Oct 19, 2021 - by Staff Writer
GCD Fifth Annual Corporate Domain Management Survey Results Reveal Impact of Pandemic and Interest in Next Rounds of New gTLDs
Last month, the GCD Fifth Annual Corporate Domain Name Management Survey was sent to over 500 corporate domain name professionals across verticals including retail, manufacturing, financial services, travel, and media. Of those that responded, 58% had portfolios of more than 1,500 domains, and 16% had portfolios of greater than 10,000 domains.
This year’s survey revealed that portfolios of more than 1,500 domains are most likely to be managed by the legal department, and portfolios of fewer than 1,500 domains are most likely to be managed by IT. Across all respondents, 16% said that their domain portfolios were managed by a group other than legal, IT, ecommerce or marketing. A number of those respondents reported that their portfolios were managed by shared services, infosec and brand protection groups within their respective companies. Interestingly, one respondent indicated that their portfolio which had been managed in legal until recently, was now moving to infosec.
Similar to past years, the 2021 survey revealed:
- 72% stated that dealing with the impact of GDPR and the inability to access domain name ownership records presented a challenge
- 84% stated that ensuring the security of their domains was an extremely important goal
The survey also revealed that in some areas compared to last year, domain professionals were experiencing fewer challenges:
- 66% stated that paring portfolios was a challenge, down from 75% in the 2020 survey
- 25% stated that managing their portfolio had become more difficult, compared to 51% in the 2020 survey
This year we asked a number of questions related to the pandemic. Nearly 75% of respondents stated that the pandemic has had no impact on the day-to-day management of domains, and 80% reported that working from home has not presented a challenge. Thirty percent stated that dealing with abusive registrations related to the pandemic has presented a challenge. Additionally, 29% of respondents said that since the pandemic, that they have not been as actively engaged in ICANN.
New to this year’s survey, we also asked, “How likely are you to apply for a dotBrand top-level domain in the next round of new gTLDs?” Nearly 16% stated that they were likely or very likely to apply, with 29% undecided.
We again asked respondents on a scale of 1 – 10 (with 10 being the most likely), “how likely is it that you would recommend your current registrar to a friend or colleague?”. This question yielded an Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 42 across all respondents, which was exactly the same as last year. A score of 42 is slightly above average for SaaS companies. It is worth noting that GoDaddy Corporate Domains (GCD) received an NPS of 90, according to the results of this survey.
So what are the big take-aways from this year’s survey?
As always, security remains top of mind for corporate domain name professionals. I don’t ever expect this to change. And it appears as though the pandemic has had little impact on corporate domain name professionals and the work that they do – with the exception of dealing with abusive domains. In fact, according to the survey, managing corporate domain name portfolios has become easier for many. Most surprising in this survey however, is the number of respondents who stated that their companies are likely to apply for a new gTLD in the next round. But above all, for me, the biggest take-away is the fact that we received an NPS of 90. Of course we are all very proud, but we also know that it takes an incredible amount of work from everyone on our team, as well as support from our clients to make that happen.
Thanks again to all who participated in this year’s survey.
The information contained in this article is provided for informational purposes only.
The Fifth Annual Corporate Domain Name Management Survey was taken in September 2021 and results are based on 64 respondents in the US and Europe.
