Sep, 2001 : RealNames Launches New Keywords Services

📅 September 7, 2001 - RealNames Corporation(realnames.com), an extended naming services company, yesterday announced its channel has begun offering anew line of Keyword products, Keywords Plus and BasicKeywords. The company says the new products satisfy awider range of subscriber needs and broaden theavailability of quality Keywords worldwide. Fastbecoming the next generation Internet naming standard,Keywords are Web addresses consisting of easy toremember and use names that work in any language andcharacter set.

Available today on the RealNames Web site and fromseven registrars, the new product line consists ofKeywords Plus for branded, higher traffic sites andBasic Keywords for small companies and individualstailoring online identities to specific markets.Thirty-three additional channel partners will beginselling the new products over the next two months.Keywords work automatically in the Microsoft InternetExplorer browser -- at no cost to end-users andwithout software downloads -- reaching 88 percent, or405 million, of the world's Internet population.
The new Keywords are now available for purchase atKeyword: RealNames and through several distributors inthe US, UK, and India.
"The new Keyword products mean that many more namesand terms are now available as Keywords," said KeithTeare, founder and CEO of RealNames. "We're confidentthis will meet the demands of our channel partners asthey begin to sell the new offerings, as well as theneeds of end-users worldwide, further acceleratingKeywords as the next generation of Internet Webaddresses."
Keywords Plus are a value-added solution forcompanies, organizations, governments and publicfigures who have higher traffic destination sites andwant to protect their online identities and detercybersquatting. When typed into the IE browser,Keywords Plus will resolve to the designated Web page.Keywords Plus also receive prominent placement in MSNSearch results.
All Keywords subscribers have the option toautomatically register their company information intothe Universal Description, Discovery and Integration(UDDI) worldwide directory of e-commerce and other Webservices, for no additional charge. The Keywords Plusentry will appear as "reviewed" in the directory. UDDIallows a business' products and services to bediscovered and facilitates the exchange of electronicinformation between them.
Keyword Review and approval is required to completeall Keywords Plus sales, which ensures that KeywordsPlus provide a good user experience. Keywords Plussubscriptions are available from the RealNames sitefor $199 per country per year, plus a one-time,non-refundable Keyword Review fee.
Basic Keywords are ideal for small businesses andindividuals who want to tailor their online identitiesto specific markets. When typed into the IE browser,Basic Keywords take users to a designated Web page andprovide support and credibility with relatedinformation from MSN delivered via a Keyword Window atthe top of the page. Basic Keywords are availablethrough an automated online sales process, or fromregistrar telesales groups. The subscription fee foreach Basic Keyword purchased from the RealNames siteis $49 per year in most countries.
Keyword Review is a new service to ensure that allhigher traffic names -- such as company, brand orproduct names -- provide a good user experience bysending end users of Keywords Plus to the sites theyexpect. Keyword Review deters cybersquatting,protecting both brands and end users of the KeywordSystem. Applicants for Keywords Plus must complete theKeyword Review process, which considers the uniquenessof the name, the asserted rights to the name, and anInternet user's likely expectation for the name.
A decision will be returned within four days alongwith up to three pre-approved alternative KeywordsPlus suggestions together withup to 10 pre-approvedKeywords Plus variations for each suggestion. Thesewill be held for purchase for five days, after whichthey will be returned to the pool of availableKeywords. The RealNames Web site charges a one-time,non-refundable Keyword Review fee at the time ofapplication. The Review fee is $299 per Keywords Plusapplication per country.
Keyword usage has increased over 150 percent in thelast year. People worldwide use Keywords to navigateto Web sites approximately 110 million times eachmonth, and the number of registered Keywords has grownsubstantially, from 100,000 in 1998 to over onemillion today.