The new gTLD .XYZ has been really thriving lately, showing the biggest number of registered domains among all new gTLDs. It seems to be growing muscles on the market, which is evidenced by the interest of big businesses in it. Several days ago, e-commerce giant Shopify bought the premium domain of Shop.XYZ from an .XYZ registry. Almost at the same time, payments company Square changed the name of its parent company to Block, with its official website at block.xyz.
Major deals involving domains is another evidence of success. DNGear.com reported a sale of eight domains in .XYZ on December 3 alone., the biggest deal being the sale of “collective.xyz” for $37,000. However, it was surpassed by “nomad.xyz” which Hypernames.co sold for $49,000. That is excellent daily sales for a new gTLD.
Analyzing the surge of interest in .XYZ, Domain Name Wire notes that the domain did not look that promising at first sight. .XYZ is a long domain (when spoken) at three syllables and is not good for audio advertising (not to mention that Z is pronounced differently in many English-speaking countries). Aggressive ads, sometimes over the edge, and huge discounts on registration did not make .XYZ more appealing. This kind of aggressive promotion often turns into a bubble as the number of new names stops growing and inevitably drops. However, the domain has pursued a much more sensible policy recently. It is promoted at many leading technology conferences and attracts celebrities that launch their websites and blogs in .XYZ. The domain also generously promotes companies that use its services. It seems that after all, all this is beginning to produce results.
