The Internet keeps growing. Global player Verisign, specialized in domain names registration, recently published a report revealing the latest data for the first trimester of 2018.
333,8 million: this is the number of domains names which have been registered since the beginning of the first trimester 2018, all extensions considered. This represents a 1,4 million increase in registrations, equivalent to a 1% increase compared to the first trimester of 2017.
148,3 million: this represents the number of domain names with the .com and .net TLDs registered since 2018. The number of domain name registrations for these TLDs boast a steady 3.2% increase, year after year.
TOP 10: THE MOST POPULAR TLDs BY NUMBER OF REGISTERED DOMAIN NAMES
The .COM extension is still by far the most popular extension with 133,9 million registrations, followed by the .cn TLDs which have finally outnumbered the .tk.
TOP 10: NUMBER OF REGISTRATION PER COUNTRIES
The ccTLD .cn is still ahead with 21,4 million registrations, which illustrates the ever-growing presence of China on the Internet.
The .fr extension is back on the leaderboard. Compared to 2017, it managed to pass Australia with more than 3 million domain name registrations this year.
Source: Zooknic, Q1 2018; Verisign, Q1 2018; Centralized Zone Data Service, Q1 2018
ccTLDs are indeed very popular as they allow the user to put forward a location specificity. For example, it might be wiser to use a .fr TLD in order to sell products that are made in France.
TOP 10: POPULAR KEYWORDS ON THE .COM AND .NET
Here is a list of the 10 main keywords used when registering a domain name with the .com and .net extensions for the first trimester of 2018. This ranking is based on the most significant increases.
Source: Zooknic, Q1 2018; Verisign, Q1 2018; Centralized Zone Data Service, Q1 2018
Through this ranking we can witness current trends, including the cryptocurrency theme with the words ‘token’ and ‘chain’ being used quite a number of times this trimester. There is also ‘nano’, coming second in the .com ranking, would that have anything to do with the new Ledger Nano S?
The keyword ‘wakanda’ also makes an appearance according to this first trimester report, resulting from the box-office success of the movie Black Panther similarly to the keyword ‘fortnite’, an online multi-player game which is all the craze right now.