More and more firms are using fresh TLDs

Registration numbers games are masking actual use.

Big firms might prefer .com. Most people might choose .com. But there’s another trend I’ve seen over the past year that shouldn’t be overlooked: more and more firms using fresh top level domains.

It’s a shame that some fresh TLD operators played games with registration numbers when fresh TLDs launched. The inevitable decline in registration numbers when those domains dropped is masking what I believe to be a steady increase in end users registering and using fresh TLDs.

I see this a lot at my PodcastGuests.com service. People choose domains like .show and .live for their podcast websites. I spoke to a podcast firm the other day that uses a .audio domain. When I searched for virtual event firms this month, I saw domains ending in .events and .live.

What was once a once-a-month occurrence became once-a-week to now once-a-day.

So much has been lost in the debate over .com vs. fresh TLDs. .Com stalwarts stated fresh TLDs didn’t have a place in the ecosystem. Fresh TLD promoters stated the domains were better than .com.

Neither is correct in 2020. The answer is somewhere in the middle.

Consider the millions of domain registrations this year. A business looks for its ideal domain. If it’s in the U.S., the registrant likely starts by looking for .com. If they don’t find what they want, they might consider an aftermarket domain. A subset of people decides to use a fresh TLD instead.

Thus, there is a growth curve for fresh TLDs. It’s not a hockey stick like some people predicted. But it’s there. Actual use by actual end users will increase over time. Slow and steady, but up and to the right.