Tag: .BLOG

The .blog new gTLD has reached its 100,000th registration 8 months after launching its General Availability. After around 20,000 registrations in the first week, registrations have continued steadily upward with around 300 registrations per day.

What is probably the most significant aspect of the new generic top level domain aimed at bloggers is the number of domain names with their own website.

66.5% of .blog domains have a unique website associated with them, compared to an average of 39.3% for both new and legacy TLDs, according to recent research by Daniel Ruzzini-Mejia (co-founder and CSO of DomainsBot Srl, the company behind big-data analysis platform Pandalytics). Ruzzini-Mejia also found more than 250 .blog domains that use an eCommerce platform, “which actually indicates that there’s people using .blog not only for blogging, but also for business,” he said, pointing out the broader opportunities for .blog websites.

Additionally, the more people see .blog domain names out in the wild, the more they’re likely to want one.

The registry, Knock Knock Whois There, also made an unusual announcement recently saying that the pricing of a .blog domain, for the registry fee at least, once registered, will not increase.

In the medium term, Knock Knock Whois There has the goal of one million registrations and they’re confident they can make it.

The operator of the .blog new gTLD, Knock Knock Whois There, has announced that once a .blog domain name is registered, the price will never increase. One assumes this only applies to the registry fee, that is the fee KKWT charges registrars.

The announcement comes as one of 3 amendments to their Registry-Registrar Agreement that will come into effect on 15 July and is intended to “underscore our stance on price stability in the new gTLD marketplace. Any .blog domain that is registered will not see a pricing increase for renewals on subsequent years.”

“Pricing stability improves a registrar’s ability to promote new gTLDs to website owners, both new and experienced alike,” the registry says in its announcement. “By building a sense of security and predictability amongst end-users, we contribute to the perception of new gTLDs as reliable and accessible options.”

“We also believe this allows .blog registrars to focus on sales, without the worry of future price changes that would cause complexities to their business.”

There were 2 other changes announced, these being minor modifications:

• The addition of section 3.14 regarding Rights Protection Mechanisms and Uniform Rapid Suspension compliance, as required by ICANN.
• Clarification to section 7.1(ii) to further limit the scope of liability for our registrars.

The .blog new generic Top Level Domain hit general availability on 21 November and saw over 15,000 domain names registered on day one.

At the end of Sunrise and Landrush phases there were 2,041 registrations according to nTLDstats.com. By the end of the first day of GA there were 17,113 registrations for the new gTLD and at the end of the second day 20,848. It has already edged into the top 100 of the new gTLDs.

General Availability for .blog domain names commenced on 21 November, with anyone, anywhere able to register them. But the registry upset a few people withdrawing some domain names that were accepted for pre-registration, and then belatedly added to the registry’s reserved list.One registrant that thought he had a .blog domain was Chris Schidle who applied for chris.blog. Schidle’s application was accepted, money taken, and then the registry reneged. In what appears to be a poorly organised Landrush, the registry, A Knock Knock Whois There Production, has withdrawn some domain names and put them on their “reserved” list.The reserved list for the new generic Top Level Domain included all one-, two- and three-character domains, but the registry says they “will probably release them in the future.” Employees of the parent company, Automattic, were also able to “reserve a single domain each, some of which were first names.” So no doubt there’s a “Chris” that works for Automattic.

The Sunrise period for .blog ended on 17 October and there were over 1,000 applications, making it one of the most successful Sunrise periods for any new gTLD.

Starting today, 20 October, until 26 October, there is an auction for any domain name for which there was more than one application. From 2 till 9 November a Landrush phase with a premium price will run and then on 14 November a four day auction for domain names for which there is again more than one application. And finally on 21 November General Availability commences.

The .blog new generic Top Level Domain is expected to be one of the more successful with As Elliot Silver writing “.blog is one of the few extensions I could see having a major impact on the entire new gTLD space.”

Thus far, interest in .blog has been particularly high among major tech companies, but spans brands across industries, from banks and automobile manufacturers, to hotels and household consumer products.

The .blog registry says their feedback on the gTLD shows it is valuable because it means something without explanation. It’s short, it’s easy to remember and easy to say. .blog provides a solid foundation to build something that can grow and be shared independently regardless of what’s happening in the social space.

The Sunrise period for the .blog generic Top Level Domain commenced today, 18 August, and will be open for trademark owners for 60 days until 17 October.

Following Sunrise will be a Landrush period, probably with a premium price, that will commence on 2 November that will be open to anyone anywhere followed by General Availability on 21 November, also to anyone anywhere.

The .blog domain is backed by Automattic, makers of WordPress.com and Jetpack. But you don’t need to sign up to a WordPress blog to use your .blog domain name.

Automattic has big registration number plans for the TLD expecting 250,000 registrations by the end of 2016.