Public Interest Registry releases report on status of '.org' domain name space

The Public Interest Registry, the ‘.org’ domain name registry, has released its bi-annual report on the status of the ‘.org’ domain name space.

According to the report, the ‘.org’ domain name space grew by 1.4% over the last 12 months resulting in 10,428,027 ‘.org’ domain names under management. Also reported were the statistics for the renewal rates over the last 12 months which showed a strong renewal rate for ‘.org’ domain names of approximately 74%. As a result, ‘.org’ has consolidated its position as the third largest generic top-level domain (gTLD) in the world, behind ‘.com’ and ‘.net’.

In terms of geographic spread of ‘.org’ domain name registrants, 57.2% are based in the United States, with Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and France making up the "top five markets" for ‘.org’ domain names outside of the United States. The report also revealed that Asia was an important emerging market for ‘.org’, with significant growth recorded in China, India and Japan. Accordingly, these three countries accounted for more than 6% of the ‘.org’ domain name market share.

There are no restrictions on domain name registrations under ‘.org’. While traditionally the ‘.org’ gTLD has been seen as the online identity for the public sector or NGOs, the appeal of the ‘.org’ gTLD is fairly broad and registrants come from virtually all industry sectors.

Brian Cute, the CEO of the Public Interest Registry, was quoted as saying:

"In the past few years, the ‘.org’ domain hit 10 million domains under management and experienced rapid adoption in several international markets. We’re optimistic that in the year ahead, more and more organisations, individuals and companies around the globe will turn to ‘.org’ to share their passions, ideas and causes.”

David Taylor and Tony Vitali, Hogan Lovells LLP, Paris