Despite the recession, domain names continue to grow. Though the number of TLD registrations last quarter was only 1% more than the quarter before, compared to last year, new registrations have gone up by 9%. This growth easily outpaces most industries. ccTLDs also saw similar growth, increasing by 1% this …
September, 2009
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25 September
.SU celebrates 19 years
The .su ccTLD was delegated to the Soviet Union in 1990– just one year before its collapse. Though Russia eventually switched to the .ru suffix three years later, .su is still alive and kickin’. It celebrated its 19th birthday this week. Today, there are more than 80,000 .su registrations. The …
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17 September
.CAT turns four amid great success
The Catalan language domain, .cat, celebrated its fourth birthday today. When the suffix was launched in 2005, critics argued there was not a sufficient market base for it to succeed. They couldn’t have been more wrong. As of this writing, there are some 36,000 .cat domains registered and 80 million …
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9 September
More domain extensions to be IDN-ready
Yesterday, Bulgeria made news when it announced the availability of its .bg extension in Cyrillic. Now, two more extensions are stepping up to the IDN plate: .eu and Russia’s .rf. Because .eu is a TLD intended for all of Europe, plans are in place to support alphabets for 23 different …
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4 September
New Zealand creates .health.nz extension
In a move reminiscent of Argentina’s creation of .banco.ar for banks, New Zealand’s Minister of Health Tony Ryall has created the .health.nz domain extension. The second-level name can only be used by hospitals, clinics, ambulances, and the like. Part of the reason for launching the extension is likely to prevent …
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2 September
New gTLD proposed for Bavaria
Germans will always consider themselves German, but Germany is a land of many different groups with stiff cultural loyalty. One region, Bavaria, wants to further express its unique identity by applying for a gTLD— .bayern. “Bayern” translates literally to “Bavaria,” a state in southern Germany that was one of the …
August, 2009
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26 August
Malaysia's .my registry seeks to increase registrations
According to the Mynic, the administrator of Malaysia’s .my domain, most of the country’s businesses operate websites online. Less than half use a .my domain, however, preferring other extensions like .com instead. Faced with this reality, Mynic is now pushing companies to get on the .my bandwagon. To help lure …
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20 August
Germany's .de gains position of top ccTLD
Germany is not only the most populous country in Europe, but is now the operator of the Internet’s most popular ccTLD with more than 13 million registrations on its .de domain. For years Germany held the number one spot, but recently lost its position to China’s .cn extension, which experienced …
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19 August
Guatemala to open up .gt domain
Like many countries, Guatemala does not allow registrations on its .gt domain. Instead, registrants can choose between .com.gt, .net,gt, and other second-level names. The country has decided to change the rules, however, and will start accepting top-level registrations on the .gt domain. The new registration option will be available by …
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17 August
.DJ domain targets disc jockeys
.DJ is the ccTLD for Djibouti, a small African country southeast of Somalia. With only 11,000 Internet users, the extension is scarcely used at all, and now a company is trying to market the name to DJs across the globe. As is the case with .eco, I don’t see much …