Number of domains rises to nearly 340m

According to the latest data from Verisign’s domain name industry brief the second quarter of 2018 saw the number of registered domains across all top-level domains (TLDs), rise to 339.8 million, an increase of approximately 6m domain name registrations, or 1.8%, compared to the first quarter of 2018.

Total country-code TLD (ccTLD) domain name registrations were approximately 149.7m at the end of the second quarter of 2018, an increase of approximately 3.5m domain name registrations, or 2.4%, compared to the first quarter of 2018. ccTLDs increased by approximately 5.5m domain name registrations, or 3.8%, year on year.

Total new gTLD (ngTLD) domain name registrations were approximately 21.8m at the end of the second quarter of 2018, an increase of approximately 1.6m domain name registrations, or 7.9%, compared to the first quarter of 2018. New gTLDs decreased by approximately 2.5m domain name registrations, or 10.4%, year on year.

So, we are seeing growth across the board in number of domains registered after a number of quarters of more limited progress. Some of this growth is driven by cheap domain pricing strategies in territories such as China and some driven by speculation, as well as brands and businesses registering for general use. Of course, number of domains is not the only measure of success of a domain: levels of use, security of the namespace, etc. are all other measures that have their place too, especially when you look at brands who have registered their own top level domains.