BPN 1062 Gold digger .eu registrars leave the scene

The rush for an .eu domain is clearly over, as the number of national registrars decreased. At the beginning of 2007 there were 1111 national registrars listed; by the end of 2007 the number had dwindled to 1042; a reduction of more than 6 percent. The conclusion is that gold digger registrars have left the scene, This is one of the statistics in the Q4 report of EURid, the registrar for the .eu domains.

During the past two years, businesses, NGOs and EU residents have secured over almost 2.8 million European internet identities, making the .eu domain, at its second birthday today, the fourth most popular Top Level Domain in Europe and the ninth worldwide. By promoting an online identity that is distinctly European, .eu helps citizens and businesses to reap the full benefits of the single market and the freedoms that this provides.

The .eu domain first opened on 7 December 2005 to holders of prior rights. Since early April 2006, registration has been open to all EU residents and organisations with a registered seat in the EU. Management of the .eu registry (the database holding all .eu registrations) is entrusted to EURid, an independent not-for-profit organisation.

Early adopters of .eu understood its value, and have grasped the opportunity to promote their own pan-European outlook. It should now become the natural choice for everyone in Europe. “The stronger Europe's single market for telecommunications grows, the more we ought to ensure that .eu becomes more visible, secure and affordable”, says Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media.

By the second anniversary of its launch, the .eu domain had well consolidated its place among the 10 largest Top Level Domains of the world, competing with long-established identities such as .com, .net or .org. Registrations for .eu domains have been continuously growing following the first boom year. In addition, subscriptions for 80 percent of domain names have been renewed for their second year, which is a vote of confidence for .eu.

In terms of total number of .eu registrations per country of origin, Germany continues to lead with 31.4 percent, followed by the Netherlands (13.4 percent), the United Kingdom (13.3 percent), France (7.3 percent) and Italy (5.1 percent). This is remarkable as Germany has 16,8 percent of the EU population, while The Netherlands has only 3,38 percent.

In terms of growth, however, a different picture emerges. With overall growth at 11 percent for 2007, the number of registrations for .eu from Poland increased by 48.6 percent in 2007, followed by Lithuania (48.4 percent) and Finland (39.9 percent).

Actual usage and visibility of .eu also continues to be strong with almost 80 percent of registered names directing to a functioning website and/or email server. Furthermore, not only large and well known organisations, but also small and medium sized enterprises, non-governmental organisations and private individuals are making increasingly active use of the .eu domain names they have acquired.

Blog Posting Number: 1062

Tags: domain