Domain names

Increased registrations,local extensions rise, see the TLDs market report!

Sanitary measures, lockdowns, how can we outline trends from the 2020 TLDs market report?

2021 June 8

3 minutes read

Index

1. On a global scale, an increase in the registration number

2. The example of France, a promising year for the .FR domain

3. A progression of local extensions to be put into perspective

4. What can we learn from TLDs market report?

The events of the year 2020 in the digital industry were indicative of certain needs within our societies. Faced with an imposed distancing, digital had become for many people their shop window, work tool, social link, etc.
When you create a website, you register a domain name. How can we outline trends from this 2020 TLDs market report? What are the differences between countries? Which extensions have been favored?

On a global scale, an increase in the registration number

Overall, the different continents reported an average increase of 4.6% in 2020. A figure that can be contrasted with South East Asia, which actually gets almost half as much.

These figures can be explained by two factors.

Southeast Asia did not have the same digital transformation needs as other continents, there are many large companies that were already digitalized. In addition, the use of numerous social networks is very important there and makes it possible to reference local players without having to create a site.

In 2020, Europe recorded its highest increase in domain purchases for the last six years. This means an increase of 27% between November 2019 and November 2020. These figures can be explained by the previously mentioned phenomenon of containment in Europe. However, this data can be put into perspective since only 44% of registered domains are actually active (with content and not just a parking page).

In addition to the increasing number of registrations, it is also interesting to note an increasing share of national ccTLDs for the development of local businesses. Indeed, figures show a larger share of national extensions on registrations with local registrars.

The example of France, a promising year for the .FR domain

In 2020, the .FR domain recorded a 7% increase in domain name registrations. That is to say, a growth that has almost doubled in one year. This puts .FR at 8th place in the ranking of the most registered ccTLDs. It is particularly interesting to notice that this considerable increase is specific to .FR in France.

In other words, the rest of the domain market is not as successful in France (on average +6.1%) and conversely .FR has not been as successful in the rest of the world (on average +1.4%).

The .FR domain gained 0.3 points in terms of market share for website creation in France, while the .COM domain fell back by 0.6 points. We can therefore identify digital behavior on a local and national scale.

In particular, through VSEs/SMEs, restaurateurs, and craftsmen, who need to exist locally on the Internet. A need for regional recognition has certainly been reinforced by the numerous traffic restrictions in 2020.

A progression of local extensions to be put into perspective

Although we could feel a craze for local consumption in 2020 (and yes, even at the level of extensions), we must put into perspective the case of regional and city extensions which do not follow the same trend. They represent a minimal part of geoTLD registrations. This category of TLDs includes ccTLDs (.fr, .uk, .it, etc.) and ngTLDs (.paris, .alsace, .nyc etc.).

Thus, 98.2% of geoTLD registrations are ccTLDs and only 1.8% are ngTLDs. We find in the top of the ranking the extensions: .tokyo (23,3%), .nyc (8,2%), .london (6,4%).

In any case, the increase in these extensions is much less significant. This is unfortunate because these extensions have the same desires as the national extensions: to develop the regional digital territory and support local actors in their digital transformation.

What can we learn from TLDs market report?

Whether on a global, regional, or national scale, three trends stand out from this TLDs market report :

An increase in registrations: more and more companies, individuals, and self-employed people are developing their digital presence and rethinking the way they communicate, sell and collaborate. It is a fact that many habits have been changed during the year 2020, and people are adapting. The .BAR, for example, has seen the biggest increase in registrations with +1769%.
A need for a qualitative presence locally: national domains have developed strongly in favor of more generic domains with a wide audience. The goal? Aiming right, targeting Internet users, and converting!
A need strongly identified in Europe: more than on other continents, Europe has worked hard on the digital transformation of craftsmen, traders, and other actors strongly affected by health restrictions. A digital dynamic that opens the field of possibilities for the years to come!