In the domain world, the .com domains are among the most sought after domains on the market.

In the domain world, the .com domains are among the most sought after domains on the market. In fact, many people consider the .com domain to be synonymous with the internet. Recently however, the popularity of country code Top Level Domains (ccTLDs) such as .ca and .cn have been gaining strength in the domain market.

The .ca for example is looking to reach its millionth milestone this month. It also currently stands as the seventeenth largest internet domain name registry when compared to generic domain names like the .com and the .net. Considering that the .ca is reserved exclusively for the use of Canadian citizens, residents, businesses and organization, these numbers are quite impressive.

Just as impressive, is the momentum behind the .cn, which recently passed its six millionth .cn registrations. On average around 20,000 .cn domains are registered every day. This comes as little surprise when you take into account that China's internet population surpasses even the United States, with around 210 million internet users in total.

So what is causing the boom in ccTLDs? Well, unlike the .com, these ccTLDs like the .ca and the .cn seem to be attracting more end users. For instance, many .ca domains are registered with a direct purpose in mind, be it a small business, a blog, or a product advertisement geared toward a niche market. At Sedo specifically, unlike with .com domains, rarely do we see ccTLDs registered solely for parking. A ccTLD cannot turn a profit from parking the same way a .com and as disappointing as that may seem, it is unrealistic to assume otherwise. Instead however, these ccTLDs can provide targeted and often times exclusive traffic, which is a benefit the .com doesn't boast on its resume.

The popularity of ccTLDs is not limited to the .ca and the .cn. In all, the ccTLD registrations grew to about 51.5 million in the past year. At this rate we should be expecting to celebrate more milestones in the near future.

Written by Joe Palombo, Sedo Key Accounts Manager/Transfer Consultant

See Related Topics: DNS, Domain Names, Top-Level Domains