Afilias,the company behind .INFO,announced that it has launched the 2011 .INFO awards in order to select this year's best websites .
You can read the press release after the jump:"The fifth annual .INFO Awards celebrate the tenth anniversary of the .INFO domain with larger-than-ever cash prizes.
Afilias Limited, the ICANN-designated registry operator for the .INFO top level domain (TLD) and a global provider of technical registry services, today announced that the fifth annual .INFO Awards are now open for submissions.
"With more than eight million .INFO domains now registered, it’s clearer than ever that .INFO serves the unique purpose of identifying informational resources on the Web," said Roland LaPlante, Afilias Senior Vice President and CMO. “And with a round of new top-level domains scheduled to launch in 2012 and 2013 via ICANN’s new gTLD program, it’s important to note that a domain which serves the needs of Internet users, like .INFO, can be a major success.”
As part of the .INFO tenth anniversary celebration, the top prize has been increased this year. The first-place winner will receive US$10,000, with US$5,000 for second place, and US$3,000 for third.
Afilias launched the .INFO Awards program in Germany in 2007 and expanded the awards internationally in 2009. This year marks the fifth anniversary of honoring the best .INFO websites and highlighting the usefulness that the .INFO domain has added to the Internet over the past decade.
Submissions are open through November 24, 2011, at 11:59 p.m. UTC. Qualifying entries will be evaluated on five key criteria, including presentation of content, functionality of the website, design, usability, and originality. The 2011 judging panel of online and media experts will soon be announced.
A shortlist of 10 finalists, based on the judges' scores, will be published on December 5, 2011, when members of the public will be able to vote for their favorite of the top 10 sites through December 13, 2011."