.no is perceived as useful and well-managed

The .no top-level domain shall be attractive for domain applicants and serve the needs of the entire society. To understand the expectations from the society, which are necessary input for policy adjustments as well as development of the services in general, Norid has carried out a broad user survey.

On behalf of Norid, Statskonsult (a Norwegian consultancy specializing in public management issues) conducted a survey among Norwegian private individuals and companies resepectively in February 2006. The objectives of the survey were to map perceptions of the .no domain and expectations towards Norid as the registry for .no.

The population survey was carried out in a web panel of some 40,000 people, whereof 1046 participated in this survey. In addition 500 Norwegian companies (registered organizations) were interviewed on the telephone. Main findings from both surveys are summarized below.

What do they register?

A majority of the companies (86 %) has registered a domain name, and a .no-name is definitely the most popular choice. Of those who have registered a domain name, 95 % have registered a .no domain name, while 23 % have registered a .com domain.

Even if it is possible to register more than one domain name both under .no and .com, a large majority have only registered one domain name under the TLD they have chosen. Around 30 % of companies with a .no or .com domain have registered between two and nine domain names, a small amount have registered more than ten domain names.

Among the population less than two out of ten have registered a domain name as a private individual. .com (31 %) and .net (20 %) are the most common TLDs for Norwegian individuals. A majority (65 %) has registered one domain name only. (Today individuals are not allowed to register domain names directly under .no; registrations under the cathegory domain priv.no were not a part of this survey.)

The .no address is considered as the most important

A vast majority of the companies (91 %) who has a domain name consider .no as the most important one for marketing purposes. The corresponding figure for .com was only 5 %.

The companies were asked to state their reasons for choosing .no as their main domain. The most common reasons are that .no is most suitable for Norwegian companies, and that .no is the most popular or widespread domain in Norway. There are no significant differences in regard to this question between small and big companies. However, we can see differences between companies who have activity in Norway as well as abroad, and those who only operate in Norway. 82 % of those operating internationally considers .no as most important, while the corresponding figure for the national based group is 94 %.

In regard to use of domain names, a vast majority of the individuals (77 %) are searching for a web-site through a searching engine. Those who make a guess by typing in an address state that they will try a .no address first (76 %).

Perceptions of .no

A significant majority of the companies (91 %) as well as of the individuals perceives .no as the best known domain in the Norwegian market. .no is also perceived as a domain of quality, as a majority of the respondents in both groups agrees that there is a good chance that the Internet address leads to the company that owns the name. A majority of both groups also states that there is a fair chance that a .no address actually works.

Broad support for policy issues

A majority among the companies (88 %) as well as the individuals (75 %) does agree with the requirement that .no holders are obliged to be present in Norway.

A great amount among the companies (71 %) state that the quota of 20 domain names per company is appropriate. Among the individual respondents 53 % state so. However, some of the companies (18 %) as well as the individuals (21 %) are of the opinion that the quota is too big. Norid draws the conclusion that both groups support the quota model, and that there is no need to increase the quota at this point in time.

A significant majority of the companies (76 %) does agree with the requirement that inidividuals cannot register a domain name directly under .no. A majority (54 %) of the individuals also supports this requirement, while 25 % disagrees.

Awareness of Norid

A larger amount of the companies than of the individuals is aware of Norid. 22 % of the companies is aware that Norid is responsible for the administration of .no. In addition 45 % of those who do not know the answer or have a wrong guess state that they have heard about Norid when they are asked explicitly. The corresponding amount among the individuals is 17 %.

The sources for their awareness are mainly a registrar or the Internet for companies, while the sources for the individuals are more equally spread between the Internet, media, colleagues, education/courses, and registrars.

When asked how they would have acted if they had an intention to influence the .no domain name policy, more than 40 % of both groups stated that they would have contacted Norid. Three out of ten state that they did not know who to contact.

Among those who have heard about Norid, almost none has a negative perception. A larger amount of the companies (41 %) than of the individuals (32 %) has a positiv perception. Among the companies the main reason is that they have had a positive experience with Norid. Other reasons mentioned by both groups are that Norid is competent, does a good job, treats everyone equally, and provides a proper policy.

However, a majority among the companies (54 %) as well as among the individuals (65 %) has no specific perception of Norid. The main reason is that Norid is not that visible.

Summary of the report from Statskonsult (in Norwegian only)