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.Com winners and Losers: Dynadot stays hot

by — Domain Registrars 9 Comments

Dynadot remains in the top ten registrars for new .com registrations.

Image of man running up column chart with words "Top 10 Registrars"

ICANN has published the latest official data from Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) about the .com namespace. This registrar-by-registrar report covers April 2019.

Dynadot jumped into the top ten last month and it managed to stay there again this month. Dynadot has stopped its $6.99 promotional price on .com, so it will be interesting to see what happens when the Verisign/ICANN reports catch up to September.

NameSilo nudged its way back into the top 10 this month.

Also notable on the monthly chart is that Web.com (Network Solutions, Register.com) fell out of the top 10.

Here’s how registrars did in terms of new .com registrations:

1. GoDaddy.com* (NYSE: GDDY) 936,916 (970,751 in April)
2. Xin Net Technology Corporation 244,299 (324,617)
3. Tucows** (NASDAQ:TCX) 194,947 (191,620)
4. Chengdu West 157,668 (82,351)
5. NameCheap Inc. 154,281 (152,606)
6. Endurance+ (NASDAQ: EIGI) 127,762 (125,059)
7. Alibaba (HiChina) 127,090 (130,946)
8. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) 119,903 (119,976)
9. NameSilo (CSE:URL) 86,680
10. Dynadot 85,307 (104,837)

Here’s the leaderboard of the top registrars in terms of total .com registrations as of the end of May 2019.

1. GoDaddy* 51,026,467 (50,940,640 in April)
2. Tucows** 12,410,988 (12,484,323)
3. Endurance+ 6,981,256 (7,026,808)
4. Web.com++ 6,677,492 (6,713,881)
5. Alibaba 6,308,304 (6,288,135)
6. United Internet^ 5,575,836 (5,609,664)
7. Namecheap 4,799,244(4,745,085)
8. Xin Net Technology Corporation 3,982,474 (3,814,331)
9. Google 2,506,924 (2,434,742)
10. GMO 2,062,451 (2,026,751)

Many domain companies have multiple accreditations and I’ve tried to capture the largest ones. See the notes below.

* Includes GoDaddy, Wild West Domains and 123 Reg
** Includes Tucows and Enom
+ Includes PDR, Domain.com, FastDomain and Bigrock. There are other Endurance registrars, but these are the biggest.
++ Includes Network Solutions and Register.com
^ Includes 1&1, PSI, Cronon, United-Domains, Arsys and world4you

Dynadot jumps into top 10

by — Domain Registrars 2 Comments

Dynadot jumps into the top ten registrars for new .com registrations.

Image of man running up column chart with words "Top 10 Registrars"

ICANN has published the latest official data from Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) about the .com namespace. This registrar-by-registrar report covers April 2019.

An anomaly this month is Dynadot, which jumped into the top ten for monthly .com registrations. This pushed NameSilo out of the top ten. I think this has to do with pricing; while NameSilo’s .com sale ended at the end of Q1, Dynadot has continued with discounted pricing. It’s charging $6.99 right now for new .com registrations.

While this means NameSilo is absent from the monthly board this month, it should soon appear on the top ten overall. It has crossed two million .com domains under management but this isn’t reflected in the ICANN numbers, which only go through April.

Here’s how registrars did in terms of new .com registrations:

1. GoDaddy.com* 970,751 (NYSE: GDDY) (1,045,199 in March)
2. Xin Net Technology Corporation 324,617 (294,415)
3. Tucows** (NASDAQ:TCX) 191,620 (206,170)
4. NameCheap Inc. 152,606 (160,737)
5. Alibaba (HiChina) 130,946 (126,659)
6. Endurance+ (NASDAQ: EIGI) 125,059 (138,627)
7. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) 119,976 (135,927)
8. Dynadot 104,837
9. Web.com++  88,873 (83,600)
10. Chengdu West 82,351

Here’s the leaderboard of the top registrars in terms of total .com registrations as of the end of April 2019.

1. GoDaddy* 50,940,640 (50,831,723 in March)
2. Tucows**  12,484,323 (12,552,098)
3. Endurance+ 7,026,808 (7,065,847)
4. Web.com++ 6,713,881 (6,717,360)
5. Alibaba 6,288,135 (6,226,249)
6. United Internet^ 5,609,664 (5,630,889)
7. Namecheap 4,745,085 (4,694,598)
8. Xin Net Technology Corporation 3,814,331 (3,500,398)
9. Google 2,434,742 (2,361,414)
10. GMO 2,026,751 (2,007,437)

Many domain companies have multiple accreditations and I’ve tried to capture the largest ones. See the notes below.

* Includes GoDaddy, Wild West Domains and 123 Reg
** Includes Tucows and Enom
+ Includes PDR, Domain.com, FastDomain and Bigrock. There are other Endurance registrars, but these are the biggest.
++ Includes Network Solutions and Register.com
^ Includes 1&1, PSI, Cronon, United-Domains, Arsys and world4you

Namecheap files reconsideration request over removing .Org, .Info price caps

by — Domain Registrars 11 Comments

Company asks ICANN to reconsider its decision to remove price caps on some legacy top level domains.

Image of dollar sign and upwards arrow

One of the largest ICANN-accredited domain name registrars has filed a Reconsideration Request (pdf) with ICANN over its decision to remove price caps in its renewed contracts for .org and .info domain names.

Namecheap filed the request as a party that will be adversely affected by uncontrolled price increases. It also says it’s filing on behalf of domain registrants.

The complaint outlines what many people have already stated: removing price caps from legacy TLDs adds extreme uncertainty to domain registrants, switching costs for domains are high, and ICANN seemingly ignored public input. The company wrote:

Namecheap is submitting this reconsideration request to protect the rights and interests of Namecheap’s customers and the entire internet community. Price caps for legacy TLDs have been an integral longstanding foundation for the domain name marketplace, and removing them will result in uncertainty and confusion at a minimum, and in the worst case, increased costs for domain registrants worldwide.

I suspect that legal action or an antitrust lawsuit will be required to get ICANN to actually reverse course.

Based on the timing of the filing, it’s possible that ICANN’s board will have to vote on the Board Accountability Mechanism Committee’s recommendation on the request at the end of the ICANN meeting in Montreal this November. I’m sure the price hikes will be a big discussion during that meeting.

A strong month for .Com

by — Domain Registrars 0 Comments

A strong month for .com

Image of man running up column chart with words "Top 10 Registrars"

ICANN has published the latest official data from Verisign (NASDAQ: VRSN) about the .com namespace. This registrar-by-registrar report covers March 2019.

March was a strong month for many registrars. GoDaddy topped 1 million new registrations and others had lots of new registrations, too. United-Domains fell off the monthly performance chart as GMO jumped on.

Here’s how registrars did in terms of new .com registrations:

1. GoDaddy.com* (NYSE: GDDY) 1,045,199 (884,685 in February)
2. Xin Net Technology Corporation 294,415 (123,707)
3. Tucows** (NASDAQ:TCX) 206,170 (193,620)
4. NameCheap Inc. 160,737 (146,380)
5. Endurance+ (NASDAQ: EIGI) 138,627 (126,422)
6. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOGL) 135,927 (112,636)
7. Alibaba (HiChina) 126,659 (76,420)
8. NameSilo (CSE:URL) 95,985 (69,317)
9. GMO 89,155
10. Web.com++ 83,600 (83,164)

Here’s the leaderboard of the top registrars in terms of total .com registrations as of the end of March 2019.

1. GoDaddy* 50,831,723 (50,529,991 in February)
2. Tucows** 12,552,098  (12,554,559)
3. Endurance+ 7,065,847 (7,076,003)
4. Web.com++ 6,717,360
5. Alibaba 6,226,249 (6,193,225)
6. United Internet^ 5,630,889 (5,629,371)
7. Namecheap 4,694,598 (4,627,488)
8. Xin Net Technology Corporation 3,500,398 (3,272,339)
9. Google 2,361,414 (2,266,405)
10. GMO 2,007,437 (1,965,061)

Many domain companies have multiple accreditations and I’ve tried to capture the largest ones. See the notes below.

* Includes GoDaddy, Wild West Domains and 123 Reg
** Includes Tucows and Enom
+ Includes PDR, Domain.com, FastDomain and Bigrock. There are other Endurance registrars, but these are the biggest.
++ Includes Network Solutions and Register.com
^ Includes 1&1, PSI, Cronon, United-Domains, Arsys and world4you

Namecheap posts $37 million revenue in Q1

by — Domain Registrars 2 Comments

Company’s revenue tops forecast for Q1.

Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall

Privately held domain name registrar Namecheap has reported $37 million in gross revenue for Q1 2019. This represents 21% year-over-year growth and is about $3 million more than the company forecasted.

Namecheap expects to generate $148 million in revenue for 2019. It added 235,000 customers in the first quarter.

The registrar now has about 10.5 million domains under management, up from 10.0 million in September 2018.

Namecheap CEO Richard Kirkendall told Domain Name Wire that the company is continuing to see growth in add-on products. The company is also shifting to higher-quality domains.

“That’s why the growth with domains under management is a bit slower,” he explained. “The lower priced TLDs (under a dollar) that we’ve shifted away from are cycling through as they have lower renewal rates. So, in essence, we are focusing on quality over quantity when it comes to domains and it reflects directly in our revenue numbers.”

Namecheap is the seventh largest registrar for .com and the second largest registrar for new top level domain names.