.EU Domain Names Registered — 3 Million

.EU domain name registrations continue growth, but is it being used?

The domain registration ticker at EURid, registry for .eu domain names, has crossed the 3 million domain name milestone. As stated by statistics from EURid, regarding 50,000-60,000 fresh .eu domain names are registered every month. Germany and the Netherlands outpace other European countries in .eu domain registrations.

I think .eu has been a failure, but I’m curious to hear what people on the other side of the pond have to say. From what I’ve seen almost all good .eu domain names were registered by investors, which made it difficult for people who wanted to create end user web sites to embrace the domain name. A look at aftermarket activity shows few transactions as well. Save for a few headliners such as Hotels.eu ($329,509) and Shopping.eu ($196,803), relatively few publicly disclosed .eu domains have been sold.

Of course, aftermarket activity is not necessarily an indication of end user adoption. Most .mobi domains purchased on the aftermarket over the past year were bought by other investors rather than people intending to develop real web sites. But if .eu is taking hold with European internet users, you ought to see an influx of end users buying domain names on the aftermarket.

If you live in Europe and have seen otherwise, please discuss your experience with .eu domains.