2020 has been extremely eventful, so it follows that the domain industry has continued to experience perpetual change, progress and uncertainty in the last three months of the year. In our Q4 New gTLD Quarterly Report, MarkMonitor experts analyze topical registration activity, launch information, .brand growth and DNS abuse, and share a list of upcoming industry meetings for 2021.

Use cases in the online political and Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) spaces

As the United States presidential election dominated the news in November, we examined political and voting-related TLDs and their registration counts after the 2016 and 2020 elections. Can you guess which TLD—.democrat, .gop, .republican, .vote, .voting or .voto—had the highest growth in that timeframe? Check out the new report for the answer.

We also review the recent introduction of the MarkMonitor Domains for Good Program, and the types of new gTLDs our inaugural group of mission-driven and non-profit organizations secured in the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) space.

TLD launches never stop; they just go on to General Availability

While it may seem like nearly all of the TLDs allocated from the 2012 New gTLD Program have launched successfully by now, there is still a lot of activity expected for late 2020 and early 2021. We discuss timeframes and launch requirements for everything from sports and jobs to personal hygiene and cities in the new quarterly report.

Trend lines still moving, from DNS abuse to .brand registration growth

ICANN and the domain industry continue to take abuse in the Domain Name System seriously. In this quarterly report, we review the recent results from the ICANN Domain Abuse Activity Reporting Project, as well as Interisle Consulting Group’s Phishing Landscape 2020 study.

Not all use of New gTLDs is negative; indeed, we found that in the .Brand space, there continues to be some growth in registration numbers as well as shifts in rankings across some industries and geographies.

2020 wrapped up with a bow

Following INTA’s Annual Meeting, held virtually in late November, the 2020 meeting season is over. We wish our colleagues, customers and industry partners a well-earned rest through the end of the year! That said, given that the domain industry never sleeps, 2021 should be another year of interesting progress and advancement in the gTLD space. Please reach out to your Client Services Manager or contact us here for your domain management needs in this year or the next.

Read the Q4 New gTLD Quarterly Report.