analysis GTLDs and ccTLDs: What Were the Significant Trends in September 2021?

[domain_names]

We have been analyzing domain registration trends for a few months now, and for September, our data set included 7,108,350 newly added domains. The number is slightly lower than that recorded in August, which reached 7,692,950 domain names. The key findings for the month are summarized below.

• 86% of domain registrations fell under the gTLD umbrella, with .com taking the bulk.
• 37% more domains were dropped than added in between 1 and 30 September 2021.
• 81% of updated WHOIS records belong to the gTLD space.
• More ccTLD domain names were dropped than registered.

Are gTLDs Still the Most Preferred Type?​

We broke down the newly registered domains into two TLD types—gTLDs and ccTLDs—and as expected, we found that more gTLD domains than ccTLD domains were added to the DNS. About 86% of the domains added in September were gTLD domain names, while only 14% were ccTLD domains.

A majority of WHOIS record updates were also made to gTLD domains. Around 81% of the updated records belong to this TLD type, while only 19% fell under the ccTLD umbrella.

Added versus Dropped Domains​

We found that under the ccTLD space, more domains were dropped than added. To be exact, 408% more ccTLD domains were left to expire. This massive percentage of expired domains in the ccTLD space also led to September having more dropped domains than newly registered ones.

The chart below shows a side-by-side comparison between the number of domains added and dropped for both gTLDs and ccTLDs.

Such registration trends can help domain name investors make decisions regarding their portfolios. Among the questions that may arise during the analysis of this behavior are:

• Should investing in ccTLD domains continue?
• Is there enough interest in ccTLD domains to warrant the continuous investment?
• Are the ccTLD domains you were eyeing among those that were dropped in September?

Movement of .com Domains​

It appears that .com is still the most popular TLD across all types, accounting for 53% of the total domain registration in September 2021. However, the gTLD also had a significant number of dropped domains at 38%.

Aside from .com, we also looked at other TLDs that exhibited the most movement in September (i.e., volumes of added and dropped domains). These TLDs include .uk, .de, .net, .xyz, and .cn. The chart below shows the top 20 TLDs, excluding .com, which took the top spot.

Domain Name-Related Trends​

The terms commonly observed among the newly registered domains (NRDs) in September differed a bit from those seen in August. While “amazon,” “app,” and “tech” were still frequently used, we also saw other terms that could hint at specific trends. Some of the terms we observed include “academia,” “beauty,” “atelier,” and “art,” among other text strings shown in the word cloud below.

Below are some examples of NRDs containing these frequently used terms:

• allthingsbeautybytrinag[.]com
• akachibeautywc[.]com
• amazingbeautysupply[.]com
• atelierdulittoral-shop[.]com
• atelier-everock[.]com
• atelierwang[.]com
• academiaabailar[.]com
• academiaaonline[.]com
• academiacriptofuturo[.]com
• artandfinefurnishings[.]com
• art-amulet[.]com
• artadornment[.]com

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Based on our study of the NRDs in September 2021, gTLD domains remained popular, with .com still taking the lead. We also included the number of dropped domains to our analysis, as this could hint at decreasing interest in (and perhaps value) a specific TLD or TLD type.

These statistics and findings may serve as a guide for making decisions surrounding domain name portfolio strategies. As most already know, domain registration trends can change from month to month, so monitoring them regularly is essential.

Disclaimer: The stats provided above were gathered from WhoisXML API’s NRD 2.0 and WHOIS database download feed files.