The Domain Name Industry Overview in 2020

The year 2020 was a difficult year for many industries. The Covid-19 pandemic has severely impacted the performance of many businesses and even caused many businesses to shut down for good, with the exception of some of the world’s biggest tech giants, particularly the FAANG (Facebook, Amazon.com, Apple, Netflix and Google parent Alphabet.)

What about the domain name industry? Are you curious to know how did it fare against the pandemic and what to expect from here on? If you are, then you have come to the right place!

One might expect the domain name industry to fare well, since the pandemic has driven the rapid adoption of digitalisation by many businesses. Naturally, it should only be right that more domains are being registered due to digitalisation, right? Surprisingly, it turns out that the performance of the domain name industry is merely mediocre, in fact it seems to be on the verge of declining.

Check out an overview statistic of the domain name industry in the year 2020 below:

Total number of domain name registrations

The year 2020 closed with 366.3 million domain name registrations across all top-level domains (TLDs). The number has seen an increase of 4.0 million, or 1.1%, compared to 2019.

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=executive-summary

The year-over-year growth, albeit a mere 1.1%, shows that the domain industry is still growing, with a study by Research and Markets stating a post Covid-19 Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of the industry at 6.7% over the analysis period 2020 through 2027.

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.com and .net made up for nearly half of the total domain name registrations

The year 2020 closed with a volume of 165.2 million for .com and .net combined in total, nearly half the volume among the total domain name registrations. Compared with 2019 year over year, the number increased by 6.3 million, or 4.0%. As of 31 December 2020, the total volume of .com was 151.8 million, whereas the total volume of .net was 13.4 million.

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=executive-summary

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Total number of country-code TLD (ccTLD) domain name registrations

The year 2020 closed with 158.9 million ccTLD domain name registrations. In comparison with the volume of 2019, there was an increase of 1.3 million, or 0.8%.

Total number of new gTLD (ngTLD) domain name registrations

The year 2020 closed with a total volume of 26.0 million ngTLD registrations. The volume saw a decrease of 3.3 million domain name registrations, or 11.2% year over year compared with 2019.

New gTLDs make up for 7.1% of the total 366.3 million domain name registrations, at a figure of 26.0 million. Breaking the 26.0 million figure down further, the top 10 most popular ngTLD in terms of percentage are:

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=new-gtlds

.icu (12.9%), .xyz (11.6%), .online (6.6%), .top (6.0%), .site (5.2%),
.club (3.7%), .vip (3.6%), .shop (2.9%), .app (2.8%), .work (2.1%), other (42.7%)

WebNIC offers a wide range of ccTLDs and ngTLDs, with a total of more than 600 types of domains! Join as our reseller today!

Top 10 largest TLDs by number of reported domain name registrations

When the year 2020 ended, the largest TLDs by number of reported domain names were .com, .cn, .tk, .de, .net, .uk, .org, .nl, .ru and .br.

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=tlds

 

Top 10 largest ccTLDs by number of reported domain name registrations

When the year 2020 ended, the largest ccTLDs by number of reported domain names were .cn, .tk, .de, .uk, .nl, .ru, .br, .fr, .eu and .it.

Image source: https://www.verisign.com/en_US/domain-names/dnib/index.xhtml?section=cc-tlds

At the close of the year 2020, there were 307 global ccTLD extensions delegated in the root zone, including IDNs, with these top 10 ccTLDs comprising 65.4% of all ccTLD domain name registrations.

Conclusion

Overall, based on the data from Verisign’s Domain Name Industry Brief, the domain name industry performance was of a mixed result. It did not perform as assumed that the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the industry for rapid growth, due to the move to online by many people and businesses. In fact, the poor performance of ngTLDs’ registration volume in 2020 has pulled down the overall domain name industry performance.

However, this is not an issue to worry about, as more people and businesses are increasingly moving online, which will definitely promote the domain name industry’s growth. The study by Research and Markets shows a post Covid-19 CAGR of the industry 6.7% over the analysis period 2020 through 2027. So, don’t miss the chance to build your domain name business by joining WebNIC as a reseller today!

(data source: Verisign, The Domain Name Industry Brief)

About WebNIC

WebNIC operates a digital reseller platform covering primarily domain name registration for 600 TLDs, web security services, email and cloud services. With offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Taipei and Jakarta, we serve 5,000 active resellers in over 70 countries. With 20 years’ experience, we accelerate our partner’s growth through a robust platform, attentive support and wholesale pricing. Please visit https://www.webnic.cc/ for more information or email us at [email protected].

.EU domain and Brexit

In a historical move, Britain left the European Union (EU) since 1st February 2020, which is known as Brexit. As a result, many of the UK-based .EU domain registrations became invalid, as UK is no longer part of EU.

The European Registry for Internet Domains (EURid), the domain registry in charge of overseeing the operations of the .EU domain, published a notice regarding this development. The aim of doing so is to help the public stay informed about the next steps to take.

Important dates and what happened

1 February 2020 – The UK left the EU.

1 February 2020 to 31 December 2020 – This is a transition period provided to all UK-based .EU registrants to continue to be able to hold and register a .EU domain name.

1 January 2021 – The transition period ended. From this date onwards, EURid enforced the following requirements to be eligible to register a .EU domain name:

·        a Union citizen, independently of their place of residence;

·        a natural person who is not a Union citizen and who is a resident of a Member State;

·        an undertaking that is established in the Union; or

·        an organisation that is established in the Union, without prejudice to the application of national law.

As UK is no longer a member of the EU, any UK-based registrants are not allowed to register or own a .EU domain from 1 January 2021 onwards. With that said, the circumstances below apply after said date:

1)     EU citizens who are residing in the UK will remain eligible to hold a .EU domain name, provided they update their .EU registration data with their EU citizenship.

2)     UK citizens residing in any EU Member State will remain eligible to hold a .EU domain name based on their residence. On the other hand, UK citizens residing outside of the EU Member States will no longer be eligible to hold a .EU domain name.

 

Important dates for existing .EU registrations

1 October 2020 – EURid sent an email notification to all UK registrants and their registrars to inform them about losing their eligibility to own a .EU domain name starting from 1 January 2021.

21 December 2020 – EURid sent another email notification to all UK registrants who did not demonstrate compliance and their registrars about the risks of non-compliance to their services.

1 January 2021 – EURid sent an email notification to all non-compliant UK registrants and their registrars to inform them that their .EU domain names no longer complies with the regulatory framework. They will be moved to the so-called “SUSPENDED” status until 31 March 2021 (extended to 30 June 2021).

NOTE: Domain name in the “SUSPENDED” status is unable to support any services, but may still be reinstated once the registration data is updated to meet the eligibility criteria.

1 July 2021 – EURid will send an email notification to all still non-compliant UK registrants and their registrars that their .EU domain names are not compliant with the regulatory framework. Therefore, they will be moved to the “WITHDRAWN” status. A “WITHDRAWN” domain name cannot support any services.

1 January 2022 – All domain names in the “WITHDRAWN” status will be REVOKED and subsequently released to become AVAILABLE for general registration in batches due to security reasons.

 

The effects of Brexit for UK-based .EU domain registrants

As expected, the Brexit move has brought about some negative effects for .EU domain registrations, as it did not go down well with the public, especially for UK-based registrants. For starters, British entities and individuals are no longer eligible to register or renew .EU domain from 1 January 2021 onwards. As a result, the number of .EU domain registrations from UK has seen a sharp decline. In fact, the decline started since 2018, way before the official exit date, as depicted in the graph below:

 

On the other hand, existing UK-based registrants who are actively using .EU domain previously might also be in a bind now, if they are not aware of Brexit’s development and timeline. If they have not prepared themselves during the transition period given by EURid, they might be facing some serious impacts as stated below:

1)     Loss of traffic

They will see a drastic drop in Google rankings, as Google’s system has detected that their website has become invalid. Any links to the website from social media, newsletters, third-party websites, emails, etc., will not work. Precious backlinks to the website might be lost as other websites’ admins might change broken links on their websites.

2)     Loss of sales, revenue and potential customers

Websites which do not work will result in users seeing error messages. They cannot complete their initial intended actions, which might include performing a transaction online, submitting an inquiry, check for info etc. As a result, they leave and it impacts these .EU domain name owners’ bottom line.

3)     Cybersquatting risks

Cybersquatting is the act of registering the domain name of a brand, with the intention of selling it back to the said brand for a hefty profit. Malicious or not, any eligible parties are able to register and use .EU domain names, previously held by them, the legitimate parties or organisations.

4)     Reputational risks

Malicious parties can take control of their .EU domain names and pretend to be them to scam their users and customers, resulting in loss of reputation, negative sentiment and negative word-of-mouth comments. Repairing damaged reputation can be very challenging for them.

5)     Loss of email communication

A suspended .EU domain means it cannot be used for any services. Email is one such service, and they might lose all their email communication messages. Following up with customers and colleagues will become more challenging for them, where they need to spend time to update their contact details.

 

If you have customers who registered a .EU domain, it would be a great idea if you can remind them about the development of Brexit and how it affects their .EU domain names. It is advisable for you to follow up with them and be aware of the status of their .EU domain names. Do provide them with any necessary assistance, and as always WebNIC is ready to assist you, too, should you need assistance. If you have questions regarding .EU domain name, contact us and we will help you!

 

About WebNIC

WebNIC is an accredited registrar by ICANN, and various countries including Asia, Europe, America, Australasia, and Africa. With offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Taipei and Jakarta, we serve 5,000+ active resellers in over 70 countries. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].

What is a domain registrar?

A domain registrar is a business that is responsible for registering and managing domain names, where it bears the responsibility of facilitating the process to ensure successful domain registrations by users. A domain registrar helps a user purchase and manage his/her domain name.

In case you do not know what a domain name is, read our article about domain name here.

A domain name is crucial when building a website, and you cannot have a website without getting a domain name for it. To get a domain name, one has to register it online, and the process here is where a domain registrar plays a role.

 

What are the responsibilities of a domain registrar?

A domain registrar is responsible for offering domain name registration services to registrants. With this in mind, it performs a few important customer service-related tasks, according to the requirements set by ICANN. ICANN stands for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. It is in charge of coordinating the Internet address book and the unique identifiers of all websites worldwide, enabling one global Internet. That is why it is crucial to work with an ICANN-accredited registrar.

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In such a situation, there exists a relationship between ICANN and an ICANN-accredited domain registrar, held in place by the Registrar Accreditation Agreements (RAA), which sets out the obligations of both parties. Under RAA, a domain registrar is obliged with the following responsibilities:

1. A domain registrar must adhere to numerous ICANN consensus policies. Some example policies include Inter-Registrar Transfer Policy, Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, WHOIS Data Reminder Policy, WHOIS Marketing Restriction Policy, Restored Names Accuracy Policy, Expired Domain Deletion Policy, to name a few. The aim of doing so is that ICANN wants to ensure a high standard of domain name registration service level for all registrants.

2. A domain registrar must update and populate WHOIS data in a timely manner to ensure the accuracy of the data. WHOIS is a database of information that allows users to look up domain and IP owner information and check out dozens of other statistics about the domain name.

3. A domain registrar must submit and update the most recent registration information to registries. A registry is an organisation responsible for monitoring certain top-level domains and their corresponding registration information, which a domain registrar submits.

4. A domain registrar must provide users with public access to WHOIS data, where they can search for the information associated with a domain name. It is important to have a certain degree of transparency and access to owner info, in case there are any issues with a domain name.

5. A domain registrar must require all Registered Name Holders (domain name registrants) to enter into a registration agreement that includes specific provisions. The agreement outlines the laws and regulations related to the domain name, which provides a high level of transparency in dealing with domain name issues.

6. A domain registrar must investigate reported inaccurate contact information. The contact info of a domain name registrant is usually available through WHOIS data, and anyone can reach out and contact them to handle domain name issues. It is possible for the presence of inaccurate contact information in WHOIS, and if reported by users, a domain registrar must do due diligence in investigating it.

In summary, there are many responsibilities for a domain registrar, and the most crucial part is to handle all domain name transactions initiated by a user, namely registration, transfer and renewal. The domain registrar plays an important role in updating registries whenever there is a new domain name purchase by a customer. It is required to maintain a database of accurate information to ensure the Internet works smoothly.

 

Domain Registrar Compliance Program

Other than the responsibilities stated above, there is also a Registrar Compliance Program outlined by ICANN, and it must be complied with by a domain registrar. Under this program, the lists of domain registrar compliance areas are outlined below:

1. WHOIS management
A domain registrar is required to comply with the provision of free public WHOIS service on Port 43 and via the web. It must also submit all required data elements to the registries and update data in a timely manner. It is also required of a domain registrar to take the necessary steps to investigate and correct inaccuracies upon notification. Besides, a domain registrar also needs to provide annual WHOIS data reminders to registrants.

2. Domain name transfer
Every ICANN-accredited domain registrar must allow domain name registrants to transfer their domain names to another registrar. Any registrants can submit any complaints regarding the transfer process of a domain registrar, and ICANN will take the appropriate steps to review and follow up with the domain registrar in question.

3. Domain name renewal
Every ICANN-accredited domain registrar needs to abide by policies regarding domain name expiration and the renewal process. The compliance includes specific communication standards to notify registrants of domain name expiration, as well as the standard of the renewal process.

4. Data escrow compliance
A domain registrar is also required to submit an electronic copy of its database to an escrow agent in accordance with an agreed schedule and format. The process is done by having the domain registrar enter an agreement with ICANN and the escrow agent. From there on, the domain registrar needs to submit data accordingly on schedule, in the proper format and which complies with the requirements stated in RAA.

Such a process aims to safeguard the registrants, in case of any forms of failure from the domain registrar. A data escrow agent is a neutral third-party which stores the data and restores said data when the circumstances arise.

5. Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) compliance
The UDRP is a method to resolve certain domain name disputes regarding trademarks. When an independent dispute resolution provider files a dispute, ICANN requires that a domain registrar complies with the UDRP. The compliance areas include specific procedures, such as verifying registrant information, maintaining domain status quo, locking domain names, and timely implementation of UDRP decisions.

In conclusion, there are many responsibilities and compliance that is required in becoming a domain registrar. Besides, the process to qualify as a domain registrar is daunting and incredibly challenging, which is why not many businesses are willing to commit and invest in becoming one. However, there is still the alternative of joining us as our reseller, in which you can still involve yourself in the domain industry. We offer many benefits to become our reseller, check them out here!

About WebNIC

WebNIC is an accredited registrar by ICANN and various countries, including Asia, Europe, America, Australasia, and Africa. With offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Taipei and Jakarta, we serve 5,000+ active resellers in over 70 countries. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].