What domains the Top 100 internet firms in China prefer
Chinese internet firms like these types of domain names.
I like to study domains used by Chinese internet firms since they are leaders of corporate China in the age of an internet-based society. Their preference will have great influence on other firms in the choice of domains.
Two years ago, I analyzed the 2018 Top 100 Chinese Internet Firms Note. In this article, I’ll use data from the latest note published in August 2019. For each firm in the Top 100 list, I used Baidu search to locate its corporate domain.
First of all, .com still rules corporate China. Other extensions are .tv in 2018 and .net and .fm in 2019.
| Extension | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| com | 86% | 84% |
| cn | 13% | 14% |
| Others | 1% | 2% |
“Short” is the key as 98% of the domains are 10 characters or less (with the median being 6 characters) excluding the extension. This is more or less the same as 2018.
In terms of domain type, Pinyin leads and is in the uptrend, suggesting more emphasis on the local market. English domains are those made up of English words or English-like words, such as Alibaba.com, Ctrip.com, and Neusoft.com.
| Type | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Pinyin | 37% | 43% |
| English | 36% | 30% |
| Numeric | 7% | 7% |
| Acronym | 10% | 9% |
| Mixed | 10% | 11% |
Going deeper into Pinyin domains, 2-pin remains most popular despite a slight decrease.
| Pinyin | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 1-pin | 5.4% | 7.0% |
| 2-pin | 78.4% | 76.7% |
| 3-pin | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 4-pin | 5.4% | 4.7% |
Among numeric domains, 1N (6.cn) has gone and is replaced with 5N (71360.com). 2N, 3N, and 4N are equally notable.
| Numeric | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 1N | 14.3% | 0.0% |
| 2N | 28.6% | 28.6% |
| 3N | 28.6% | 28.6% |
| 4N | 28.6% | 28.6% |
| 5N | 0.0% | 14.3% |
Among acronym domains, it appears that 3L is emerging as the fresh leader. We’ll know if this is becoming a trend when we have the 2020 data ready for comparison.
| Acronym | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| 1L | 0.0% | 0.0% |
| 2L | 40.0% | 33.3% |
| 3L | 30.0% | 44.4% |
| 4L | 30.0% | 22.2% |
Finally, let’s look at the issue of brand-matching domains. In both notes, 15% of the domains do not exactly match their brands.
| Brand-matching? | 2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 85% | 85% |
| No | 15% | 15% |
The existence of domains not matching their brands creates selling opportunities for domain investors, and below is the 2019 list of firms where domain upgrade is possible.
| Brand | Curent | Possible Upgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Ant Financial (蚂蚁金服) | Antfin.com | Ant.com |
| Giant Network (巨人网络) | Ga-me.com | Giant.com |
| Qian Cheng Wu You (前程无忧) | 51job.com | QCWY.com |
| Ying Ke (映客) | Inke.cn | Yingke.com |
| Sheng Qu (盛趣) | SDO.com | ShengQu.com or SQ.com |
| Shun Wang (顺网) | SWjoy.com | ShunWang.com or SW.com |
| Fang Duo Duo (房多多) | Fangdd.com | FDD.com |
| TAL (好未来) | 100tal.com | Tal.com |
| Trueland (珍岛) | 71360.com | Trueland.com |
| Jing Wang (竞网) | HNjing.com | JingWang.com or JW.com |
| 263 (二六三) | Net263.com | 263.com |
| Loyo (乐游) | Loyo.net | Loyo.com |
| Yun Man Man (运满满) | YMM56.com | YMM.com |
| Xiang Tong (翔通) | Xiangtone.com | XiangTong.com or XT.com |
| Hai Kan (海看) | SDTV.cn | Haikan.com or HK.com |
In summary, if you want to sell to corporate users in China, focus on short .com domains. Both Pinyin and English names are fine. For acronym and numeric domains, try not to exceed 4L or 4N (even though there is a 5N in the 2019 list).
