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How a 3 letter domain helped this business go global

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This company’s Chinese name would not have worked globally.

Book cover of a translation of Journey to the WestI like 3 letter (3L) domains so I spend a lot of time in this space. I have a database of Chinese companies that could benefit from an upgrade to 3L domains. I also have a database of Chinese brands created from 3L domains that startups can use. One powerful feature of 3L domains that you may not know is that they can help Chinese companies go global.

Zhu Ba Jie (猪八戒) is a name familiar to every Chinese. In the classic novel “Journey to the West,” a Chinese monk travels to far off places filled with mystery and adventure. One of his companions is Zhubajie, a soft-hearted and optimistic pig who often gets into trouble.

In 2005, Zhumingyue (朱明跃) registered the 3-pin Zhubajie.com and started a marketplace to connect businesses with individuals offering professional services such as logo design, translation, and IT. Within a short time, his company has grown into a unicorn with 4,000 employees. Considered the largest crowdsourcing website in China, Zhubajie has expanded globally as well, with presence in Singapore.

While ZhuBaJie.com is an excellent choice for the domestic market, Mr. Zhu knew the brand/domain would be too long and difficult to remember outside China. Therefore, in 2016 he acquired the matching acronym domain ZBJ.com as the new corporate domain. As an added benefit, web traffic was reported to skyrocket after the upgrade.

In terms of branding, Mr. Zhu’s company is remembered as Zhubajie at the digital address of ZBJ.com. Outside China, his company is known as ZBJ.com or simply ZBJ. No rebranding was required in the process of going global. So, you can see the power of the 3L domain in this upgrade story.

Mr. Zhu registered Zhubajie.com not because of the classic Chinese novel, but because the domain was available and it also happens to start with his name. As it turned out, ZBJ.com has made Mr. Zhu’s own journey to the west easy. He also understands the power of domains, for he once said, “If you cannot get the company name as well as its domain, then don’t run your business (公司名、域名，拿不下就不要干了).” This shows the domain is as important as the company name.

How much .org would cost with 10% annual price increases

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If Ethos raises .org prices by 10% a year, the wholesale cost quickly rises.

Chart showing past and future .org wholesale prices. Wholesale cost is $9.93 today, but could increase to $28.33 in 2030 and 73.48 in 2040 if prices increase 10% per year.

With 10%-per-year increases, the price of .org domains begins to look like a hockey stick.

Ethos Capital, the private equity company that is trying to acquire Public Interest Registry and the .org registry, says it plans to raise .org prices, on average, up to 10% per year:

That said, Ethos Capital has stated that it plans to live within the spirit of historic practice when it comes to .ORG pricing. This means, potentially, that any annual price increase could be no more than 10 percent on average — which today would equate to approximately $1 per year.

This 10% number is based on the cap in the 2006 agreement between ICANN and Public Interest Registry (PIR). The 2006 agreement allowed PIR to raise prices 10% per year starting in 2007.

But PIR rarely increased prices, let alone by 10%. Matt Riggott examined PIR’s price increases since the 2007 contract and found that there have been 7 price increases over those 13 years. Three of these price increases were 10%, and the other four were less.

The net-net is that prices have increased from $6.00 to $9.93 from 2007 to now. That’s a 4%-on-average increase. (Riggott calculates closer to 3%, but he uses the years prior to 2007 in which prices were capped at $6.00.)

Had PIR increased its prices by 10% a year starting in 2007, wholesale .org prices would currently be $20.71, more than twice the current cost.

What happens if Ethos raises prices by 10% per year? The magic of compounding makes .org prices look like a hockey stick.

As you can see in the chart above, the wholesale price of a .org would increase from $9.93 today to $28.33 in 2030. By 2040, you can expect to pay $73.48 plus your registrar’s markup.

This assumes 10% increases, but ICANN removed all price caps last year. So the sky is really the limit.

EnglishDotCom domain strategy live and well in China

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Chinese companies often choose an English name.

Screenshot of Airlook.com

Like many Chinese companies, Airlook chose an English name.

I started using the term “EnglishDotCom” several years ago to describe what I saw in the Chinese domain market. I was really amazed to see startups in China using an English brand on the .com extension for their corporate website. This trend has not stopped, and the startup we’ll look at today is another example.

Airlook is a Beijing-based mapping company. It produces 3D maps to model the real world. Major clients are government agencies, research institutes, and domestic and foreign companies. Its technologies are used in land survey, highway control, city planning, and many other fields. Founded in 2015, the startup has already raised several rounds of funding, with the latest $150 million round completed just a few days ago.

Airlook’s Chinese name is 埃洛克 (Ai Luo Ke), which is a phonetic translation from its English name. In other words, the founders were thinking of an English name for their venture first. Once they settled on the English name, they translated it to Chinese phonetically. See how it is different from the conventional wisdom of thinking of a Chinese name first. The startup’s corporate domain is the brand-matching Airlook.com. It does not own Ailuoke.com (for sale now, though), indicating the emphasis is the English brand.

The EnglishDotCom strategy is very useful for startups aspiring to go global. In the internet age, this also means almost every startup. English is the global language and .com the global extension. The EnglishDotCom domain strategy prepares a startup as a global player from day one, and its founders won’t have to worry about rebranding or acquiring the matching .com domain later when they become big enough to go global.

If you watch the Chinese domain market regularly, you’ll notice a lot of companies following the EnglishDotCom domain strategy — BabyTree.com, VIPkid.com, SenseTime.com, Keep.com, Tencent.com, and many more. The implication is that there is a large market in China for English-based .com domains. Domains based on simple English words can be sold to Chinese buyers.

So, don’t worry if you don’t understand Pinyin. Focus on English and there will still be a lot of fish to catch in your domain game.

Will Chinese IDN domains become widely used?

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So far, Chinese IDN top level domains have struggled.

Image of lanterns with the words "Chinese IDNs"

Just a few days ago the Internet Society of China announced the formation of a working group to promote the use of Chinese domains. Is it the trigger we need to see Chinese IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) flourish?

As the organization is supported by the Ministry of Information Industry, this also suggests a strong desire from the Chinese government to see the widespread use of Chinese domains. The working group aims to resolve technical issues so that Chinese domains can work nicely with browsers, email systems, search engines, and other aspects of the internet. It will also promote innovation and application of Chinese domains to enable their popular use.

Let’s look at the current situation. Below is a list of Chinese IDN top level domains with registrations of more than 1,000. The data is taken from Namestat.org.

Ranking Extension Domains Registered
23 .网址 (web address) 176,133
60 .公司 (company) 37,364
66 .手机 (mobile phone) 32,741
80 .商标 (trademark) 27,498
81 .在线 (online) 27,375
104 .商城 (mall) 21,700
140 .我爱你 (i love you) 15,979
297 .网店 (web shop) 4,706
356 .中文网 (Chinese web) 2,917
372 .集团 (group) 2,560
383 .信息 (information) 2,349
387 .购物 (shopping) 2,310
410 .企业 (corporation) 1,794
447 .移动 (mobile) 1,046

As you can see, the numbers are quite dismal. For example, No. 1 .网址 (web address) was launched in 2014. It peaked at 380,000 domains and then remained stagnant at about 200,000. Currently, it sits at 176,000. No. 2 .公司 (company) was also launched in 2014. It grew to 53,000 and has remained stagnant over the years. Currently, it sits at 37,000.

Apart from these new extensions, there is also a Chinese IDN extension which has been available since 2006: .中国 (.china). For many years, this IDN extension never exceeded 500,000 registrations. Then, it suddenly shot up to 1.9 million in 2018 then down to 1.8 million last year. The cause of this surge is unknown and so further observation is required.

Consumers may prefer Chinese content on corporate websites but do not necessarily demand the corresponding domains to be in Chinese characters. This is evident in the 2019 Top 100 Chinese Internet Companies Report where none of the leading companies use a Chinese IDN as their corporate domain.

So, Chinese IDN domains are still tiny when compared with mainstream extensions .com and .cn. Their impacts are yet to be felt.

What to do in Austin during NamesCon

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Howdy, y’all.

Picture of Austin Texas skyline with Frost Bank Tower and the words "What do to in Austin"

NamesCon in Austin is just two weeks away! This year marks the first year the conference will be in Austin.

I lived in Austin for nearly 25 years before moving to the Seattle area last year. So if you’re looking for a place to eat or something to do, I have suggestions for you.

Food

Austin is a foodie town. It’s best known for its Tex-Mex/Mexican food and barbecue.

On the Tex-Mex side, my favorite is Eldorado. Order the Uchingon bowl (it’s on the secret menu) or the crispy carnitas. They are divine.

Unfortunately, Eldorado is about ten miles from downtown. There are also excellent choices close to downtown.

Iron Cactus is a favorite and right on 6th Street. You can also try Manuel’s on Congress Ave, which has good margaritas and a mix of Tex-Mex and interior Mexican food.

In the mood for quick tacos? Try Taco Deli or Torchy’s Tacos.

On the barbecue side, the most famous Austin institution is Franklin Barbecue. The problem is you have to wait in line a long time. The line starts forming early in the morning, doors open at 11 am and they are open until they sell out for the day. Franklin has cracked down on hiring line waiters but you can still get them, especially for takeout.

But rather than messing around with that, I recommend grabbing a Lyft and heading to Black’s BBQ at 3110 Guadalupe St. It’s damn good barbecue without the fuss. It’s also right across the road from the University of Texas in case you want to explore the area.

Want something nicer? One of the best restaurants in Austin is Uchiko. I don’t eat raw fish, but even I enjoy going to this restaurant. Definitely try the brussel sprouts and the avocado nigiri, two of the highlights of the menu. Note: get reservations now if you wish to go to Uchiko. They are already booking for NamesCon week.

Other good downtown options include Swift’s Attic, Moonshine and Pesche.

Drinks

I mentioned Peche in the last section, and it’s also a great place to get a cocktail. If the owner is there while you dine (and he probably will be), just let him know what types of drinks you like and he’ll suggest the perfect drink.

The best cocktails in town are at The Roosevelt Room. Its menu covers every era of cocktails. They accept reservations; if you can, get a seat at the bar so you can watch them make the tasty drinks. My personal favorite is the Cigar Box.

Of course, if you’re looking for run-of-the-mill drinks or throwing back a few Shiner Bocks, there are plenty of places for that…

Entertainment

Downtown Austin has many entertainment districts.

The most famous is 6th Street. It’s just a block away from the Omni hotel where NamesCon is taking place. It’s a sight to see, but you should know that Austinites refer to this area as “Dirty Sixth.” In college, this is where you went before you actually turned 21. It attracts all of the elements.

Rainey Street is a newer entertainment district and about a five minute walk from the hotel. It has a great collection of bars.

The Warehouse District used to be just 4th Street but has expanded as downtown has grown. It’s where the adults tend to hang out. And by adults, I mean anyone over 21.

West 6th is perhaps the newest area. It gets rambunctious and attracts the fraternity bros.

If you want to do something other than drink at a bar, get tickets to the Esther’s Follies sketch comedy and magic show on 6th Street.

Get away

Wanna get away? Here are a few other things to do in Austin:

  • Hike the 100 steps to the top of Mount Bonnell for breathtaking views.
  • Stroll the shops of South Congress, referred to as SoCo.
  • Take a Lyft to Mozart’s Coffee on Lake Austin for a relaxing coffee by the lake.
  • Tour the Capitol Building.
  • Visit the University of Texas.

Don’t sound like a tourist

Austinites have some funky pronunciations, and there’s one you should be aware of because you are likely to come across it. There’s a street in Austin called Guadalupe. That ‘lupe’ part? Just say “loop.”

See you in Austin!