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Despite criticism of the rollout of the shortened .au domain late last year, auDA says it now provides almost 4 million domain names.
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Australian .au domains are now the 10th most popular globally
17 May 2023
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The .au domain administrator (auDA), which prompted security concerns late last year due to a rushed rollout of the shortened .au suffix, says Australian domains with .au have propelled into the top 10 largest domains globally.
A report conducted by auDA found three out of four Australians were more likely to trust a business if its website ended in .au, as Australians were more likely to trust it as they recognised it as Australian and trustworthy.
auDA CEO, Rosemary Sinclair said the report – Why .au? Australia’s trusted .au domain – showed the domain suffix had continued to develop trust for Australian businesses.
“.au is powered by Australians for Australians and auDA’s Why .au? report shows that .au is a simple, credible online signifier of a connection to Australia,” said Ms Sinclair.
“auDA has been trusted to deliver .au on behalf of Australians for more than 20 years. We are proud to provide a reputable .au domain that businesses and consumers recognise as valuable to building brands and communities online.”
The report revealed .au was chosen by millions of businesses and sole traders, 3.9 million domain names, community groups and charities, 41,000 domain names and government bodies with approximately 12,000 domain names.
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While auDA found .au domain names reflected a trusted site used and sought after by businesses and consumers, the domain administrator was criticised late last year when the expedited rollout of the shortened .au domain left businesses scrambling to protect themselves.
At the time, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) Bruce Billson called out the domain administrator for its underwhelming public information drive which left businesses at risk of cyber security threats such as scams, impersonations or squatters.
“The awareness campaign by the non-government regulator (auDA) has been underwhelming”, said Mr Billson.
“They have rejected calls to extend this artificial deadline, so I am doing all I can to alert small businesses about this change so they can secure their shortened domain name before it’s open slather.”
Former CEO of COSBOA Alexi Boyd was also critical of auDA at the time, worried that the lack of notification would leave smaller firms exposed to being caught out without their domain name.
“We are concerned that if priority registration isn’t extended, cyber criminals could purchase .au domain names and create ‘shell sites’ or ‘ghost sites’ impersonating legitimate businesses, potentially using online booking forms to gather information and/or money from the business’s clients,” said Ms Boyd.
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