Domains used by China’s Top 100 internet firms
Studying these domains will help you understand what types of domains China’s biggest internet firms prefer.
Spectacular domain sales to China have been noted in recent years, and many of them were bought by internet firms, such as 360.com for $17m, JD.com for $5m, and Mi.com for $3.6m. This ought to not surprise domain investors since internet firms are the fresh leaders in this internet age.
With China poised to become the largest domain market supported by its 800 million internet population, studying domains used by the best internet firms in China will help investors understand what domains to sell to this market. The opportunity came recently when the “2018 Top 100 Chinese Internet Firms Note (2018年中国互联网企业100强分析报告)” was jointly published by the Internet Society of China and MIIT in July. Based on the note and with help from Baidu search, I have created the following list.
| Rank | Chinese | English | Founded | Domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 阿里巴巴 | Alibaba | 1999 | Alibaba.com |
| 2 | 腾讯 | Tencent | 1998 | Tencent.com |
| 3 | 百度 | Baidu | 2000 | Baidu.com |
| 4 | 京东 | Jing Dong | 1998 | JD.com |
| 5 | 网易 | Netease | 1997 | Netease.com |
| 6 | 新浪 | Sina | 1998 | Sina.com |
| 7 | 搜狐 | Sohu | 1998 | Sohu.com |
| 8 | 美团 | Meituan | 2010 | Meituan.com |
| 9 | 三六零(奇虎360) | 360 Total Security | 1992 | 360.com |
| 10 | 小米 | Xiaomi | 2010 | Mi.com |
| 11 | 今日头条(字节跳动) | Toutiao | 2012 | Toutiao.com |
| 12 | 网宿 | Wangsu | 2002 | Wangsu.com |
| 13 | 58集团 | 58.com | 2005 | 58.com |
| 14 | 金山软件 | Kingsoft | 1988 | Kingsoft.com |
| 15 | 携程 | Ctrip | 1999 | Ctrip.com |
| 16 | 二三四五 | 2345.com | 2011 | 2345.com |
| 17 | 美图 | Meitu | 2011 | Meitu.com |
| 18 | 新华网 | Xinhua Net | 1997 | Xinhuanet.com |
| 19 | 苏宁 | Suning | 1990 | Suning.com |
| 20 | 汽车之家(北京车之家) | Autohome | 2005 | Autohome.com |
| 21 | 用友网络 | Yon You | 1988 | Yonyou.com |
| 22 | 咪咕文化 | Migu | 2014 | Migu.cn |
| 23 | 三七互娱 | 37 Games | 2011 | 37.com |
| 24 | 凤凰网(天盈九州) | Phoenix | 2000 | iFeng.com |
| 25 | 恺英网络 | Kingnet | 2008 | Kingnet.com |
| 26 | 东方明珠 | Oriental Pearl Group | 1991 | OPG.cn |
| 27 | 昆仑万维 | Kunlun | 2011 | Kunlun.com |
| 28 | 多玩(华多) | Duowan | 2005 | Duowan.com |
| 29 | 易 车 网 | Yiche | 2000 | Yiche.com |
| 30 | 快 乐 阳光(芒果 TV) | Mango TV | 2006 | MGTV.com |
| 31 | 鹏博士 | Dr Peng | 1985 | Drpeng.com.cn |
| 32 | 唯品会 | Vipshop | 2008 | VIP.com |
| 33 | 央视网 | China Central Television | 1996 | CCTV.com |
| 34 | 四三九九(4399) | 4399 | 2002 | 4399.com |
| 35 | 凡普金科 | Finup | 2016 | Finupgroup.com |
| 36 | 网龙网络 | NetDragon Websoft | 1999 | NetDragon.com |
| 37 | 波克城市 | Poker City | 2010 | Pook.com |
| 38 | 米哈游 | Mi Ha You | 2014 | Mihayo.com |
| 39 | 朗玛信息 | Longmaster | 2010 | Longmaster.com |
| 40 | 幻电(哔哩哔哩) | Bilibili | 2014 | Bilibili.com |
| 41 | 巨人网络 | Giant Network | 2004 | Ga-me.com |
| 42 | 猎豹移动 | Cheetah Mobile | 2010 | CheetahMobile.com |
| 43 | 同程旅游 | LY.com | 2004 | LY.com |
| 44 | 龙采科技 | Long Cai | 2004 | Longcai.com |
| 45 | 科大讯飞 | Iflytek | 1999 | iflytek.com |
| 46 | 21CN(世纪龙信息) | 21CN | 1999 | 21CN.com |
| 47 | 泰一指尚 | Taiyitech | 2012 | Taiyiplus.com |
| 48 | 光环新网 | Sinnet | 1999 | Sinnet.com.cn |
| 49 | 竞技世界网络 | JJWorld | 2007 | JJ.cn |
| 50 | 东方财富 | Eastmoney.com | 2005 | Eastmoney.com |
| 51 | 游族网络 | You Zu | 2009 | Youzu.com |
| 52 | 斗鱼网络 | Douyu | 2015 | Douyu.com |
| 53 | 宜人贷 | Yirendai | 2012 | Yirendai.com |
| 54 | 中钢网 | Zhong Gang Wang | 2009 | ZGW.com |
| 55 | 东软集团 | Neusoft | 1991 | Neusoft.com |
| 56 | 慧聪 | Hui Cong | 1992 | HC360.com |
| 57 | 马鞍山百助 | Bai Zhu | 2006 | BZ.cn |
| 58 | 腾邦国际 | Tempus | 1998 | Tempus.com |
| 59 | 迅雷网络 | Xunlei | 2003 | Xunlei.com |
| 60 | 吉比特 | G-bits | 2004 | G-bits.com |
| 61 | 微贷网 | Wei Dai Wang | 2011 | Weidai.com.cn |
| 62 | 连尚网络 | Lian Shang | 2013 | Wifi.com |
| 63 | 钢银网 | Banksteel.com | 2008 | Banksteel.com |
| 64 | 前程无忧(前锦网络) | Qian Cheng Wu You | 2000 | 51job.com |
| 65 | 找钢网 | Zhao Gang Wang | 2012 | Zhaogang.com |
| 66 | 花椒直播 (密境和风) | Hua Jiao | 2014 | Huajiao.com |
| 67 | 好未来 | TAL | 2003 | 100tal.com |
| 68 | 蜗牛数字 | Wo Niu (Snail) | 2000 | Woniu.com |
| 69 | 游龙网络 | You Long Wang Luo | 2012 | YLWL.cn |
| 70 | 六间房 | 6Rooms | 2006 | 6.cn |
| 71 | 东方网 | Eastday.com | 2000 | Eastday.com |
| 72 | 房天下(搜房科技) | Fang | 2006 | Fang.com |
| 73 | 艾德 | Adsage | 2007 | Adsage.com |
| 74 | 岚悦科技 | Lan Yue Ke Ji | 2013 | Lanyuekeji.cn |
| 75 | 华云数据 | Hua Yun | 2013 | Huayun.com |
| 76 | 联动优势 | UMFintech | 2003 | Umpay.com |
| 76 | OFO小黄车(东峡大通) | OFO | 2016 | OFO.com |
| 78 | 途牛 | Tu Niu | 2006 | Tuniu.com |
| 79 | 创梦天地(乐逗游戏) | idreamsky | 2011 | idreamsky.com |
| 80 | 思贝克 | Spek | 2012 | Spek.com.cn |
| 81 | 盛天网络 | Sheng Tian | 2009 | Shengtian.com |
| 82 | 梦网科技 | Montnets | 2001 | Montnets.com |
| 83 | 猪八戒网 | Zhu Ba Jie | 2006 | ZBJ.com |
| 84 | 平治信息 | Anysoft | 2002 | Anysoft.cn |
| 85 | 驴妈妈(景域) | Lv Ma Ma | 2007 | Lvmama.com |
| 86 | 当当网 | Dang Dang | 1997 | Dangdang.com |
| 87 | 趣丸网络 | Qu Wan | 2014 | 52tt.com |
| 88 | 拓维信息 | Talkweb | 1996 | Talkweb.com.cn |
| 89 | 世纪佳缘 | Jia Yuan | 2003 | Jiayuan.com |
| 90 | 房多多 | Fang Duo Duo | 2011 | Fangdd.com |
| 91 | 天鸽互动 | Tian Ge | 2008 | Tiange.com |
| 92 | 创蓝253 | Chuang Lan 253 | 2011 | 253.com |
| 93 | 爱酷游 | Ai Ku You | 2009 | le4.com |
| 94 | 不锈钢电子交易中心 | Exbxg | 2006 | Exbxg.com |
| 95 | 沪江网校 | Hu Jiang | 2009 | Hujiang.com |
| 96 | 锐之旗 | Rui Zhi Qi | 2013 | Ruizhiqi.com |
| 97 | 风行网 | Fung Xing Wan | 2005 | Fun.tv |
| 98 | 美柚 | Mei You | 2013 | Meiyou.com |
| 99 | 世纪互联 | Shi Ji Hu Lian | 1996 | 21vianet.com |
| 100 | 优刻得 | Ucloud | 2012 | Ucloud.cn |
First of all, .com is king in China. 86% of the firms use .com and only 13% use .cn. The only non-mainstream extension found is .tv. Also, short domains are preferred as 99% of the domains are 10 characters or less excluding the extension (the median is only 6 characters). So, if you want to sell to corporate users in China, focus on short .com domains.
This study breaks the myth that Chinese firms prefer Pinyin but not English domains. In the list, Pinyin domains account for only 37% of the domains and English domains take up 36%. Here, I’m using the term “English” loosely and treat names such as CTrip, iflytek, and OFO as English. (Acronym has 10% and numeric 7%.)
[clickToTweet tweet=”If you want to sell to corporate users in China, focus on short .com domains of less than 10 characters” quote=”If you want to sell to corporate users in China, focus on short .com domains of less than 10 characters.”]
Digging deeper, 78% of Pinyin domains are 2-pin (two Pinyin words such as Bai Du). This implies that if you want to invest in Pinyin domains, focus on 2-pin names. For acronym and numeric domain investors, note that no firm on this list uses a domain longer than 4L or 4N. This means you have less chance to sell to corporate China if your have 5L/5N or longer domains.
Even though this list contains the best internet firms in China, there are still many of them not following the norm held by global brands of owning brand-matching .com domains. There are issues in brand matching (e.g. Ga-me.com), use of subdomain (e.g. Drpeng.com.cn), and misspelling (e.g. Mihayo.com). This offers great selling opportunities of the right domains.
In summary, if you want to sell to corporate users in China, focus on short .com domains of less than 10 characters excluding the extension. Both Pinyin and English names are fine. For acronym and numeric domains, try not to exceed 4L or 4N.
