The Dubai based DotShabaka Registry has announced that the world's first cross-border Arabic Top-Level Domain 'شبكة.' (pronounced dotshabaka) was made available from yesterday on a first come-first served basis to all businesses.
Some of the world’s biggest brands have already secured their شبكة. domain names, including Etisalat, the largest telecom operator in the Middle East and Africa, which was the first company to launch a website live under شبكة..
DotShabaka general manager Yasmin Omar is now urging hoteliers in the Middle East to register for a DotShabaka domain name, commenting: “There is no better way for major hotel brands and hospitality businesses to target the booming Middle East market online than by registering a شبكة. domain name. We strongly encourage major hotel brands and hospitality industry businesses to consider a شبكة. domain name to tap into the huge potential in the region.
“We’ve already seen strong interest from this sector. Savvy hotel brands recognize that شبكة. presents an opportunity for them to target the booming and highly affluent Arabic speaking audience. We are also seeing strong interest from Arabic brands that missed out on their .com wanting to secure their شبكة.”
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"Just imagine the potential for major hotel brands, events or hospitality businesses in adopting an Arabic online presence through شبكة.. Not only would شبكة. domain names hold greater relevance and meaning over their .com equivalents, Arabic speakers will feel a greater sense of loyalty to these companies and it is likely that these businesses will find it easier to engage with the Arabic speaking audience online."
The new domain joins the likes of .com, .net and .org as one of the generic top level domains (gTLDs) on the internet and companies can now apply for an address through registrars including openprovider, lexsynergy and instracorporation among others.
In a statement, DotShabaka said that among the benefits of registering for a DotShabaka domain name are having a competitive advantage with search engine optimisation, as well as improved trust and security since .com is seen as a western domain that contains irrelevant content, not tailored to the Arabic language.
The statement concluded saying that Dotshabaka Top-Level Domain fills a gap in the Arabic domain name market and for the first time offers a global internet experience completely devoted to the Arabic language, designed to meet the distinct needs of the Arabic market.
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