According to a survey carried out by domain marketplace Sedo, nearly half of all Brits are unaware about new Top-Level Domains (TLDs) making UK the second most unaware country as far as TLDs is concerned.
Out of the 1,150 individuals who were surveyed from the UK, US, China and Germany, 44 percent in the UK were unaware about TLDs while 54 percent in the US were unaware about these new domains. 29 percent Germans were unaware about TLDs while China emerged as the most aware country with just 4 percent unawareness.
As far as businesses are concerned, an overwhelming majority of respondents showed an understanding that internet domains play a significant role in development of their businesses – 80 percent globally; 76 percent in the UK.
There is a perception that new TLDs will make Internet more confusing as 75 percent of US marketers were of the opinion that these new domains will make Internet confusing, while 44 percent UK marketers and nearly half of German marketers shared the same sentiment.
“Most of us use the Internet every day in both our professional and personal lives, so it’s very important to understand the impact and awareness of the significant changes that are being made to how we navigate the web,” said Tobias Flaitz, CEO at Sedo.
“With a large portion of people still unaware that new TLDs exist, and others showing a lack of understanding of how to utilize them, it’s clear that organizations within the domain community must continue to invest in educating businesses and the general public.”
China seems to be the only country with huge positive outlook towards TLDs as 86 percent respondents believed that TLDs are a good idea; 62 percent claim that it will make internet less confusing; and 72 percent claiming that it will have a positive impact on search engine results.
