.Asia Domain Bidding Begins Today

The .asia domain, approved in December 2006, became available today to businesses and organizations in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN,) controlled by the US Department of Commerce oversees about 20 generic domain suffixes, including the country-specific. Registration is being headed by the non-profit group DotAsia, which is based in Hong Kong.

.Asia is only the second "regional" (i.e. non country-specific) top level domain, after .eu. Bidding on .asia domains began today with trademarked businesses, governments and official bodies serving the Asia-Pacific Region (including Oceania) having first access.

If, during this initial period, multiple groups vie for the same name, the outcome will be determined by an auction, with the proceeds going to the non-profit organization.

The suffix acts as a complement to country-named domains, especially for a domain that intends to have a broader appeal than to its country of origin: "Our research has found that 'Asia' is one of the most searched-for terms and by having a .asia website, your ranking on Google or Yahoo will become much higher." says DotAsia's Edmon Chung.

While .asia is not as general a descriptor as .com or .biz, it definitely could have strength in such industries as tourism and international commerce. However, it is widely expected that the most valuable URL under the new top-level domain will be sex.asia.

Public registration for .asia begins in February 2008, and domains may begin at as little as $10 USD.