Report on .fr domain names image survey

Saint Quentin en Yvelines, May 22nd 2007

One year after, the AFNIC wishes to give an update on the survey made in spring 2006 with the newspaper “20 Minutes”. The aim is to measure the
evolutions of the relationship between Internet users and .fr domain names.
This online survey was made through “20’UP” (the “20 Minutes” sample group) between the 21st and the 25th of March 2007 with 800 Internet participants throughout France1.

1. .fr well-known and well-appreciated by the participants

A strong majority of participants (63%) are advanced Internet users as they already have created blogs, websites or personal pages.
Almost two thirds of these users know that .fr is opened to individuals. 10% of these users already took the step and are .fr domain name holders.

58% of the participants who are .fr domain name holders through a package proposed by their registrars (the companies that sell domain names) indicate that they gave their preference to .fr. This trend is confirmed: 52% of the participants who already have a .fr domain or who wish to get one think that .fr is more important than the other codes (.com, .net, etc.).

.fr is a perennial choice: 83% of the participants already holders of a .fr domain name have registered it for at least a few years.

2. .fr is an identity vector, associated to strong values

In 2007 as in 2006, the participants have indicated that “identity” (39%) and “interests” (27%) are what .fr domain names convey the most.

74% of these participants think a .fr domain name can express an identity or a personality on the Internet.
fr addresses seem more personal (67%) and more representative of the holder’s personality (56%) than addresses composed with a provider’s domain name.

The .fr code is still bound to the same strong values as in 2006: “the French-speaking community” (80%), “belonging” (48%) and “proximity” (36%).

3. Usage and choice of service standards well defined

The participants have indicated that .fr domain name registrations are mostly used for website creation or e-mail addresses. This approach can be found in the services seeked at the same time as a domain name: webspace (49%), e-mail addresses (44%), help tools for website creation (42%) and a special distinction for protection of personal data proposed by default for .fr domain names and seeked by 33% of Internet Users.

The principal registrar choice standards remain: the rates (77%), the quality of the registration interface (58%), the clarity of the offer (57%) and the range of associated services (44%).

Further information

Download “Report on .fr domain names image survey”
 (116 Ko) (in French only!)

About the AFNIC
(Association Française pour le Nommage Internet en Coopération )

Non-profit organization, the AFNIC is in charge of the administrative and technical management of the .fr (France) and .re (Reunion Island) Internet domain names.
The AFNIC brings together public and private members: representatives from the French government, Internet users and Internet Service Providers (Registrars).
Further information.

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1: Survey participants’ profile: 15 years and more, all socio-profesional groups covered.