Sitelynx predicts IDN changes to spark Search growth

In a move said to be "the biggest technical change to the Internet since it was created", Internet regulator ICANN has approved a new Internationalised Domain Name Fast Track Process, allowing the use of non-Latin characters from languages like Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew, Hindi and Korean in internet domain names (IDNs).

The move, which will see around 100,000 new characters available for use in IDNs, spells out an interesting development for Search Engine Marketing. "The more domains are recognised in any language the more navigation search in that language will increase", said Graham Hansell, Founder and Director of Sitelynx. "Opening up of the domain name space to non-Latin based languages will increase searching as up to 30% is navigational, looking for websites people know of."

ICANN's decision means that by mid-2010 web addresses using characters from different languages will be available, including top-level domains such as ".com". ICANN's Fast Track Process launches on 16 November 2009, allowing nations and territories to apply for Internet extensions reflecting their name – and made up of characters from their national language.

More than half of the world's internet users do not have English or another Latin-based language as their first language. According to Internet World Stats, Asian countries already account for the largest share of the world's Internet population (over 700 million users or 42.2% of the total Internet population), more than Europe and the United States combined (Europe: over 400 million users, 24.2%, US:  252 million users, 15.1%).