.DE remains the most popular European ccTLD
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Lately there was much ado about the new gTLD's (generic Top Level Domains) that ICANN wants to allow. But pending the approval of these TLD's, a process that will take at least 9 months, one should not forget the existing domains - keeping in mind the proverb "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush".
The bestselling geographical domain suffix in Europe is still .DE, the abbreviation of Deutschland (Germany). In April 2012 the 15th million specimen of this ccTLD (country code TLD) has been registered. When registrar DENIC eG, a collaboration of 37 German ISP's, was established in 1997, there were only 50.000 .DE domains. In October 1999 this domain reached a milestone with its first millionth registration, followed by a steady growth of approx. 1 million new addresses each year. Which finally lead to the 15th million this year.
However, the .DE suffix is not a "fancy" one, allowing puns like the .ME domain (country code for Montenegro). The latter country has, thanks to the creative possibilities with its suffix, an average of 1 domain per inhabitant (650.000 domains and 670.000 inhabitants). Yet in December 2011 5,9% of the .DE domains belonged to companies and individuals who do not reside in the country. The .DE suffix seems to remain an excellent tool to reach the 82 million inhabitants of the country...
A recent SEDO sale proves by the way how attractive the .DE domains still are: two domains in this country code were sold at the highest amounts ccTLD sales have fetched this year: Online-casino.de was sold at $144.900 and Gruppenreisen.de fetched $74.970.
Check the availability of your domain name
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Posted on : 22/06/2012
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