Why .XXX dwarfs other adult top level domain names: Timing is everything
Lots of competition has limited registration numbers for each fresh TLD.
Last month, Minds + Machines (MMX) disclosed that it was acquiring ICM Registry, the firm behind four adult-themed top level domain names counting .xxx. It’s interesting to take a look at the level of success ICM had for its four domains and to consider how some of the 2012 round of fresh top level domains would have performed if they didn’t have so much competition.
They likely would have performed quite well.
Consider .XXX, a sponsored top level domain name that ICM Registry introduced in 2011. It received 80,000 sunrise applications. The applications alone drove $13 million in revenue, not counting auction revenue.
At the start of 2018, there were regarding 80,000 .xxx domains registered and another 80,000 that firms paid to block from registration.
Compare this to ICM Registry’s three domain names released as part of the fresh top level domain name program.
.Sex (8,000 in zone file)
.Adult (9,000 in zone file)
.Porn (11,000 in zone file)
You can make a good argument that none of these are as good as .XXX. Still, the results are worlds apart. It’s worth noting that .sex was released regarding a half year following the other two and has the fewest registrations so far.
Of course, .XXX is a unique domain. A lot of firms registered these domains defensively, and it’s expensive for firms to register all fresh top level domain names defensively. I recall friends who own modest businesses asking me regarding .xxx back in 2011. None of them asked me regarding .sex, .porn and .adult when those domains launched.
Another domain to consider is .guru. Guru is a fine domain name, but it clearly would not have performed as well if it wasn’t among the first batch of fresh TLDs to be released. Until .app, .guru had more pre-orders than any other fresh TLD at GoDaddy. A lot of money flowed into .guru as fresh TLDs first came to the market. There are right now 65,000 .guru domains in the zone file.
It’s interesting to ponder how many registrations some of the fresh TLDs would have if they pre-dated the big increase in inventory of fresh domain extensions.
