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Wow: Over 64,000 .Dev domain names registered

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The .Dev top level domain is off to a strong start.

Google launched the .dev top level domain name yesterday and the domain already has over 64,000 registrations.

The zone file for .dev on ICANN’s reporting system currently shows about 15,000, so it’s missing many of the domains. Still, based on my review of the zone file, it looks like last name and first/last name combos are popular; individual developers are buying their name ending in .dev. Development terms and company names are also popular.

While these numbers are slightly behind Google’s early success with .app, they are a lot higher than I expected. Google’s cachet with developers and its PR capabilities are certainly driving registrations.

The company is offering a free .dev domain for one year to applicants for this year’s Google I/O conference but this represents only a small part of the 64,000 registrations.

The entire .dev top level domain name is on the HSTS preload list, so .dev domain names need an SSL certificate in order to resolve. (Learn more about this here.)

Nominet opens Washington D.C. office, plans to hire 30

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North America business will focus on security.

Nominet Cyber Security logo

Nominet is opening a U.S. office for its cyber security services.

Nominet, the company that runs the .uk domain name registry, has opened a U.S. office in Washington, D.C.

The office is currently stationed in a WeWork location, but Nominet CEO Russell Haworth told the Washington Business Journal that it could expand to about 30 employees in D.C. in the next two to three years.

Nominet’s D.C. location will give the organization a position in North American to sell its Nominet NTX security solutions. The organization has parlayed its experience with the domain name system into a security business that operates at the DNS level.

In addition to the company’s domain name and security products, Nominet also has a spectrum management business line.

Podcast guest matching service reaches 10,000-user milestone

by — Services 7 Comments

Service connects podcasters with thousands of experts for interviews.

Podcasts are exploding. Spotify recently bought podcast producer Gimlet and Anchor for well over $200 million. A company called Himalaya launched with a $100 million investment and is snapping up podcasts.

PodcastGuests.com, a service I started about three years ago, is also growing quickly. This month it hit the 10,000-member milestone.

PodcastGuests.com is a platform that connects podcasters with guests for their shows.

Most podcasts follow a guest format in which the host interviews someone. I started the service because I was trying to broaden my reach as a podcaster and find new experts to interview. There was no central platform for doing this so I created it.

The service has now matched thousands of experts for guest appearances on podcasts. The standard service is free but experts can pay a small monthly fee to accelerate their guest bookings and have podcasters invite them on their show.

Interested in talking about domains, online marketing or your area of expertise on podcasts? Sign up with PodcastGuests.com today.

Google Search Console to offer “domain properties”

by — Services 1 Comment

New feature will combine different domain name variations.

Google Search Console domain properties imageGoogle is introducing a new concept called “domain properties” to its Google Seach Console.

Website owners use Google Search Console to get insight into their Google search traffic including keyword data, spidering and links. The search giant asks site owners to add all possible variations of their main URL to the service: http, https, www, non-www, m. (people are still doing that?) etc.

But this makes it hard to see all of your site’s data in one location. Enter domain properties, which combines all of these versions of the site into one for easy consumption. A domain property includes all protocols, subdomains, and paths.

Google will automatically create domain properties within the next few weeks for site owners with DNS verification set up.

Google’s .Dev domains are now available…for a hefty price

by — Services 1 Comment

Wealthy developers can get a .Dev domain today. Others should wait until next week.

Today is the first day that non-trademark holders can register domain names ending in .Dev.

Google is releasing the domain name in Early Access today. The Dutch-auction style phase started at 4:00PM UTC.

On the first day, expect to pay over $10,000 for the right to register a .dev domain. This drops to roughly $3,000 tomorrow and under $200 on Monday.

General availability begins February 28. Expect to pay around $10-$15 retail for .dev domains that Google has not marked as premium.

Google’s .app domain took off like a rocket ship last year and there are now more than 350,000 .app domains registered.

.Dev looks like it won’t be quite the same juggernaut. Sunrise trademark registrations appear to be lower than .app.