The .xyz new gTLD has been shedding registrations in the millions, losing almost 4.2 million registrations since it peaked at 6.756 million in early December 2016 with registrations today standing at 2.576 million, according to nTLDstats. The drop has included losing 3 million registrations in the 3 weeks to the end of August and is a result of a huge discounted promotion in mid-2016 which saw 3.2 million registrations in 3 days.
As a result of the decline in .xyz, and a much smaller decline in .top registrations, .top is now the largest of all the new gTLDs by registration numbers. .top peaked at 4.787 million on 12 January this year and has been on a decline ever since to today’s 3.252 million.
Others to have noticeable declines in the top 10 by registration numbers are .win which peaked at 1.297 million registrations on 1 December 2016 and today has 1.039 million, .vip, with a peak of 851,600 on 4 August to today’s 765,900, .wang which peaked at 1.120 million on 3 March and today stands at 664,200, .site which peaked at 729,200 on 1 May and today stands at 524,200, .bid which peaked at 619,600 on 17 January and today stands at 493,400.
Today registrations for the 1,226 new generic top level domains to have been delegated by ICANN stand at 23.440 million, down from the heady days of 4 April 2017 when registrations stood at 29.423 million, a decline of over 5.877 million, and 3.325 in just the 3 weeks to the end of August. Of these new gTLDs, around 542 are for brands that have gone live, which account for over 7,200 domains according to research published by the Dot Brand Observatory.
It’s not all doom and gloom among the largest new gTLDs. Among the top 10 there are a couple that have defied the massive declines. One is .club which has maintained registrations just above the one million mark since 30 June. The gTLD has had a few troughs but has not been affected by such massive declines, which must largely have to do with the lack of free or discounted domains. Another with a fairly stable number of registrations is .loan which passed the 2 million registrations mark in April and today has 2.169 million registrations.
While the experiences of massively discounted promotions haven't led to high renewal rates or usage, which has also been the experience of ccTLDs and legacy gTLDs, it’s usage that’s extremely important for visibility in the marketplace. There are also still plenty of new gTLDs with registrations that will see them continue to thrive. There are 5 new gTLDs with over one million registrations, 9 with more than 500,000 and 33 with more than 100,000.