Top is 4 Yr Old

It has passed without much fanfare but yesterday the .top extension had the four year anniversary of general availability that began on Nov 17, 2014.  Through promotional pricing the .top extension leads all ngTLDs in number of registrations, about 3.7 million registrations currently according to nTLDStats. 

Registration Data

The registration numbers went up to a peak of nearly 4.8 million, then  dropped to about 1.9 million early in 2018, before bouncing back to the current rate of 3.7 million. Plot below is courtesy of nTLDStats.

Sales Data

The .top extension has also done very well sales wise.  For example in 2018 YTD the NameBio database for .top shows 467 sales accounting for bout $2 million volume.  The average sales price is an impressive $4340.  There have been 7 sales in 2018 above $50,000 and 28 for more than $10,000. The extension registration is dominated by China (93% currently), and Chinese registries account for the vast majority of registrations, both premium and standard. The abuse characteristics of the extension remain problematic. I am planning a  more extensive review of the .top extension at some future date.

Promotion at Alpnames

Probably several registrars will be offering discounts to mark the anniversary.  Alpnames have started a promotion where new registrations of .top are reduced to $0.99.  It's active now - not sure how long it will last. According to TLD-List it is currently the best offer on registration among the major registrars.

Original post Oct 18, 2018.

Fine Print

This post is offered for informational and educational purposes only, and should not be considered domain name investment advice. While an attempt has been made to be accurate, there is no implied or explicit warranty, and you are responsible for verifying any information of importance to you. You also accept full responsibility for any domain investing decisions you may make. I have no association with the folks who maintain NameBio. I acknowledge the makers of these for the valuable products that they make freely available to the domain name community. I have no association with the .top registry, except that I have a number of their domain names in my portfolio.  I have no affiliate or other relationship with Alpnames, except using them as a registrar for some of my domain names.

I try to be fair, balanced and objective in my analysis.  If you feel this post does not meet that standard, please express your concerns to me.  I never accept compensation to provide favourable review of any particular service or product.

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