croaghpatrick.ie is still available. Credit: Darren McCarra
2011 was a stellar year for .IE domains as the IE Domain Registry (IEDR), the body charged with managing Ireland’s official top-level domain (TLD), today reported that the total number of registered .IE domains grew by 12.9% in 2011, reaching 173,145 at year’s end.
In total, 39,398 new domains were registered in 2011, an increase of 7.7% on 2010 and a statistic which adheres to growth trends experienced in previous years. As also witnessed in previous years, the number of registrations recorded in 2011 was greater in the first six months of the year than in the trailing six. January to June saw 20,995 new registrations, while July to December saw 18,403.
The IEDR’s launch of OPTIMISE, an initiative to encourage Irish businesses to pursue online commerce, in May of last year resulted in the greatest number of .IE domain registrations in a single month, reaching 4,061 for the first time. Another initiative, Getting Irish Business Online, has also undoubtedly helped the IEDR reach record targets in 2011.
Many strong multinationals who have established themselves in Ireland have shown their support and commitment to .IE, including eBay, PayPal and Twitter.
The IEDR promises further initiatives this year to promote the .IE brand and will provide “dedicated support” to small and medium-sized Irish businesses who select .IE as their TLD of choice.
We'll agree to disagree. May need to call upon your hosting services in the near future, site crashed for two short periods again today. Downtime certainly isn't good for ranking!