.NET Slide Continues As New gTLDs Rebound and Total Domain Registrations Close on 340 Million: Verisign DNIB

The number of domain names registered around the world closed in on the 340 million mark at the end of the second quarter, 2018, according to Verisign’s latest Domain Name Industry Brief, as .net registrations continued to slide and new gTLDs rebounded.

At the end of the quarter, there were 339.8 million registrations, an increase of approximately 6.0 million domain name registrations, or 1.8%, compared to the first quarter of 2018. Domain name registrations have grown by approximately 7.9 million, or 2.4%, year over year.

The increases compare to 12 months ago, registrations grew by 1.3 million domain names, or 0.4% over the first quarter of 2017 and by 6.7 million, or 2.1%, year over year.

Total country code top level domain (ccTLD) registrations were approximately 149.7 million at the end of the second quarter of 2018, an increase of approximately 3.5 million domain name registrations, or 2.4%, compared to the first quarter of 2018. ccTLDs increased by approximately 5.5 million domain name registrations, or 3.8%, year over year. 12 months ago the increase was 0.8% over the first quarter of 2017 and 2.6% year over year.

For Verisign’s .com and .net TLDs, they had a combined total of approximately 149.7 million domain name registrations at the end of the second quarter of 2018, an increase of approximately 1.4 million domain name registrations, or 0.9%, compared to the first quarter of 2018. The .com and .net TLDs had a combined increase of approximately 5.3 million domain name registrations, or 3.7%, year over year. As of 30 June, .com registrations totalled approximately 135.6 million, and 14.1 million for .net. And while .com continues to grow, .net continues to slide. 12 months ago there were 129.2 million .com registrations and 15.1 million for .net.

For new gTLDs, their slide has come to an end, at least for now, as registrations grew to approximately 21.8 million, an increase of approximately 1.6 million domain name registrations, or 7.9%, compared to the first quarter of 2018. New gTLDs decreased by approximately 2.5 million domain name registrations, or 10.4%, year over year. The top 10 new gTLDs represented just over half (51.2%), and top 3 (.top, .loan and .xyz) 30.2%, of all new gTLD domain name registrations.