The IE Domain Registry has released its annual report, and it has some interesting insights. While this report is for 2019, and won’t have any data on the effects of Covid-19, it shows already strong growth in the IE domain space. Despite the report being about 2019, IEDR has indicated in the report that factoring in Covid-19, 2020 is going to be a massive year of growth for the .IE domain as many people and organisations that weren’t online before have now started to come online.
In 2019, there was a total of 50,167 .ie domain registration, while it’s slightly below their record-setting year in 2018, it’s still showing strong growth for the domain space. They report an 87.87% renewal rate – showing that those who take the time to register a .IE domain, understand that it’s worth holding onto.
Blacknight is proud to be an accredited registrar for the .IE domain and we’re delighted that we’ve played a major role in the success of this domain. These numbers show that .IE is now the default and preferred domain for those in Ireland instead of .COM and other foreign domain names.
Here are a few other key stats from the IEDR annual report worth mentioning:
- Domain Registry record an after-tax surplus of €231,438 in 2019
- The company invested almost €200,000 in enhancing infrastructure and initiatives to expand and protect the .ie domain namespace.
- A .ie online identity is the preferred website address for Irish people and businesses.
David Curtin, the CEO of IEDR had this to say about the report: “2019 was a year of building foundations—foundations for expansion and also for the future security, stability and resilience of the infrastructure that underpins the .ie domain namespace.”
On the horizon, the biggest change coming to IEDR is a new domain management platform. They’ve previously announced that they will licence a state-of-the-art registry management system for domain registrars, which will be delivered by the end of 2020. The new system, in partnership with the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), managers of the .CA namespace, is of industry standard and will assist the channel registrars in driving their own growth and expansion in the coming years. Blacknight is looking forward to working with it!
The report, despite the numbers not reflecting it yet, also mentions Covid-19. “In the first six months of 2020, we have witnessed the severe human and economic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. With business premises closed and people all over the world working from home, the uptake and use of digital tools has accelerated dramatically. 2020 heralds the next wave of digitalisation—the first six months of the year have highlighted the dramatic positive effects that digital tools can have, saving time and money and providing efficient new ways of working, particularly for remote workers.“
Here’s to IEDR having another banner year!
Interesting in securing your own .IE domain name? We can help out with that! We are experts in guiding you through the registration process, and the first year is only €5.99. Register your .IE domain name with Blacknight here.
About the Author: Jonathan Thomas
