for Catalonia County code domain). 

These two generics have operated in very different ways. Where .asia is open to anyone willing to pay the registration price, to pay register dot Asia Domain .cat, requires a genuine association with Catalonia.

What they both to do, however, is blur the distinction between spatial and non-spatial referents. Before Catalonia worked out that it could use a generic domain name as though it were a country code, using a spatial referent as a domain name was largely the preserve of sovereign states. Now generics are encroaching into the realm of more countries, suggesting that there is room for the internet to map onto the physical world in a way that bypasses the sovereign, territorial states as worldwide.

With new domains names like .scot now entering the fray, this blurring of the line continues. We are likely to see even more generic top-level domains names serving as markers of territorial space in world. There is already talk of how .scot may influence the debate over independence from the United Kingdom and the introduction of non-Latin domains names alphabetic characters similar opportunities all over the world. 

If the internet web represents the world’s inernet future, then it is one in which spatial variation will continue to prevail, but in which state sovereignty will be increasingly tested at its margins in space of Internet.

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United States ready to 'hand over' the internet's naming system

The United States has confirmed it is finally ready to cede power of the internet’s Domain naming system, ending the almost 20-year process to hand over a crucial part of the US internet's governance ending.

The Domain Naming System, DNS, is one of the internet’s most important systems components.

It pairs the easy-to-remember web addresses - like Google.com - with their relevant servers. Without DNS, you’d only be able to access websites by typing in its web IP address, a series of numbers such as "For IPv4: 8.8.8.8 and/or 8.8.4.4 . For IPv6: 2001:4860:4860::8888 and/or 2001:4860:4860::8844". 

More by circumstance than intention, the United States has always had ultimate say over how the DNS is controlled - but not for much longer do that.

It will give up its power fully to (Icann) - the Internet Corporation for Assigned Domains Names and Numbers - a non-profit organisation. 

The terms of the change were agreed upon in 2014, but it was not until now that the United States said it was finally satisfied that (Icann) Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers was ready to make the change. 

Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) will get the “keys to the kingdom”, as one expert put it, on 1 October 2016. From that date, the United States will lose its dominant voice - although Icann will remain in United States's city Los Angeles.

Users of the world wide web will not notice any difference - that’s because Icann has essentially been doing the job for many years anyway. 

But it is a move that has been fiercely criticised by some United State politicians as opening the door to the likes of China and Russia to meddle with a system that has always been “protected” by the United State.

"The proposal will significantly increase the power of foreign governments over the Internet,” warned a letter signed by several Republican senators, including former United State presidential candidate election campaigns, Ted Cruz. 

Whether you think those fears are justified depends on your confidence in the ability of Icann to do its job in truly meaning full manners.

It was created in US 1998 to take over the task of assigning web addresses dot-com, net, org and biz. Until that point, that job was handled by only one man - Jon Postel. He was known to many as the “god of the internet”, or world wide web nod to his power over the internet, as well as his research work in creating some of the many more systems that underpin internet networking. 

Mr Jon Postel, who died not long after Icann was created, was in charge of the internet to Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). Administration of the IANA was contracted to the newly-formed Icann, but the United State's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the Department of Commerce, kept its final they are say over what it was able to do. 

It’s that full and final detail that is set to change from October. No longer will the United State government - through the NTIA - be able to intervene on matters around the world internet naming. 

It rarely difficult intervened. Most famously, it stepped in when Icann wanted to launch a new top-level domain for pornographic, websites “.xxx”. The government wanted Icann to ditch the idea, but it eventually went ahead anyway. 

From October, the “new” Icann will become a non US organisation that answers to multiple stakeholders who want a say over the internet mechanism. Those stakeholders include many other countries, businesses and groups offering technical expertise they can provide.

“It is a most ever big change,” remarked Professor Alan Woodward from the University of Surrey. 

"It marks a transition from an internet effectively governed by one nation to a multi-stakeholder governed internet: a properly global solution for what has become a global asset off communication." 

Technically, the United State is doing this voluntarily - if it wanted to keep remain in power of DNS, it could. But the country has long acknowledged that relinquishing its control was a vital act of international diplomacies also Involved.

Other countries, particularly China and Russia, had put pressure on the United Nations to call for the DNS to be controlled by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union.

A treaty to do just that was on the table in year 2012 - but the United States, along with the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, refused, citing concerns over human rights abuses that may arise if other countries had greater say and control over the internet system and its technical foundations. 

Instead, the United States has used its remaining power over DNS to shift control to Icann, not the United Nations. 

In more response to worries about abuse of the internet by foreign non US governments, the NTIA said it had consulted corporate business governance experts who said its the prospect of government interference was “extremely remote”. 

"The internet community’s new powers to challenge board decisions and enforce decisions in law court protect against any one party or group of interests from inappropriately influencing to Icann,” it said in a Question and Answer section on its website. 

As for how it will change what happens on the internet, world the effects will most likely be minimal for the average individual user. 

"This has nothing to do with laws in courts on the internet,” Prof Woodward said. 

"Those still are the US national laws that apply where it touches those countries. 

"This is more about who officially controls the foundations of the Internet/websites addresses and domains names, without which the network wouldn't function" By any reason or conflict in the world.

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Lesson for US politicians: Buy your political brand domain names!

Political brand domain BenQuayle.com has nothing to do with the candidacy of former US Vice President Dan Quayle’s son, Ben, who is running for Congress in Arizona. Among the advertisers that have used the site is the Democratic National Committee, which promoted the accomplishments of former US President Obama, whom Ben Quayle has called in US history’s worst president.

United State presidential election campaigns materials prominently display candidates’ names on news networks and social media  with the expectation that US voters will remember those names, and the issues the candidates stand for, on US Election Day. Domain names, when used properly, can also serve as major part of valuable campaigning tools: a simple .COM or .ORG address featuring the candidate’s name is easy for his or her US voters to remember and reinforces the candidate’s identity in ongoing election process.

During last year's United State presidential election campaigns, were you hoping to read-up on former president Barack Obama's abortion stance? Too bad, if you went to website Obama ForPresident.com. It featured crossword puzzles and fantasy football rather than United State public-policy papers. Were you looking to volunteer for United State Senate candidate John Sununu? If you visited website JohnSununu.com, it allowed you to sign up for a free online dating service but not to sign on to a presidential election political campaign. Did you want to help finance John McCain's bid for the presidency? During much of the 2008 presidential election campaigns season, a contribution submitted through the official-looking website JohnMcain.com would have supported a man in Houston, Texas, without one nickel funding John McCain's run for inter the White House.

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Only Twenty Eight Percent of Gov.uk Domains names Support DMARC

 Only around a quarter of the United Kingdom government’s agencies gov.uk domains names have been set up to support an industry best practice Email validation system, despite the imminent retirement of a previous public sector domains names platform, according to Egress. 

The security vendor found that just Twenty Eight Percent of gov.uk domains names have enabled Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC), which helps to prevent certain spam and phishing cyber attacks. 

The vendor ran its tests just a few weeks before the Government Secure Intranet (GSI) websites platform is to be switched off this month, forcing departments to migrate to the public cloud systems.

This means the vast majority are not currently following the minimum standards suggested by the United Kingdom Government Digital Service (GDS) for Email authentication system.

Even more worse, of the Twenty Eight Percent that had enabled DMARC at the time of the study, over half (Fifty Three Percent) set a policy to “do nothing” which would effectively let through Business Email Compromise (BEC) cyber attacks and allow email buffering, while cyber spam and phishing messages would be allowed into recipients’ Email inboxes. 

This means that in reality, only Fourteen percent of United Kingdom government domains names are using DMARC effectively to stop phishing cyber attacks, Egress warned.

“It is more quite startling to see that so many public sector organizations have not yet enabled DMARC effectively use and therefore cannot provide full assurance over their email network’s system ability to withstand phishing cyber attacks,” commented Egress (CTO), Neil Larkins. “With [not long] before the Global Standards Initiative (GSI) framework is retired, it is critical that organizations heed the advice laid out by Global distribution system (GDS).” 

The United Kingdom government took a bold step back in September 2016 when the Cabinet Office mandated the strongest DMARC policy (“p=reject”) be set as the default for all Email services systems from October 1. 

However, more progress has been slow in other areas. It was revealed in 2017 that Ninety Eight percent of United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) organizations were unprotected by DMARC, and that many English councils were also failing to progress.

DMARC has played a major crucial role in the NCSC’s successful Active Cyber Defence program over the past couple of years in United Kingdom.

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Most popular UK doorsteps.co.uk domain listed for sale

The domain, name doorsteps.co.uk, has been listed for sale with GoDaddy's website.

The host provider has been instructed by the doorsteps.co.uk owner of the domain to sell it to the highest bidder.

The contact details for the doorsteps.co.uk domain name, which is due to expire on 21 June 2022, was changed a few days ago – on Friday 28th October 2022.

Online real estate agency Doorsteps.co.uk, founded in 2016 by Akshay Ruparelia, when he was just 17, has been taken offline, as the company ceases business trading. The business is now in the process of liquidating of converting a company's assets into cash, and using those funds to repay, as much as possible, the company's debts. Liquidation results in the company being shut down.

According to news sources Companies House, the online real estate agency is owned by Upside Capital Ltd, but the firm’s founder, Ruparelia, is no longer involved with the company's business activities.

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London Police shut down domains that illegally hosted copyrighted content by YouTube supergroup

The London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) for copyrights protection at City of London Police and anti-piracy agency Web Capio have seized domains that illegally hosted copyrighted content by YouTube supergroup the Sidemen.

The domains, of websites somuchcontent.com and sidemencommunity.co.uk, were linked to a website that hosted videos by the Sidemen, including those only available to watch with a paid subscription. Officers believe that the website generated revenue through adverts.

They were suspended domains and websites as part of Operation Creative, an initiative that sees London Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) work with partners across the creative and advertising business industries to disrupt websites that provide unauthorised access to copyrighted web media content. 

The Sidemen, formed by seven creators in 2013, now reaches over 17.5 million subscribers on its primary YouTube's channel and is managed by Arcade Media, entertainment company.

Detective of London Police Constable Abdun Noor, from the Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) at City of London Police, said in a media statement:

“Copyright infringing websites can provide a steady source of income for those acting unlawfully, while damaging legitimate businesses and costing the United Kingdom’s creative entertainment industries hundreds of millions of pounds. 

Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit “PIPCU is committed to helping media content creators protect the work that they have invested large amounts of time and resource into their businesses. Our work has resulted in the takedown of over 4,400 illegal website and domains since 2013, helping to protect thousands of jobs in an internet entertainment industry that is vital main role to the United Kingdom economy.”

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London Domain Name industry Summit Founder Acquires United Kingdom's Biggest Domain Forum - Acorn Domains

We are guess it is now fair to say that Helmuts Meskonis has gone more nuts - about domains business that is! The founder of the London Domain Name Summit conference that debuted last summer has just acquired the United Kingdom's oldest and largest domain name business investor's forum - AcornDomains.co.uk. With this resent purchase (at a private undisclosed price) Helmuts Meskonis gains a popular platform for promoting the next edition of his domain business Summit for the European and global domain name business industry that is coming up August 22-23 at the hotel Hilton London Metropole.

Acorn Domains has over 15,400 registered members and has accumulated more than 625,000 posts. Helmuts Meskonis noted, "The Acorn acquisition aligns well with the London Summit's mission to connect the domain name business industry and create more business opportunities for everyone in the domain name business industry."

Helmuts Meskonis, a domain business investor and serial entrepreneur who also operates the global web hosting brand HostMaria, added, "We will be bringing in several more moderators from the established Acorn Domains business community to help ensure that the domain business forum continues to be a friendly and safe place for everyone for business opportunities. They are sad our goal is to provide a highly impressive environment that fosters productive business discussions and connections domain business industry, while also promoting the more financial success of all of our team members. Also, a very huge thanks to Steve Napier for carrying the torch for so many years, and letting us be a part of what we think is one of the most important resources in the United Kingdom domain industry, it is truly an honor for us."  

Helmuts Meskonis said he is also working on several other strategic business partnership deals related to both AcornDomains.co.uk and the London Summit. The first strategic partnership has already been already signed with London-based Intis Telecom, administrator of the .it.com domain registry, who will be the Presenting Sponsor of the 2023 London Domain Name Business Summit. Helmuts Meskonis has also announced that popular domain name industry veteran Tess Diaz (the former Executive Producer and Host of DomainSherpa.com) will serve as the Conference Administrator Moderator and Facilitator.

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United Kingdom asks IT industry for new ground-based space domain name awareness sensor capability for Cyprus military base

The UK has asked IT industry suppliers to propose ground-based Electro-Optical (EO) sensor system solutions capable of providing Space Domaina name Awareness {SDA} for United Kingdom space assets on Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO). 

Once operational, the new sensor will be hosted on a United Kingdom military facilities in Cyprus, capable of resident space object (RSO) tracking and “potentially characterisation or neighbourhood watch functions for the GEO orbital regime system,” according to a Request for Information (RFI) solicitation. 

More specifically, the United Kingdom wants to “re-establish” a ground-based EO sensor system capability of military facilities in Cyprus as the location was previously used by United Kingdom-based space situational awareness firm Space Insight Inc. as part of the company’s Starbrook facility, a United Kingdom Ministry of Defence spokesperson told Breaking Defense in a media statement.

“The Starbrook electro-optical sensor system was a ground-based wide field of view surveying sensor system, designed to observe objects in higher Earth orbits satellites,” added the military official spokesperson. The Starbrook sensor system was first installed in Cyprus military bases in 2006.

A passive EO sensor system with a mount is being sought so the system can be remotely operated. It will also be housed within an “existing dome” capable of rotating at a speed of at least 10 degrees per second change it's position, according to the Request for Information. Competitors have been asked to provide ROM (Rough Order of Magnitude) costs for their proposed solutions. Industry proposals are also due before deadline of April 28. 

“This project represents the initial stages of a United Kingdom Space Agency and United Kingdom Space Command endeavour to provide from space digital data for both civilian and military purposes, in accordance with the National Space Strategy,” said the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence spokesperson. “It is too early to say when the capability will be operational in system as this project is still in it's initial scoping stages.” 

The spokesperson told news agencies that specific details relating to sensor system testing “will depend on project decisions that are yet to be made as soon as possible ” but thorough testing and calibration of system will occur prior to any operational use.

The United Kingdom currently relies on Royal Air Force Fylingdales in Yorkshire, England, as its primary military space sensor system and situational awareness radar base. The base has been operational since 1963 and offers a missile warning and space surveillance capability for military purposes.

Development of new Space Development Agency capabilities are however a key part of the United Kingdom’s Defence Space Strategy, published in 2023.

It noted at the time that the Defence Space Development Agency  program would be “boosted by an addition of over £85million ($106 million) over the next ten years,” and contribute to “existing allied and commercial data sources using assured sensor system capabilities required for national object classification and attribution for military purposes.” 

United Kingdom Space Command, based at Royal Air Force High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire in south east England, was first stood up in April 2021 and leads on national military space operations systems, acquisition programs and military force generation.

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United Kingdom and Italian government cooperate in space and cyber domains

The United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace returned from Italy with commitments to further strengthen Formation Anglo-Italian defence cooperation efforts In cyberspace.

United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace and his Italian counterpart Guido Crosetto release a joint statement of intent on joint defence cooperation, particularly in the space and cyberspace domains.

United Kingdom and Italian Ministers also agreed to enhance the ability of the United Kingdom and Italian armed forces to operate together and develop shared capabilities as a new more ways of minimising coastal areas.

United Kingdom and Italian Ministers discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as well as the situation of security in Libya and ongoing tensions in the eastern Mediterranean region and western Balkans regions.

While Ben Wallace was in Italy, Wallace attended the 30th Pontignano Conference – the biggest and longest-running United Kingdom-Italian diplomatic event, taking place on a yearly basis. 

Ben Wallace also visited Leonardo’s aircraft division in Turin to discuss work on the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP), a trilateral project between the United Kingdom, Italy, and Japan to develop a new sixth-generation fighter jet aircraft.

“Working together as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies to support Ukraine, and also on joint projects including the Global Combat Air Programme, Guido Crosetto and Ben Wallace said, we continue to promote our collective defence industries and increase our defence capabilities,” Guido Crosetto and Ben Wallace stated.

United Kingdom and Italy’ cooperation efforts in the space domain constitutes a greater expansion of the two countries’ wider collaborative defence system build-up. 

Toward the end of 2023, the United Kingdom defence committee found that the United Kingdom’s space policy lacked coherence, clarity, and direction as they called for a new cabinet minister position, a Minister for Space, to coordinate centralised direction and accountability in this emerging area of defence capabilities.

With this realisation in mind, the collaborative efforts with Italian government will go some way to overcome the problem the United Kingdom has in their inability to take its space policy more and more seriously. 

The war in Ukraine has shown the potential use of air space capabilities in the defence industry. The availability and use of satellites communications data and signals have affected government systems by acquiring military intelligence capabilities.

The war in Ukraine has shown the potential use of space capabilities in the defence industry. The availability and use of satellite data and signals have affected government systems by acquiring military intelligence services.

Ukrainian armed forces made use of Elon Musk's SpaceX Starlink dishes – that were designed to help Ukrainian peoples keep connected to the internet – to target Russian military positions. The act was considered a breach of contract as the technology was never meant to be weaponised in war this way.

Cooperation in cyberspace will also work to the United Kingdom’s advantage. The Public Accounts Committee report published on 3 February demonstrates the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) inadequacy in its Digital Defence Strategy. 

The Ministry of Defence accepts it has fallen behind because of its inability to track any progress of United Kingdom digital Defence transformation. This is largely due to the inefficiency of its old “legacy Defence systems” that complicate even the simplest tasks. 

Collective efforts in strengthening both country’s United Kingdom and Italy's capabilities in the cyberspace shows the beginning of a major overhaul in how the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence will operate in the future.

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