Upcoming Algorithm Change to Target EMDs
There has been a huge amount of speculation about the status of exact match domain names (EMD) since both the Panda and the Penguin updates. Many SEO experts swear that the EMD has much less weight in the results than it used to. Anecdotal evidence from many webmasters seems to bear this out.
It may get even worse. Matt Cutts posted of a “small upcoming Google algo change” that will be aiming for low quality EMDs. Experts are saying this change has been made and people will be seeing the effects now. Cutts stated the tweak would only noticeably effect .6 percent of English-US queries.
Given the usual pattern of algo changes being rather downplayed by Cutts, many are worried about how many domains will ultimately be affected. There is also much conjecture flying around the web about what Google will think of as low quality.
Nominet Pushes to Open .UK Domains to Businesses
The UK-based domain registration group, Nominet, is the owner of the .UK extension. The company began a three-week consultation period yesterday to give anyone involved with the existing .uk extensions, such as .co.uk and .org.uk, the chance to comment on the proposal. They are proposing to introduce a new service they call direct.uk, which would enable businesses to purchase the shorter extension.
The company said their intent is not to have a business replace their domain, but to use the shorter .uk alongside their other sites. Nominet plans to have processes set up to verify that the registrant has a UK address and will set the domains up with a digital signature to make it harder for a domain name to be hijacked. They also plan to monitor all domains daily for malware and viruses.
Nominet feels that the shorter .uk domain name and the business-oriented features would help encourage e-commerce and give business a boost. The major complaint about the proposal thus far is that the shorter domains will be about eight times more expensive than the .co.uk. domains are.
.ME Registry Announces Comedy Cagematch Competition & Sweepstakes
The .ME Registry issued a press release today announcing a Comedy Cagematch to be held on Facebook beginning on October 8. For three weeks, 16 up-and-coming standup comedians will offer up 30-sec. videos and viewers can vote on which they like best.
It’s kind of like an Internet Idol, as a comedian must get the votes in order to make it to the next round. At the end of the three week competition, there will only be one comedian left standing.
In order to vote, people must register which enters them into a sweepstakes. Registrants can get one entry each day by going back and voting for the next set of clips. Three voters will each win a Canon EOS Rebel T4 camera.