.com Archives - Domain Name Wire | Domain Name News & Website Stuff

Google is now one of the Top 10 .com registrars

by Andrew Allemann — April 2, 2018 Domain Registrars 4 Comments

Google Domains finishes 2017 among the top 10 domain name registrars for .com.

Google Domains is now a top 10 registrar for .com domains.

Google launched its domain name registrar in the middle of 2014. It grew quickly and is now among the top 10 registrars in the world for .com domain registrations as of the end of last year. It surpassed OVH in the latest official data from Verisign.

The data are from Verisign’s (VRSN) most recent official breakdown of domain transactions by registrar, which concludes December 2017.

There are four main reasons I believe Google Domains has grown so quickly:

1. It got a great ranking on Google for key terms. Go figure.
2. It can spend whatever it wants on Google Adwords. Take money from one pocket and put it in another.
3. Cross marketing between other Google products/services.
4. Brand trust and recognition.

One curious thing about Google Domains is that it only accepts one-year registrations.

In December, these were the top 10 registrars in terms of new .com registrations: Click here to continue reading…

Share16

Tweet22

Shares 38

Cryptocurrency domains are no longer trending

by Andrew Allemann — February 13, 2018 Uncategorized 15 Comments

From total domination to “where did those go?”.

Verisign released its latest report of the top trending keywords in new .com domain name registrations, and something is noticeably absent for January: cryptocurrency terms.

For months, domain names including terms such as coin and crypto have been on the trending list. But this month none of the top ten spots include these terms.

There are a couple possible reasons for this.

First, the trending terms list looks at the percentage month-over-month increase in domains registered that contain the word. It’s harder to grow percentage-wise as the base gets bigger.

Second, crypto-related domain names have been largely picked over.

You might also argue that interest in cryptocurrencies is starting to wane with price drops, but I wouldn’t write that on a blog like this and have crypto bettors fill up the comments with hate comments.

So what took over for crypto? Take a look:

1. near
2. cell
3. dispensary
4. stem
5. claim
6. centers
7. hole
8. residential
9. nano
10. cane

Share7

Tweet19

Share5

Shares 31

Namecheap leaps up .com chart as PDR falls

by Andrew Allemann — January 11, 2018 Domain Registrars 0 Comments

There was movement on the top .com registrars rankings in the most recent ICANN report.

ICANN has published the latest official .com transactions report from Verisign, which includes data by registrar for September 2017.

Here are the top registrars in terms of new .com registrations for September. Namecheap lept to #3 on the chart. It registered its typical number of .com domains but PublicDomainRegistry’s registrations plummeted, pushing Namecheap up the list.

1. GoDaddy* 886,189
2. Tucows** 184,234
3. Namecheap 125,162
4. HiChina 120,405
5. Bizcn.com 109,715

When it comes to net inbound transfers (transfer gains minus transfer losses) for registrars open to the public, here are the top five gainers. This list excludes registrars that aren’t open to the public.

1. HiChina +126,111 (compared to +34,959 in August)
2. GoDaddy +11,482
3. MAFF Inc (XZ.com) +8,277
4. Epik +7,746
5. NameSilo +6,450

On the flip side, these five registrars saw the biggest net outflow of .com domain names due to transfers:

1. Ename -49,243 (I assume this accounts for some of HiChina’s inbound transfers)
2. EIMS.cn -17,497
3. Domain.com -13,512
4. DNS.com.cn -12,676
5. PublicDomainRegistry -8,418

*Includes GoDaddy and Wild West Domains **Includes Tucows and Enom

Share11

Tweet16

Share42

Shares 69

Department of Justice closes investigation on Verisign running .web

by Andrew Allemann — January 11, 2018 Policy & Law 3 Comments

Verisign believes ICANN will now sign the .web contract with Nu Dot Co, and then transfer the domain to Verisign.

Verisign has announced that the antitrust investigation into the company’s plans to run the .web domain name has been closed, apparently without taking action. In an SEC filing, the company stated:

As the Company previously disclosed, on January 18, 2017, the Company received a Civil Investigative Demand from the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) requesting certain material related to the Company becoming the registry operator for the .web gTLD. On January 9, 2018, the DOJ notified the Company that this investigation was closed. Verisign previously announced on August 1, 2016, that it had provided funds for Nu Dot Co’s successful bid for the .web gTLD and the Company anticipates that Nu Dot Co will now seek to execute the .web Registry Agreement with ICANN and thereafter assign it to Verisign upon consent from ICANN.

Verisign backed Nu Do Co’s winning $135 million bid for .web. Other applicants for .web believe that ICANN incorrectly overlooked changes at Nu Dot Co and asked for the auction to be set aside. Runner-up Afilias asked ICANN to honor its second-place bid while Donuts wanted the result tossed with the hopes of having a private auction in which the losers split the proceeds.

Concurrently, the U.S. government looked into antitrust issues with the .com operator also running .web. It’s possible they were looking into if the company’s bid for .web was merely a way to quash the domain, which many new TLD operators think could be the best new TLD. It could have also looked into if owning .com and .web would allow Verisign to dominate the market (more than it already does with .com).

Despite the U.S. government’s clearance, there’s still a dark cloud over .web. Donuts sued ICANN and the case was thrown out but Donuts appealed. The appeals court is currently considering the matter.

Share103

Tweet12

Share2

Shares 117