Domain Incite reports a symbolic event for new generic top-level domains (gTLDs): the change of leader by the number of registered names. For a long period of time domain .XYZ was number one. Back in the beginning of this month the number of domain name registrations in .XYZ was about 5.2 million. However, the day before yesterday this number reduced more than twice – to 2.5 million. Therefore, the leader by the number of registrations is gTLD .TOP with a little less than 2.6 million names.
Such a catastrophic fall of .XYZ is due to two circumstances. First of all, it’s the result of an aggressive marketing policy implemented by the registry from the very beginning. Names in the domain zone were from time to time given away for free or for giveaway prices. The latest of such campaigns took place in July last year; domain names in .XYZ were registered for 1 cent only. Obviously, this contributed to the rapid growth in the number of registrations. However, the majority of names registered during such campaigns are usually not used in any way. Therefore, when the time for registration renewal comes registrants simply forget about them or do not consider it necessary to renew for real prices this time. All of these not renewed domains are the main reason for .XYZ’s fall.
The other circumstance is that the registry still can’t access Chinese market, which remains the most rapidly growing. The company even got the license to conduct business in China; however, it still can’t make arrangements with local technical partners, who would be conducting personal data checks of Chinese registrants – a requirement of Chinese government. Supposedly, financial disagreements are the reason for the delay. Anyway, .XYZ for now can’t provide neither the influx of new registrants nor the renewal of already existing names, which leads to sharp decrease in indicators.
