WHOIS Survey Prepared on behalf of:

Transcription

1 WHOIS Survey Prepared on behalf of:

2 Introduction Moorcroft Market Research supported Nominet with conducting research among WHOIS users and registrants Surveys were set up and hosted by Nominet, using questionnaires developed in conjunction with Moorcroft Market Research 586 WHOIS users and 272 registrants completed the surveys during the fieldwork period (up to Sept 29 th 2014) 2

3 Research Objectives Assess registrant s awareness of the WHOIS service and of what contact details they have listed on it Measure frequency of and reasons for WHOIS use among users Explore what content users and registrants expect to see listed Confirm what type of domain name holders users and registrants feel should be published Explore other potential WHOIS content wanted by users 3

4 Demographics 4

5 Type of respondent varied between the two surveys 53% Individual UK Company 38% UK Sole trader 29% 28% Charity/ Non-profit 17% 10% Other 5% 2% 7% 11% Registrants Base: All Registrants (272) and all WHOIS users (586) Q: Which of the following options best describes your profile? WHOIS users 5

6 Registrants 6

7 Most use website to publish information, including about products and services Publish information about my organisation 43% Provide information connected to selling 38% Publish a blog 31% Provide information unconnected to selling Accept payments/ e-commerce 15% 21% Other 11% Base: All Registrants (272) Q: Thinking about what you use your domain for, please tell us a bit more about what you use the website for? 7

8 Use made of website varies between different audiences Publish information about my organisation Provide information connected to selling Base: All Registrants (272) Publish a blog Provide information unconnected to selling Accept payments/ e-commerce Other 17% Q: Thinking about what you use your domain for, please tell us a bit more about what you use the website for? 3% 5% 15% 21% 21% 21% 19% 35% 33% 26% 30% 44% 59% 75% 63% 68% UK Sole trader UK Company Individual 8

9 Most registrants know of WHOIS and also their publication choice Know what WHOIS is? 3% 1% 96% Details published in WHOIS? 4% 6% Yes No Don't know 37% 53% Base: All Registrants (272) Q: Do you know what the WHOIS is? Q: Have you chosen to publish your details in the WHOIS? My details published Use someone else's details Have opted out Don't know 9

10 3 in 10 provide same contact information on website and WHOIS Same contact info on WHOIS/ website 31% Different contact info on WHOIS/ website Don't use domain for website 16% 20% No contact info on website OR WHOIS Have contact info on WHOIS NOT website Have contact info on website NOT WHOIS Not sure None of the above 10% 7% 5% 5% 6% Base: All Registrants (272) Q: Which of these statements best describes how you provide contact information about your domain name and/ or website? 10

11 Details given about publication choices included Details about why have published Details about why have not published Mandatory for commercial organisations 17% To show proof of ownership 9% No reason not to publish 7% Believe in openness in WWW 6% Because of nature of website 6% Contact details useful for domain purchasing 3% Extra charges not to 3% Details are available elsewhere 3% Point of contact if problem with website 3% Do not want to publish details 3% Privacy 46% Don t want/ need to publish 23% To avoid spam/ unsolicited contacts/ trolling 17% Domain is for personal use 7% No one needs my address/ phone number 3% Base: All registrants who have published details (144) Q: Can you give us any further details about why you have/ have not published your details? Base: All registrants who have not published details or use someone else s details (112) 11

12 WHOIS Users 12

13 A fifth of WHOIS users who completed survey were registrars 18% 82% Yes- am registrar No- not registrar Base: All WHOIS users (586) Q: Are you a Nominet Registrar? 13

14 Almost all WHOIS users who completed survey had used it before 35% 4% 18% 17% 26% 20+ times/ month 6-20 times/ month 2-5 times/ month Once a month or less First use today Base: All WHOIS users (586) Q: How often do you use the WHOIS tool? 14

15 Most common use of WHOIS is to check own domain s details Check details of my own domain name 28% Check other technical data Check if name available To contact domain name holder Check expiry of domain name 16% 13% 12% 12% Check details before/ after transaction Defend IP/ mke DRS complaint 2% 4% Other 13% Base: All WHOIS users (586) Q: What was the main reason you used the WHOIS today? 15

16 Almost 9 in 10 WHOIS users found everything they were expecting 13% Yes 87% No Base: All WHOIS users (586) Q: Did you find all of the information you were expecting today? 16

17 Users were asked what else they wanted to find What else would you have liked to find? What did you want that you couldn t find? Nothing else wanted 86% Contact address and/ or phone number 2% Previous registration data 1% Expiry date for current or lapsed registrations 1% A records/ MX records 1% Registrar/ re-seller website/ 1% Contact 32% Registrant/ owner name 9% Technical contact for website errors 8% Contact address 5% Contact phone number 5% Method of contact 4% Domain cancellation/ expiry date 3% Host IP address 3% No details available for active domain3% Base : Users who found everything they wanted (508) Base: Users who did not find everything they wanted to (78) 17

18 Details published on WHOIS 18

19 Users and registrants most want to see name, dates and registrar details Name of individual/ organisation responsible for domain Registration/ expiry dates Registrar details Technical details of domain name address Validation status of contact details Postal address Phone number Other/ DK Base: All Registrants (272) and all WHOIS users (586) 4% 8% 29% 26% 15% 53% 42% 49% 40% 38% 38% 47% 47% Q: What information do you believe visitors to your website should expect to be able to find out about your domain name? Q: What information do you expect to find in the WHOIS about a domain name? 56% 66% 62% 73% 85% WHOIS Users Registrants 19

20 Users are more likely to want to see all registrants in the WHOIS 39% Everyone who has registered domain name Any businesses 50% 41% Only businesses who accept payments via domain Other 35% 15% 2% 10% 3% Don't know 3% 3% Registrants Base: All Registrants (272) and all WHOIS users (586) Q: What type of domain name holders do you think should have contact data published in the WHOIS? WHOIS users 20

21 Individuals are less likely to think everyone s details should be published Everyone who registers a domain All businesses Only businesses who take payments via domain DK/ other Base: All Registrants (272) and all WHOIS users (586) 34% 28% 27% 38% 41% 9% 13% 3% 17% 1% 7% 3% 5% 58% 53% 57% Others UK Sole traders UK Companies Individuals Q: What types of domain name holders do you think should have contact data published in the WHOIS? 21

22 Summary and Conclusions 22

23 Summary and conclusions (1) Registrants appear to have a good awareness of WHOIS, and also of whether they are published in it, have opted out or used other contact details - Just 4% of registrants were not aware of WHOIS, and 6% did not know whether they had chosen to publish details or not 61% of users used WHOIS at least twice a month and the most frequent reason for use is to check details of their own domain name (28%) Both users and registrants rank their desired content on WHOIS in the same order (although WHOIS users are more likely to want find out about each aspect of a domain name) The main content wanted on WHOIS includes: - Person/ organisation responsible for domain (85% users, 66% registrants) - Registration/ expiry dates (73% users, 56% registrants) - Registrar details (62% users, 47% registrants) - Technical details (53% users, 42% registrants) 23

24 Summary and conclusions (2) Phone number and postal address were the two elements users and registrants were least likely to want to share or expect to see published on WHOIS There does not appear to be any conflict between what information users want to see, and what information registrants believe should be made available Half of users and 39% of registrants think that everyone who registers a domain name should have their contact details published in WHOIS - However, the majority of individuals (7 in 10) think only businesses should have details published (regardless of whether they are an individual user or registrant) Individuals are less happy to have details published than businesses. Overall slightly under half of those completing the surveys feel all domain name holders should have their details published 24

25 Summary and conclusions (3) Users who were disappointed with their WHOIS experience were most likely to have wanted to find a contact Most users however did find everything they wanted, and could not think of any additional things that they would like on WHOIS There seems to be a high level of satisfaction with WHOIS among the current user base 25

26 For further information contact : Debbie Moorcroft debbie@moorcroftmr.co.uk +44 (0)