Keyword service to make mobile surfing easier

Netizens are scrambling to reserve new mobile addresses to make their Web sites easier to call up on wireless Internet devices.
The new addresses would be simple keywords that, when typed into a mobile device, would lead directly to a Web site with a longer URL. Web addresses can be difficult and time-consuming to type into such devices. Moin, an online information company, offers the service, called Unicdom.
Unicdom is similar to existing PC shortcut services based on the idea that typing one word into the address bar is easier than remembering a long URL. These keywords can be in either Korean or English. For example, the word “Seoul” alone could be linked directly to the Web site of the city metropolitan office ― no need to worry about whether it ends in “.co.kr,” “.go.kr” or “.com.”
Moin will accept reservations for keywords until March 18, and it said that names of major companies and celebrities have already been taken. Foreign firms are also in line to make reservations. Some of the words already taken include Yahoo, Google, MSN, YouTube, MySpace, KBS, Amazon, Rain and Naver.
If several people have made reservations on the same word, the company will conduct an evaluation. The rights of the domain go first to the person or entity who actually owns the name, the company said. However, when actual services start, those evaluations will cease, and people won’t be able to challenge the keywords.

By Wohn Dong-hee Staff Writer [wohn@joongang.co.kr]