[news release] SIDN, the .nl registry, saw its portfolio of domain names grow by 495,673 in 2008. The 18 per cent net increase in the number of registered .nl domain names brought the year-end total to 3,191,127. These figures were reported in SIDNâs annual report for 2008.
Globally, the Internet continues to grow at a tremendous pace, driven partly by activity in the emerging economies. âThe Netherlands is playing a lead role in this extraordinary growth,â commented Roelof Meijer, SIDNâs CEO. âWith twenty-eight domain names per thousand people, we have a higher domain name density than any other country in the world. Within the Netherlands, .nl is the clear market leader, accounting for 70 per cent of all the domain names registered by Dutch people and businesses â even though there is stiff competition from .com, .net, .info, .org, .biz, .eu and other TLDs.â Against this general backdrop of growth, one striking trend has been the rise in the number of .nl domains registered to private individuals, to stand at 38 per cent of the total by the end of 2008. The retail market is set to remain a major growth area for SIDN in the years ahead.
Around the world, there are about 250 country-code top-level domains (ccTLDs). The Netherlands has the worldâs fourth-largest ccTLD, after China, Germany and the UK. According to Meijer, âOur leading position is down to the overall quality and continuity of the services provided by SIDN and its registrars. At the same time, our unique position places an obligation on us to do all we can to assure the continuity, reliability and traceability of .nl domains.â
The 2008 annual report is currently only available in Dutch here. An English version of the annual report will be available next week.
This SIDN news release was sourced from:
www.sidn.nl/ace.php/c,728,6050,,,,Steady_growth_in_the_number_of_nl_domain_names_in_2008.html
To register your .NL domain name, check out Europe Registry here.