The .vip new gTLD entered General Availability on 17 May and has had the biggest launch of any of the new gTLDs, reaching 203,720 registrations five days later.The figures are from nTLDstats.com and show .vip is now the 18th largest of the new gTLDs with almost 210,000 registrations. Registrations have been dominated by Chinese registrars with 20 of the top 25 registrars for .vip domains being based in China. And up until 22 May, these registrars “The strong launch has also been a boon financially for the .vip registry, Minds + Machines (MMX). The company noted that in terms of billings and orders received for .vip domains by 22 May, the combined total to date is US$3.2million, and the gTLD was acquired via auction for $3.1 million.MMX is confident that renewal rates have the potential to be meaningful as no “freemium” strategies or equivalent were used during the launch phase to generate initial volume.”The Chinese market for top-level domains is real and we are delighted to have accessed this key region through the .vip launch,” said Toby Hall, CEO of MMX. “It is a major milestone for the Company, the new management team and our business model centred on working with best-in-class partners across every aspect of our business so as to best monetize our assets while maintaining a tight control on central overheads. It demonstrates that, when properly executed, how quickly the initial investment costs for a domain can be recovered and the potential for a strong recurring revenue established. The .vip launch equally illustrates how as a b2b business we do not have to burn funds on marketing to reach end-consumers and achieve outstanding results. Not only is .vip creating an exceptional platform through which to grow our presence in the expanding Asia market, it is providing an excellent template on how best to reach end-markets that can be potentially mirrored across our portfolio.”And the launch of .vip has contributed to the total number of domains registered across all new gTLDs surging past 18 million with total registrations now standing at 18.009 million. The largest of the new gTLDs remains .xyz with 2.885 million followed by .top with .2.377 million and then .wang with 1.070 million. These are the only new gTLDs with registrations passing the one million mark.Overall there are 24 new gTLDs with more than 100,000 registrations and 163 with more than 10,000.It’s not just with .vip that China dominates registrations. Of all domains registered, the registrant is located in China for 9.642 million domains or 53.54 percent. Registrants are located in the USA for 10.6 percent (1.910m) and German registrants come third with 2.92 percent of all registrants (525,000). For 14.2 percent of domains the location of the registrant is unknown.On the registry side of things, the largest is XYZ.COM with six new gTLDs and 2.897 million domains followed by Famous Four Media (15 new gTLDs and 2.855 million registrations) followed by Jiangsu Bangning Science & Technology Co.,Ltd. with 2.377 million domains for its .top gTLD. Donuts is the fourth largest new gTLD registry with 193 new gTLDs and 1.704 million domains.Of the backend registry providers, CentralNic is the largest with 35 new gTLDs and 4.194 million registrations followed by ZDNS with 17 new gTLDs and 4.134 million domains, Neustar with 144 new gTLDs and 3.792 million domains and then Rightside with 2.222 million domains and 232 new gTLDs.
Chinese Go Big On .VIP As Total New gTLD Registrations Pass 18 Million
The .vip new gTLD entered General Availability on 17 May and has had the biggest launch of any of the new gTLDs, reaching 203,720 registrations five days later.
