Neustar and UrbanBrain Form Strategic Alliance

STERLING, Va. and TOKYO, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Neustar,  Inc. (NYSE: NSR), a leading domain name registry services provider, and UrbanBrain Incorporated, an Internet registry services consultancy, today announced a strategic alliance to provide Japanese brands with all of the services required to register their own company or brand names as an Internet extension (generic Top-Level Domain or "gTLD").

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For the first time in history, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is planning to allow companies to use their own brand or product names to the right of the dot in domain names (.companyname, .brand) rather than the more generic sounding extensions like .com, .net and .biz.  

Under the alliance, Neustar and UrbanBrain will provide brand owners with the expertise and support required to prepare and submit their applications to ICANN, and will provide all of the registry services necessary for brands to launch and operate their own Internet extensions.

Many companies view this latest innovation as an opportunity to extend their brands online, and provide users with easier to remember domain names (product.brand vs brand.com/productname).  Others see improved security for end-users who will easily be able to recognize their official website.  Marketers also see an opportunity for improved SEO given search engines are likely to rank .brand gTLDs higher when their brand is searched.

"Neustar was selected as UrbanBrain's preferred provider of back-end registry solutions due to its reputation for stability, reliability, system availability, and its unmatched experience in successfully working with partners to apply for, launch, and operate Top-Level Domains," said Kevin Saimon, UrbanBrain's CEO.  "We've evaluated the major registry solution providers, have spoken to Neustar's existing registry services customers, and are confident that Neustar will meet or exceed the stringent requirements of Japanese brand owners."  

Tim Switzer, Vice President, Registry Services at Neustar said, "We are very pleased to be working with UrbanBrain.  UrbanBrain's professional consultants have extensive knowledge of how brands can benefit from having their own extension, and are highly qualified to guide Japanese clients through the ICANN process."

Neustar and UrbanBrain are immediately available to brief brand owners in Japan.  For more information, please see www.neustarregistry.biz or http://urbanbrain.jp.    

About Neustar, Inc. 

Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR) provides market-leading and innovative services that enable trusted communication across networks, applications, and enterprises around the world.  Neustar Domain Name Registry Services operates the global registry for .US and .BIZ; in addition, it provides back-end registry services for .CO, .TEL, .TRAVEL, gateway services to country code top level domains, internationalized domain names (IDNs), and full registry services to new top level domains. Neustar's registry is connected to over 280 domain name registrars worldwide. For more information, visit www.neustar.biz and www.neustarregistry.biz.

About UrbanBrain, Inc. 

UrbanBrain provides comprehensive consulting, policy development, application drafting, and operational training services for prospective new gTLD applicants. UrbanBrain is preparing to be the official registry operator of the new gTLD, dotSiTE (dotsite.org). For more information about UrbanBrain Inc., visit http://urbanbrain.jp 

SOURCE Neustar, Inc.