Best of the Banter: Internet keywords
by Donna Stryk, Moderator of the Online Ads Discussion List
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Obtaining top position in a search engine is always a daunting task. However, the time and energy put into this effort can pay off in a huge way. We've all heard the staggering statistics regarding the amount of traffic generated by these search engines or portals. Some sources tout numbers as high as 75%. In this race for top placement, a new type of addressing system has come into play, RealNames.
The RealNames service allows Internet users to type keywords into a search field and be delivered directly to a particular site. This eliminates the need to remember the extensions (.com, .net, .org, etc.) and any other peripheral text in the URL. For instance, an e-commerce site could have a RealName for a single product rather than hoping the customer will remember to go to http://www.companyname.com/product1.html.
The second thing that the RealNames service does is that it enables companies to brand their business without adding the .com extension. For example, the user could type in Pepsi rather than Pepsi.com, which makes branding more consistent and refrains from lumping the company into the category of a .com. But is this service worth the $100 per year fee that they are charging and how effectively does it direct traffic to the site? These are questions that the members of Online Ads discussed in what turned out to be the lengthiest thread of second quarter.
Andrew Dubinsky listed ten shortcomings of this service. Among the problems he mentioned were that it is only compatible with 70% of all browsers, there is no regulation to protect domain names, and that there are no major competitors to insure that the price will remain affordable. This means that only 7 out of every 10 potential customers will even be able to use the service to find your site and that other companies could potentially purchase the RealName equivalent to your domain. The lack of competition is also a concern because the current $100 per year price tag could easily escalate without warning.
Another issue is the relevance of the RealName itself. It seems that some keywords such as "HR Solutions" are too generic for companies to claim. Antony Hebblewaite said, "RealNames offered us 'HR Solutions Inc in Chicago.'" Honestly, is that really easier to remember than a URL? Hebblewaite suggested that the service is only beneficial to companies that already have strong brand recognition. On the other side of that statement, Marlena Schwarz proposed that companies with widespread recognition would not need a RealName to be found. She said, "One would have to be rather slow to need help finding coke.com or pepsi.com."
While this rather strong viewpoint may be slightly unfair, the meaning is clear and Mark Brownlow replied saying that even if these people are "rather slow" we should help to simplify their online experience and to help them find what they are searching for easily. So, maybe in terms of novice users the RealNames concept is worth the annual fees. After all, Eric Ward mentioned a friend who works for the king of search engines, Yahoo. Ward's friend said that "Yahoo" is one of the top 100 searched for terms at the site. This proves that there are users who simply don't understand what a URL is and need help to find their way around this vast World Wide Web.
The important thing to remember is that signing up for RealNames is not the cure-all for your site's promotion. It will still take dedication and a marketing budget to make the site a success. Michael Martinez said, "People don't know where you are if you don't find some way of telling them. They don't know what you are if you don't find some way of telling them. They don't know what benefits you offer them if you don't find some way of telling them. If you build it and do nothing, they won't come. And if you build a Web site and list it with RealNames, you better hope you got the first slot in the popular RealName, because otherwise you are wasting your money."
To read all of the comments on this topic in more detail, go to http://www.adbanter.com/wordsearch/realnames.shtml.
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