19,000 new gTLD domain names registered in the first hours of general availability – .guru is the winner

The real (no EAP) general availability started today for 7 new gTLDs offered by Donuts.co:
.holdings, .ventures, .singles, .plumbing, .bike, .guru, .clothing

About 19,000 new gTLD domain names were registered in the first few hours of general availability. .guru is the clear winner with about 9,500 new registrations.

This is the day that the pre-registrations kicked in and domains were available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Here are the results after the first few hours (less than 12) of general availability:
(Registrations Yesterday -> Registrations Today)

.guru
2890 -> 12435

.bike
483 -> 3751

.clothing
1016 -> 2866

.singles
340 -> 2083

.ventures
387 -> 1685

.plumbing
232 -> 1099

.holdings
328 -> 975

Total:
5676 -> 24894
(+19218)

.Guru is the clear winner of the 7 because it is more diverse than the other 6. Also it seems that there are not a lot of “holdings” and “plumbing” companies in search of a new domain name.

(We got the data from zone files of the 7 new gTLDs. The numbers are not exact or final and include the last few hours before general availability (the Early Access Program (EAP) pricing) where domains were sold for about $175. Also domain names without nameservers don’t get listed in zone files.)

Sold.Domains

About Konstantinos Zournas

I studied Computer Engineering and Computer Science in London, UK and I am now living in Athens, Greece. I went online in 1995, started coding in 1996 and began buying domain names and creating websites in 2000. I started the OnlineDomain.com blog in 2012.

12 comments

  1. Of course .guru was the winner. The blocklists never lie :^)

  2. So 20,000 registrations over 7 extensions, I mean a lot of the action happend today, and will end today. I think round 1 over excitement, should calm down a bit as we move on.

  3. Seems obvious to me that most, if not all, of these will die from lack of overall registrant interest. I do not think that the small numbers referenced here represent the volume needed to sustain a viable and thriving gtld registry. Yes, it is the first day, but I suspect it’ll be downhill from hereon out.

  4. Very interesting! Just to clarify what the numbers represent — if we take .guru for example:

    .guru
    2890 -> 12435

    …does this mean:

    2,890 domains in total were registered as of E.O.D. YESTERDAY (prior to general availability); so these include Trademark-claimed domains & domains ordered via the Donuts EAP (Early Access Program).

    12,435 domains in total had been registered as of E.O.D. Today
    Therefore, 9,545 (12,435 – 2,890 = 9,545) were registered today (under general availability) at the base price level.

    **of course, as you said, only those domains with a designated nameserver are included in the counts

    Thanks,
    Steve

    • You are correct but there is a small(?) number of domains in the 9,545 new domains since yesterday that were bought under Donuts EAP (Early Access Program). Zone file update time varies. And the Donuts EAP (Early Access Program) ended in the middle of the day.

  5. Having a dutch auction launch pricing format turns off registrants from day zero, as does registration prices being 3 x .com

    I predict they’ll make modifications to the pricing structure for their future launches when they see the error of their ways, or their launch revenue totals.

    • Drew, most of these gTLDs have a limited number of “premium” domains.
      So even if they sell just a few (I think it was 6 from the first batch of 7 new gTLDs) at $10,000 a pop they are happy.
      What is your suggestion?

      And I don’t think they will change the registration/renewal cost before they get the renewal rates next year.

  6. You have to take into account, some of these domains are being sold at 7x what it costs to reg a .com. But unlike .com there are only so many good phrases that can come from these extensions. You have guys registering PCHARDWARE.GURU which they will not be able to pay $40 per year to sustain it, simply if it is registered for the purpose of being flipped.

    The guys that paid $700+, are invested probably for at least 5 years at that cost.

    Many of the domains went off around $200, these guys maybe give it 1-2 years.

    I saw on DNFORUM yesterday some guy trying to sell WebsiteGuru.com, made me think he must want 4 figures, would I be better taking Website.Guru, even though it was taken, I wonder if his domain has become devalued somewhat as options, lead to second choices, and non sales.

  7. I looked into a reverse whois of what some of the random registrants owned in their portfolios, many of them owned more than an usual amount of .mobil, and .us extensions.

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