Rightside® to Expand Popular Top-Level Domain Portfolio to Rapidly Growing Chinese Market

KIRKLAND, Wash., Feb. 12, 2016 -- Underscoring its commitment to serving the rapidly-growing Chinese market for domain names, Rightside® (Nasdaq:NAME) today announced its expanded operations in China by establishing a Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprise (WFOE). The news comes on the heels of Rightside seeing almost 90,000 domains registered in the Chinese market, with .LIVE, .NEWS, and .PUB being the most popular. By working with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and local partners, Rightside expects its top-level domains (TLDs) to be licensed in China in 2016.

There are currently 5.4 million new TLDs registered in China, which represents 45 percent of all new TLD registrations. By comparison, the United States is next at 1.5 million registrations. There is an enormous global market opportunity for brands and individuals to connect with their audience all over the world, leveraging domains.

“China is a rapidly expanding tech market with millions of people looking to build and enhance their online presence,” said Taryn Naidu, Rightside’s CEO.  “The SEO, call-to-action, and branding benefits of domains are global and Rightside’s portfolio of TLDs is the perfect offering for businesses and consumers looking to brand themselves with shorter, more memorable web addresses.”

Well-known brands have started to embrace top-level domains like Alibaba, Apple, BMW, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Tencent (QQ) and more. Worldwide trends in social media, local search, and live streaming are also driving demands for many of Rightside’s most popular domains.

“We have forged strong working partnerships with seven Chinese registrars and we are looking to increase our distribution footprint. By going through the official channels, we know that brands and individuals will soon be able to realize the benefits of our domain extensions and put these websites to work in China,” said Jeff Eckhaus, SVP of market development and policy at Rightside.

Rightside’s portfolio of 39 complementary domain names provides businesses and individuals a powerful way to strengthen their brands and engage with their audience.

About Rightside
Rightside® inspires and delivers new possibilities for consumers and businesses to define and present themselves online. The company, with its affiliates, is a leading provider of domain name services, offering one of the industry’s most comprehensive platforms for the discovery, registration, usage, and monetization of domain names. In addition to being a new gTLD registry operator, Rightside is home to some of the most admired brands in the industry, including eNom and Name.com. Headquartered in Kirkland, WA, Rightside has offices in North America, Europe, and Australia. For more information please visit www.rightside.co.

Contact
Acacia Krebs
Director, Corporate Communications
Rightside
[email protected]