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OLX Leads Classified Ad Space via ‎.ng Domain Branding Strategy

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Lola Masha, the country manager OLX Nigeria
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Taking a quote from the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), The Internet has become a very influential platform in transforming the way individuals communicate and organizations conduct business, “internet branding, also referred to as online branding, is a brand management technique that uses the World Wide Web as a medium for positioning a brand in the marketplace”.

“The use of Internet branding for your business, gives your business an edge over competitions, by creating more visibility with a wider audience and increasing the volume of sales as well as distinguishing your products and services from others”.

This is so true considering the fact that OLX, the subject of our discussion here, at the end of 2014 released year-end metrics illustrating the company’s recent growth.

OLX is the world’s leading classifieds platform in emerging markets by bringing local buyers and sellers together for trade.

Currently, OLX is in more than 40 countries and has over 200 million active monthly users worldwide.

These users posted 262 million listings on the OLX platform, OLX is one of the few global companies in Nigeria that are operating the .ng domain name.

In an interview earlier, Lola Masha, the country manager OLX Nigeria, told Nigeria CommunicationsWeek that “Our immediate target is to enhance consumer trade. Although we are the leading classifieds site in Nigeria, the market is still quite immature.  Our ambitions are to work with other stakeholders and lead the way to successfully grow the e-commerce space in Nigeria”.

On Trust and Safety, Masha also added that “OLX has a facilitating role: the actual transaction and payment are not done on the platform between users.

OLX does not own the offered goods therefore buyers and sellers should meet at a mutual place and the buyer should inspect the item thoroughly before making payment.

More assuring and by choosing to adopt .ng domain name, OLX today has over 125,000 ads currently live on the platform across different categories such as vehicles, mobile phones, electronics, real estate that users have posted to sell to other potential buyers.

NiRA officials had at various fora stated that the benefit of choosing a .ng domain name, as Internet branding for a small scale business in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized because the use of .ng will easily identify the domain as belonging to Nigerian business or entrepreneur.

“With optimization of the search engine, the name of your business would always pop up first when people search for your type/brand of business.

“Subsequently, the Internet has proven to be a potent, reliable, fast and widespread tool for dissemination of information. Branding Strategy entails HOW, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and to WHOM you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages.

Be consistent with your brand, be true to your brand, select your target audience online; Do not overlook the importance of Email Marketing and the Use Of Social Media.

“There are several pitfalls to avoid, which include refreshing your strategies with current trends. Re-evaluating your efforts, discarding non-productive ones, improving on productive efforts and introducing new ideas. For existing businesses wishing to forge ahead in Nigeria, get your .NG domain name. Remember you are only as good as your last performance. You need to keep reinventing your brand to be ahead of the competition!” NiRA expressed in one of the e-newsletters”.

So, OLX is one of the various companies which have also taken advantage of internet branding by using the .ng domain name hereby improving the traffic to their website.

Some of these companies include, www.olx.com.ng/ www.nigeriacommunicationsweek.com.ng, www.etisalat.com.ng, www.google.com.ng, www.supermart.ng, www.hotels.ng, www.tolet.com.ng, etc., to name a few.

Widely considered an innovator in the global online classifieds sector, OLX continued to enhance its fast, easy and accessible user experience, particularly on mobile, in 2014.‎

In August of last year, OLX released a streamlined app for Android devices, optimized for slower mobile connections common in emerging markets where OLX operates.

Other metrics released by the Company last year include, OLX hosted listings for: offering 21 million people job; 20 million homes for sale and rent; 30 million cars and 35 million mobile phones.In April 2015, OLX Nigeria, partnered with MTN, to provide MTN subscribers access to download the OLX app free of data charges and the campaign is still ongoing.

OLX connects local people to buy, sell or exchange used goods and services by making it fast, easy and free for anyone to post a listing through their mobile phone or on the web.

Every month, hundreds of millions of people in local markets around the world are already using OLX’s online marketplace to find and sell a wide range of products, including furniture, musical instruments, sporting goods, cars, kids and baby items, motorcycles, cameras, mobile phones, property and much more. OLX is available online at www.olx.com,ng ,OLX Android and iOS mobile phone apps are available in their respective app stores.

You can stay connected with OLX @OLX_Nigeria on Twitter.

Therefore, get on .ng and join OLX at the top!

 


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

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Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

 

China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.

The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.

“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.

It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.

Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.

Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.

Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.

A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.

“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.

Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.

Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.

It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.

 

 

 


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NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

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National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.

NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”

The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.


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NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

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National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in partnership with the Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API), has convened a one-day workshop in Abuja to advance dialogue on the draft Online Harm Protection (OHP) Bill to confront harmful online content.

NITDA, API Partner Against Harmful Online Content

The bill, a rights-based, locally rooted, and multi-stakeholder initiative, is aimed at addressing the challenges of the digital age.

The event, which held yesterday, brought together government officials, civil society, academics, digital platforms, and legal experts to shape a policy framework designed to combat online ills such as cyberbullying, disinformation, hate speech, digital exploitation, and gender-based violence, while safeguarding democratic freedoms and digital inclusion.

In his keynote remarks, Kashifu Inuwa, director general, NITDA urged a paradigm shift in the way society engages with digital technologies.

“For almost two decades, we have viewed digital technology through a consumer lens. But these technologies are not just products and services. They are transforming how we live, work, and interact. They shape our politics, our society, and our democracy,” he said.

Warning against unaccountable digital power in the hands of private corporations, the DG likened the digital journey to the tale of Alice in Wonderland, where initial fascination with innovation has given way to deeper concerns about privacy, autonomy, and manipulation by big tech platforms.

“We thought we were using Google, but now we realise Google is using us. Social media, once a tool of expression, has become a tool of surveillance and influence,” Inuwa noted.

He, therefore, emphasised the urgency of developing a democratic and accountable framework.  He explained that following the 2021 Twitter ban, NITDA facilitated dialogue between the government and platform operators, leading to a Code of Practice that stressed Nigeria’s sovereignty and legal standards.

According to him, the same process birthed the multi-stakeholder steering committee and the OHP White Paper in December 2024, laying the foundation for the current legislative push.

Earlier in her opening remarks,  Victoria Manya, co-founder, API, observed the moral and civic necessity of the bill.

Her words: “The internet did not break society, it merely revealed its unfiltered version. Every day, Nigerians are exposed to harassment, disinformation, exploitation, and even algorithmic violence. The OHP Bill is not a war on the Internet. It is a peace offering to its users, a social contract for a digital future that is safe, inclusive, and democratic.

“We cannot answer the question of algorithmic power with unchecked state control. We must answer it with shared, rights-based governance. This bill must not be written for the people, but with them.”


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