KIRKLAND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Demand Media (NYSE: DMD), a leading media and domain name services company, today announced its Domain Name Services business has been awarded the contracts necessary for its Registry and Registrar subsidiaries to participate in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) historic new generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) program. Demand Media’s United TLD has entered into its first registry agreements, becoming an ICANN accredited registry for new gTLDs. Additionally, Demand Media’s subsidiaries, eNom and Name.com have officially signed the 2013 ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). Today’s announcement underscores the company’s leading position to sell and support new gTLDs as they begin to launch this month.
“The speculation is over. New gTLDs are coming to market before the year ends and, with these ICANN contracts, Demand Media is ready to go as both a platform through which these names will be available, as well as bringing specific new gTLDs such as .DANCE and .DEMOCRAT to market,” Taryn Naidu, executive vice president of Domain Services for Demand Media, commented. “We made a commitment to our business partners and customers that we would lead the way in opening up a new form of expression on the web – and we are delivering.”
In 2011, ICANN initiated the process for creating new domain extensions as a way to increase domain name choices for memorable or descriptive web addresses and help better organize websites and information. Following the application deadline, ICANN has moved forward in approving applicants, including entrepreneurs, businesses, and communities around the world looking to operate a TLD registry of their own choosing. These new domain extensions will begin to come online next month.
United TLD, based in Dublin, Ireland, is a subsidiary of Demand Media and has been investing to become a world-class registry and leader in new gTLDs. Today, the company signed registry agreements for .DANCE and .DEMOCRAT, two of the sixteen uncontested applications that the company filed with ICANN. United TLD’s full portfolio of new gTLD applications features some of the most interesting and desirable extensions to come from this historic internet expansion including .ACTOR, .ARMY, .ENGINEER, .NINJA, .PUB and .SOCIAL.
Demand Media’s subsidiaries eNom – the world’s largest wholesale domain name registrar – and Name.com – one of the domain industry’s most innovative retail registrars – have also officially signed the 2013 ICANN Registrar Accreditation Agreement (RAA). This new form of agreement is required for any Registrar to sell the new gTLDs.
Demand Media was one of many industry participants – including the Government Advisory Committee, law enforcement agencies, Generic Names Supporting Organization (GNSO) and other registrars – who worked closely with ICANN over the past two years to define and finalize the 2013 RAA. The agreement is a result of a period of negotiations between ICANN and the Registrar community with the goal of raising industry standards for the benefit of the registrant.
“This process was truly community driven and collectively organized; we worked to ensure that everything we did would better serve the customer – the person or organization registering a domain name,” explained Jeff Eckhaus, Demand Media senior vice president and vice-chair of ICANN’s Registrar Stakeholder Group. “By signing on to the RAA, both eNom and Name.com have proven that they are fully prepared to support new gTLDs as they come to market in the months ahead.”
About Demand Media
Demand Media, Inc. (DMD) is a leading digital media and domain services company that informs and entertains one of the internet’s largest audiences, helps advertisers find innovative ways to engage with their customers and enables publishers, individuals and businesses to expand their online presence. Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, Demand Media has offices in North America, South America and Europe. For more information about Demand Media, please visit www.demandmedia.com.
© 2013 Demand Media, Inc.
Cautionary Information Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties regarding the Company's future financial performance, and are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry, financial condition, operating performance and results of operations, including certain assumptions related thereto. Statements containing words such as guidance, may, believe, anticipate, expect, intend, plan, project, projections, business outlook, and estimate or similar expressions constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted, and reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance. Potential risks and uncertainties include, among others: our ability to complete a separation of our business into two separate public companies as previously announced and unanticipated developments that may delay or negatively impact such a transaction; the possibility that we may decide not to proceed with the separation of our business as previously announced if we determine that alternative opportunities are more favorable to our stockholders; the possibility that we decide to separate our business in a manner different from that previously disclosed; the impact and possible disruption to our operations from pursuing the previously announced separation transaction; our ability to retain key personnel; the high costs we will likely incur in connection with such a separation transaction, which we would not be able to recoup if such a transaction is not consummated; the expectation that the previously announced separation transaction will be tax-free; revenue and growth expectations for the two independent companies following the separation of our business; the ability of each business to operate as an independent entity upon completion of such a transaction; changes in the methodologies of internet search engines, including ongoing algorithmic changes made by Google as well as possible future changes, and the impact such changes may have on page view growth and driving search related traffic to our owned and operated websites and the websites of our network customers; changes in our content creation and distribution platform, including the possible repurposing of content to alternate distribution channels, reduced investments in intangible assets or the sale or removal of content; our ability to effectively integrate, manage, operate and grow a crowd-sourced e-commerce website such as Society6; our ability to manage risks associated with the sale of goods over the internet; our ability to successfully launch, produce and monetize new content formats; the inherent challenges of estimating the overall impact on page views and search driven traffic to our owned and operated websites based on the data available to us as internet search engines continue to make adjustments to their search algorithms; our ability to compete with new or existing competitors; our ability to maintain or increase our advertising revenue; our ability to continue to drive and grow traffic to our owned and operated websites and the websites of our network customers; our ability to effectively monetize our portfolio of content; our dependence on material agreements with a specific business partner for a significant portion of our revenue; future internal rates of return on content investment and our decision to invest in different types of content in the future, including premium video and other formats of text content; our ability to attract and retain freelance creative professionals; changes in our level of investment in media content intangibles; the effects of changes or shifts in internet marketing expenditures, including from text to video content as well as from desktop to mobile content; the effects of shifting consumption of media content from desktop to mobile; the effects of seasonality on traffic to our owned and operated websites and the websites of our network customers; the impact of seasonality on our e-commerce business; intense competition, which could lead to pricing pressure among other effects; our ability to expand our customer base and meet production requirements; our ability to develop additional adjacent lines of business to complement our growth strategies; our ability to continue to add partners to our registrar platform on competitive terms; our ability to successfully pursue and implement our gTLD initiative; changes in stock-based compensation; changes in amortization or depreciation expense due to a variety of factors; potential write downs, reserves against or impairment of assets including receivables, goodwill, intangibles (including media content) or other assets; changes in tax laws, our business or other factors that would impact anticipated tax benefits or expenses; our ability to successfully identify, consummate and integrate acquisitions; our ability to retain key customers and key personnel; risks associated with litigation; the impact of governmental regulation; and the effects of discontinuing or discontinued business operations. From time to time, we may consider acquisitions or divestitures that, if consummated, could be material. Any forward-looking statements regarding financial metrics are based upon the assumption that no such acquisition or divestiture is consummated during the relevant periods. If an acquisition or divestiture were consummated, actual results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements. More information about potential risk factors that could affect our operating and financial results are contained in our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2012 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (http://www.sec.gov) on March 5, 2013, and as such risk factors may be updated in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, information under the captions Risk Factors and Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Furthermore, as discussed above, the Company does not intend to revise or update the information set forth in this press release, except as required by law, and may not provide this type of information in the future.
