Domain Incite

Government moves to nationalize .me

Kevin Murphy — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 11:18:44 +0000

The government of Montenegro says it has set the ball rolling on the creation of a state-owned entity that will eventually manage its local ccTLD, .me. The ccTLD, which enjoys over a million of registrations largely due to its friendliness to English speakers, is currently managed by a joint venture, doMEn, primarily controlled by GoDaddy […]

The post Government moves to nationalize .me first appeared on Domain Incite.

Now you can plant “for sale” signs directly into your domains

Kevin Murphy — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 02:39:49 +0000

In what could prove to be a game-changer for the domain industry aftermarket, domain investors can now place “for sale” signs directly into their DNS records, potentially bypassing middlemen such as brokers. The Internet Engineering Task Force has published an informational technical standard that allows any registrant to flag their domains as available for sale, […]

The post Now you can plant “for sale” signs directly into your domains first appeared on Domain Incite.

Bali to apply for .bali, and the dot is delightful

Kevin Murphy — Thu, 30 Jul 2026 03:08:49 +0000

The regional government of the Indonesian province of Bali is to formally announce an application for the .bali top-level domain at ICANN 87 in October, according to a local report. Governor Wayan Koster said the local government is supporting a bid for .bali, according to IndoBaliNews It’s not clear from the report whether the government […]

The post Bali to apply for .bali, and the dot is delightful first appeared on Domain Incite.

ICANN board seat up for grabs

Kevin Murphy — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:47:38 +0000

ICANN’s Country Code Names Supporting Organization has put out a call for nominations for candidates to potentially replace one of its current directors on the ICANN board next year. It’s the seat currently held by Byron Holland of .ca registry CIRA. His first term on the board is up at next year’s AGM — the […]

The post ICANN board seat up for grabs first appeared on Domain Incite.

As .web goes live, “.website” changes hands

Kevin Murphy — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:32:18 +0000

Identity Digital’s 2026 acquisition spree has continued, with the registry taking over a gTLD that means “.website” but has remarkably few registrations even a decade after launch. ICANN records show Jolly Host, an Identity Digital subsidiary, is now the contracted party for .网站 (or .xn--5tzm5g as it appears in the DNS), which is the Chinese […]

The post As .web goes live, “.website” changes hands first appeared on Domain Incite.

Domain name universe tops 400 million

Kevin Murphy — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:13:08 +0000

The number of registered domain names topped 400 million for the first time, according to the estimates in Verisign’s latest Domain Name Industry Brief quarterly report. There were 401.6 million domains across all TLDs at the end of June, up 9.1 million or 2.3% compared to the first quarter and 29.9 million, or 8.1%, compared […]

The post Domain name universe tops 400 million first appeared on Domain Incite.

Team Internet sells fewer domains but makes more profit

Kevin Murphy — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 08:13:31 +0000

Team Internet, still reeling from Google’s decision to cut off one of its primary revenue sources, nevertheless stayed profitable in the first half of the year, the company reported. The company’s domains division, one of three reporting units, saw a 6% dip in revenue when compared to the same period last year, coming in at […]

The post Team Internet sells fewer domains but makes more profit first appeared on Domain Incite.

Ireland’s .ie formally changes hands

Kevin Murphy — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 07:49:31 +0000

IE Domain Registry has formally taken the reins at .ie after a decision by ICANN’s board of directors. The board voted last week to redelegate Ireland’s ccTLD to the company that has in effect been in control of it since the turn of the century. From the late 1980s, .ie was formally delegated to University […]

The post Ireland’s .ie formally changes hands first appeared on Domain Incite.

Verisign’s crystal ball sees more growth for .com

Kevin Murphy — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 07:14:20 +0000

Verisign has cranked up its growth predictions for .com for another consecutive quarter, partly driven by the availability of AI website creation tools. Announcing its second-quarter financial results last week, the company said that it now expects its domain name count in .com and .net — in practice that usually means .com — to be […]

The post Verisign’s crystal ball sees more growth for .com first appeared on Domain Incite.

.web could be a huge payday for Verisign

Kevin Murphy — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 13:08:17 +0000

.web entered the root zone this week, ending over a quarter-century of drama over the once-coveted gTLD, and now it looks like it could be immediately worth tens of millions to its new registry. Verisign got it, of course, seemingly by paying off the company, Altanovo Domains, that has been doggedly pursuing it through ICANN’s […]

The post .web could be a huge payday for Verisign first appeared on Domain Incite.