Daily Domain Name Registration Blog

Perhaps scared into action by Google’s recent wrestle with the registrants of Gmail.cn, who are offering a similar service to Google’s web mail (and which even uses similar colours and logo), Facebook has been hurriedly registering .cn domain names.

Facebook is now the most popular social networking site in the UK, with over 60% of its members being outside the US. Although there are over 100,000 Facebook users in the China network, for the time being there appear to be no plans to offer a Chinese-language version of the site; it seems that Facebook has registered the domains with the sole purpose of avoiding cybersquatting doom.

This surprises me slightly, as I would have thought Facebook would have wanted to target that huge and tempting Chinese Internet market, which can only be expected to grow, and fast, over the next few years. With one of the most rapidly increasing Internet-literate populations in the world, it’s peculiar that Facebook isn’t pouncing on this opportunity to attract Chinese users with a site in their own language. But I suppose Facebook knows best…

Anyway, all this is mildly interesting, but the thing that’s really caught my attention is that what may have helped to spur Facebook to register these .cn domains is its recent injection of a $240 million investment from Microsoft. I can imagine that MS has encouraged Facebook to protect its brand yet more heavily after investing such a sum; unfortunately, a few Facebook-related domains have already been registered by cybersquatters. It may take Facebook some time to win back those domains it considers most important.

Millions of members… The ability to google Facebook profiles… All those hideous spammy applications… 1.6% owned by Microsoft… I am seriously considering quitting Facebook for greener pastures!

Resources:

Facebook.

Facebook to speak Chinese with .cn domain name (except it isn’t, is it?).

The Gmail.cn dispute.