When it comes to the Internet and what makes it tick, the simple answer is: domains. Domains play an integral part in how the Internet, as we know it, works and how we connect to the world of information, products and services marketed and sold online. The idea of a domain, and the modern addressing or routing system used, was invented in 1985. For most business owners, a domain is an important tool in selling services and products online, as well as attracting customers to offline, traditional marketplaces for goods and services. Here are 16 interesting facts from Webmasterjury that are not common knowledge and will expand your horizon, in the world of internet domains!
1) Approximately 13% of all .com domain registrations are of short, 5 or 6-character domain names.
2) Domain name registration was free for everyone prior to 1995.
3) Apple was the 64th domain registered in 1985 and can boast being one of the first domains put into service.
4) Google.com was originally suppose to be googol.com, but due to an administrative error, was registered as Google. The name has since become a household name.
5) .ng is the most expensive TLD (Top Level Domain) extension and costs a whopping $40,000 USD per year, to use the extension.
6) 2017’s most popular new TLDs include: .app, .fan and .web.
7) Carinsurance.com is the most expensive domain ever sold, to a non-government entity, and was sold for a massive 49.7 million USD, to Quinstreet Inc, in 2010.
8) Twitter was only able to purchase the rights to twitter.co.au in 2015, as it was registered by a domain parker and sold to the company for a huge profit.
9) In 2003, Microsoft Inc. forgot to renew Hotmail.co.uk.
10) “Trump” was the leading keyword used in the registration of new domains in Jan 2017, for .com and .new TLDs.
11) Mike Mann sets the record for most domains registered in a single day. Mike registered 14,962 domains in a 24-hour period, in April 2012, setting the record that stands to this today.
12) Domains are usually registered for periods of one to ten years at a time, but “Network Solutions” allows domains registered through their service to be registered for a period of up to 100 years.
13) GoDaddy is the clear leader of new domain registrations, with an estimated 54 million new domains registered so far in 2017. GoDaddy’s nearest competitor registered less, 12 million unique domains, in the same time period.
14) Some domains, like, .tk, .cf, .gs, .cu and .cc are free to register TLD’s, meaning the companies that administer them don’t charge you to register your domain with those extensions.
15) The most non-government used TLD is, .xyz. It likely has such high usership due to its low registration costs of only $0.69 USD per domain.
16) In 1987, the 100th domain was registered, meaning it took the Internet nearly 2 years to hit the 100-site milestone. Today, 100 sites are registered every few milliseconds.
*These are a few interesting facts about domain names that you likely didn’t know. If you are interested in learning a few more, 101 facts can be found at Webmasterjury, who kindy provided this content.