overview

This Note supplements the profile on Domains & the DNS and the guide on Internet Metrics & Statistics.

It covers -

this overview

• gTLDs - figures on the growth of gTLDs such as dot-com and dot-net
• ccTLDs - figures on growth of national TLDs such as dot-au
• 2LDs - figures on the size of 2LDs within those ccTLDs

It provides indicative information about the size of selected TLDs and 2LDs, as of January 2003 through December 2006.

Figures relate to the reported number of registrations and in particular instances should therefore be used with considerable caution. Not all registrations are active.

They demonstrate the uneven uptake of the net, with particular 2LDs within countries such as Australia being significantly larger than some national ccTLDs.

Factors in that uptake include the cost and ease of registration, for example requirements that registrants have some connection with the name being registered.

Australia thus generally requires a connection. Germany in contrast has a pure 'first come, first served' (FCFS) regime with registrations costing under $10 per year and often being handed out for free with services/products. That has resulted in the proliferation of names - one observer quipped that they are "thrown around like confetti" and that

If you have a company name, the odds of getting something remotely matching that name in the zone is slim. The odds of getting a new name that is mnemonically attractive is almost zero. The number of new domains that are 30+ character monstrosities is high

Graphs of gTLD and ccTLD sizes are available here (PDF).






    next page  (size of selected gTLDs)