Rightside, a registry of many new gTLDs, published information on registration renewals in its blog. These are seven domains - .DANCE, .DEMOCRAT, .NINJA, .IMMOBILIEN, .SOCIAL, .REVIEWS and .FUTBOL. All of them were launched back in the first half of 2014 and thus at the moment have passed two renewal periods. According to Rightside, a little less than 70% of domains on average were renewed last year, this year the number has grown to 81 percent. The leader this year is .IMMOBILIEN, a domain designed for professionals in real estate, with an amazing number of 87%.
Undeniably the results are very decent. It should be noted though that in absolute numbers it looks much more modest – altogether in all listed domains there are only 21 thousand registered names. Nevertheless, Rightside believes that the results of the second renewal allow looking into the future with optimism – not only for their business but for the whole New gTLD Program. “For one, domain investors with portfolios including new gTLDs recognize the long-term value of these domain names, and rather than let them drop after the first year, are holding onto them to find the right buyer continue to earn parking revenue. Second—and likely the more significant driver—is that end users are actually picking up these domain names and putting them to use”, reads registry’s post.
