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Direct visits driving demand for domains in China (update)

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Kassey Lee looks at the latest data on web navigation in China.

Green background with an archery target and arrow in the bullseye, with 'direct navigation' written on it

Now that we are in 2020, it’s time to update the time-series analysis of web traffic data in China and see the impact on demand for domains.

I wrote the article “Direct visits driving demand for domains in China” in October last year to analyze how visitors arrive at a website, using my years of data collected from Baidu. What I found is that “direct visit accounts for the largest share of web traffic in China.”

Now I want to add the 2019 data to the analysis. Unfortunately, Baidu has changed the format of data, making direct comparison with past data difficult. In the past, yearly numbers were available but now only monthly figures are provided. I solved the problem by averaging the monthly figures to arrive at the yearly numbers.

Chart showing monthly traffic by type in China

Another issue is the classification. In the past, Direct Visit, Referral, Search Engine, Directory, Social media were used. Now, only Direct Visit, Referral, and Search Engine are kept, with the addition of a new category. (The Chinese term is 站内来源 but I could not find its equivalent in English. So, I translated it as “Insite Visit”, which measures visitors who become active again after being idle for more than 30 minutes.)

Below is the updated version of web traffic in China.

Chart showing yearly traffic in China

While direct comparison is no longer possible, at least we can see that direct visit is still the main method visitors use to arrive at a website. In other words, Chinese consumers remember and specify domains in a browser to visit websites. This implies that demand for easy-to-remember domains will continue to increase.

You can find the Baidu web traffic data here.

MMX plans dividend as outlook improves

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New top level domain company to issue dividend as revenue and cash flow picture improve.

Picture of a jar with coins in it and the word "dividend"

MMX will issue a dividend this year for the first time.

New top level domain name company MMX (Minds + Machines, London AIM: MMX) previewed its 2019 earnings today and announced plans to introduce a dividend.

The company’s revenue mix has improved. For 2019, it says that 60% of revenue came from renewals, 30% from new registrations and just 10% from one-off brokered sales. Brokered sales are kind of like a hamster wheel as they start at zero each year. They represented 18% of MMX’s revenue in 2018, so the reduction to 10% while revenue increased is good news.

MMX is also reducing its reliance on revenue from China, which can be less stable.

The improved position comes after the company refocused its business under CEO Toby Hall in 2016. He shut down the loss-making registrar business and focused the company as a pure-play registry provider. The company also acquired ICM Registry, a fairly stable registry that operates adult-themed top level domains such as .xxx.

MMX will release its full earnings at the end of March.

Why X, Y, J are great letters for Chinese acronym domains

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Why these letters make sense in China.

The letters x, y, and j on a green background. The green background is on a black background.

Kassey Lee explains why x, y, and j are good letters for domains in China.

Before I came into the domain space, I had not heard that some letters in the English alphabet are premium and some are not. Specifically, some domain investors in the west consider j, k, q, x, y, and z to be inferior letters. However, these letters may be very useful in the east.

Recently, the domain XYJ.com was sold for 160,000 yuan (about $22,400) in China. The X, Y, and J in the domain may not be considered premium letters in the west, but in the Chinese context, they are great letters.

X can be an acronym for over 1,000 Pinyin words such as Xing (行=travel), Xue (学=learn), and Xuan (选=select). A domain containing X may enable you to create brands in the tourism, education, and shopping fields respectively.

Y can also be an acronym for over 1,000 Pinyin words such Yi (医=medical), You (友=friend), and Ying (赢=win). A domain containing Y may enable you to create brands in the medicine, social network, and betting fields respectively.

Finally, J can be an acronym for over 1,000 Pinyin words such Jia (家=home), Jian (健=health), and Jiu (酒=wine). So, a domain containing J may enable you to create brands in the homecare, health, and alcoholic beverage fields respectively.

Combining X, Y, and J may result in many interesting brands. Some examples are shown below.

  • Xian Yao Jia (仙药家=home of elixir of immortality), which can be a brand for a Chinse medicine company
  • Xi You Ji (西游记=Journey to the West), which can be a brand for a tour company
  • Xi Ye Ji (喜业绩=happy business performance), which can be a brand for a consulting company

So, an acronym domain enables you to create many Chinese brands, each of which may be used in different fields and has the chance to become a billion-dollar company. That’s their mighty power in China. They have one additional feature — helping Chinese companies go global. The reason is explained in my article “How a 3 letter domain helped this business go global“.

Therefore, when looking at an acronym domain, I do not focus on its individual letters but the brands that it can be turned into and industries that it can be used for.

NamesCon weather will be hit and miss

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Most days will be nice, and Saturday will be beautiful.

Picture of the sun and clouds with the words "Weather Forecast"

Weather in Austin during January can be hit or miss. Some days will be sunny and warm while other days will be cold with even a bit of freezing precipitation.

Fortunately, it looks like this week’s weather will mostly be a hit for NamesCon, with just a slight miss on Thursday. And if you’re staying for the weekend, you’re in for a treat.

Here’s the forecast as of Monday afternoon:

  • Tuesday 42-70 with a morning shower
  • Wednesday 41-61 partly sunny
  • Thursday 43-56 with afternoon showers possible
  • Friday 42-60 partly sunny
  • Saturday 46-70 with sunshine (great weather for Fun Day at Banger’s Sausage House and Beer Garden)
  • Sunday 53-77 partly sunny

What domains do the best AI startups in China prefer?

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Chinese artificial intelligence companies use .com, and most use English names.

Picture of brain schema in museum with the words 'artificial intelligence'

I enjoy reading news about Chinese AI startups because I believe they will lead corporate China in the future. As most companies tend to follow leaders, studying domains acquired by top AI startups may tell me trends in domain buying in China.

Recently, AI-Startups.org published a list of the Top 15 AI startups in China. Based on the list, I used Baidu to find out domains used by these startups, as shown below.

Rank Startup Domain
1 SenseTime SenseTime.com
2 UBtech UBtech.com
3 Megvii Megvii.com
4 Mobvoi Mobvoi.com
5 Rokid Rokid.com
6 Roobo Roobo.com
7 ByteDance ByteDance.com
8 Liulishuo Liulishuo.com
9 Cambricon Cambricon.com
10 Appier Appier.com
11 Synyi Synyi.com
12 Tianrang Tianrang.com
13 SandStar SandStar.com
14 Elsa ElsaSpeak.com
15 HiHedge HiHedge.com

Characteristics of the domains can be summarized as follows:

  • All 15 startups use .com.
  • All except one domain (ElsaSpeak.com) match their corresponding brand.
  • Only two are Pinyin-based. The rest are English or English-like.
  • All domains are fewer than 10 characters (excluding extension).
  • Two-word names are popular.

The conclusion is obvious: .com is king in China too. Specifically, English-based brand-matching .com will continue to be popular. In other words, the EnglishDotCom domain strategy is the way to go.