Negative Trends for Domain Names, Domain Name Industry

Google Trends - Web Search interest: tld, Top-level domain, domain name, icann - Worldwide, 2004 - present: TLD, Top-Level Domain, Domain Name, ICANN

Registrar Stats reported a total net loss of 3,511 registered domain names in their Total TLD Domain Counts report for September 20, 2014. Of the 10 largest gTLDs (generic Top-Level Domains), all showed a net loss of registered domain names, except for .COM, .XYZ, .ASIA, and .BERLIN. What will happen next year when it comes time for renewals of new gTLD domain names (which are generally priced higher than .COM domain names)?

Maybe ICANN is 10 years too late in launching 1000+ new TLD domain name extensions--maybe, as Chris Dixon has said, the audience and all the action is going mobile--moving towards native mobile applications, bypassing the web altogether. Whatever it is, the numbers are not impressive in most of the new gTLDs, and in recent months there's been a spate of stories negative on domain names (new gTLDs) and the domain name industry (registrars/registries)--here's a sampling:

GoDaddy’s proposed IPO--Go time or past time?

Critical Look at New gTLD Registries' Tactics

Hey domain registrars, get your sh*t together!

Why most brands may never sign the ICANN contract

Update on the Status of Already-Launched gTLDs: Is Anyone Out There?

Rightside – Short Idea – Trending on towards the Wrong-side

New TLDs: is it an awareness, acceptance or demand issue?

ICANN Insiders On New gTLDs: Mistakes, Fiascos, Horrible Implementation

Verisign Ranked #1 By Z-Score Which Predicts Companies Heading Into Serious Financial Distress

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)

Follow @expvccom

Where Most TLD (gTLDs + ccTLDs) Domain Name Registrations Occur

Gross National Income (GNI) (PPP) Per Capita in 2007 based on World Bank estimates.
Most TLD Domain Name Registrations Occur in High GNI per capita countries (click on map to enlarge)

As previously reported, according to data provided via the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, England (UK) -- see: Domain Mondo | domainmondo.com: Domain Name Registrations and the Global Internet Population -- 78% of all TLD (gTLDs + ccTLDs) domain name registrations in the world are in Europe and North America. Fewer TLD domain names are registered in China than the UK even though China's internet user population is 10 times that of the UK. A nation’s ranked position by GNI per capita explains about 50% of the variance in its ranking by number of domain names per Internet user, followed by level of internet censorship.

The GNI per capita is the dollar value of a country’s final income in a year, divided by its population. It reflects the average income of a country’s citizens. Knowing a country’s GNI per capita is a good first step toward understanding the country’s economic strengths and needs, as well as the general standard of living enjoyed by the average citizen. A country’s GNI per capita tends to be closely linked with other indicators that measure the social, economic, and environmental well-being of the country and its people. For example, generally people living in countries with higher GNI per capita tend to have longer life expectancies, higher literacy rates, better access to safe water, and lower infant mortality rates. (source: Wikipedia)

for more info:
List of countries by GNI (PPP) per capita - Wikipedia: "a list of countries of the world sorted by their Gross National Income (GNI) per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP)."

List of countries by GNI (nominal, Atlas method) per capita - Wikipedia: "a list of countries by Gross National Income per capita in 2012 at nominal values, according to the Atlas Method, an indicator of income developed by the World Bank."

more news links below (on mobile go to web version link below)

Follow @expvccom

Trust and a New TLD Success

The Role of Trust in Determining a New TLD's Business Success: "Like it or not, every Top-Level Domain (TLD) is a brand in the eyes of the consumer. So, just how important is trust in the success of the new top-level-domains? I'm no branding expert, but I grasp that no brand, no matter how memorable, will fail to achieve its goals if it does not gain the public's trust. TLD's are no different. Several TLD's in the past have learned this the hard way by running pricing promotions that flooded their namespace with undesirable content or behavior. Once a TLD is tagged as having a distrust issue, it is difficult to erase it from the public's mind. ..." (read more at link above)

more news links below

Follow @expvccom

Dot Com Still King of TLDs

Dot Com Remains the King of TLDs | Siteopia Blog: "the TLD that still reigns supreme is the old favourite, .com. Reports from the third quarter of 2012 have shown that there are around 105 million domains registered in the .com TLD. The runners up are all of the ccTLDs (of which there are 280), which comes in at 104.9 million, followed by the .net extension at 14.9 million. Clearly, .com is the top dog of TLDs but the question remains as to how the new domain names will affect its popularity. As of December 2012, there have been 1917 gTLD applications according to ICANN, so the threat to the .com name has not been significant. However, this might change as popularity grows for the new domain names and businesses look to enhance their digital profile. Nevertheless, it seems that some big-name digital companies (including Facebook, Twitter and eBay) remain wary of the new domain names and have chosen not to apply. It has been predicted that .com will keep its spot at the top but the domain names beneath it will be split in more ways."

Is it illegal to speculate domain names? - News VietNamNet: "Is it illegal to speculate domain names? The story that Nguyen Trong Khoa, known as the domain name baron in Vietnam has offered to sell some domain names relating to Eurowindow company, has become a hot topic on local newspapers. . . . Hanh went on to say that Vietnamese enterprises have not paid appropriate attention to the domain name registration, and that they “lock the stable door after the horse has bolted.” Domain names are not the brands, but domain names play a very important identification role in the global Internet environment. Regarding the principle “first comes first served” which analysts believe is unreasonable, Hanh said that this is the international practice and Vietnam should not refuse to follow the rule. This explains why the domain names aodai.vn (ao dai is the Vietnamese traditional dress) and aodai.com.vn have belonged to a South Korean domain name investor."

No recession in UK domain industry: The top 12 UK domain name sales of 2012 | Latest press releases | PressGo | Journalism.co.uk: ""Savvy UK web address investors have been making some serious money in the last 12 months…" according to Jason Smith, Director of UK domain registration company Siteopia.com. "…The industry has seen a number of very high sales transactions which is very encouraging, despite external economic conditions remaining turbulent." "We took some time at the end of the year to interview domain name investor Frank Paul from 34.co.uk (who sold CheapCruises.co.uk), and it is clear that the market has remained buoyant over the last few years."

more news links below

Follow @expvccom