Domain Name Wire summarized the first year of a new TLD managed by Google. Targeting software developers, .APP became available for general registration on May 8, 2018 with an impressive kick-start. About 180,000 names were registered in a couple of days.
The first year is a very important milestone for new TLDs. The general availability period usually involves major advertising campaigns, generous discounts, etc. Hype-driven users often register names without having a clear idea about their actual purpose. They eventually sober up a year later when it’s time to renew registration. Many registrants choose not to renew, making a decline in the domain zone almost inevitable. The downturn is often so massive that it pulls the plug on the domain and its future. Clearly, .APP has emerged from its first year unscathed.
The maximum number of registrations (446,730) was achieved on July 12, followed by an unavoidable ‘junk drop’ (Google Registry rules provide for quite a long waiting period before the final elimination of non-renewed domain names and as a result, the decline occurred in late July and early August). The domain zone lost about 65,000 names but it still has over 381,000 and the decrease is clearly slowing down. Google Registry spokesperson Ben McIlwain commented that the registry is “happy with .APP’s strong renewal rates.”
