H1 2022 .ME Premium Domain Report

3 min read,
Published Jul 11, 2022

Despite the turbulent first half of the year, with more domain registrations and slightly less revenue in the absolute numbers, the .ME premium domain portfolio is growing steadily in the first half of 2022. Two-character domains remain the main revenue driver and the most popular category which gives us bragging rights, at least, when it comes to the prediction. Finally, it is worth highlighting that the first half of 2021 brought a super-premium domain registration which still hasn’t been created this year, but we are keeping our fingers crossed for h2, 2022.          

Premium Domain Sales – facts and figures

The data below applies to the period from January 1st, to June 30th, 2022 and includes the facts and figures on .ME premium domains created with registrars. Premium domains registered through our .ME Premium Domain Program are NOT included.

  • The total numbers of premium .ME domains registered – 41
  • Total revenue – 313,000 EUR. [*excluding the registrar’s margin which is usually from 15% to 25%].
  • Notable companies that registered .ME premium domains include HZ.ME registered by Meta Platforms, Inc. (former Facebook, Inc.), DD.ME created by Beijing Xiaoju Technology Co., Ltd, a Chinese company operating mobility technology platform and Beyond.ME, registered by Beyond Meat, Inc., a plant-based meat substitute producer that collaborates with companies like McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Dunkin’ Donuts and PepsiCo.
  • Some of the premium domains are already up and running such as: Zo.ME (short for ZeroOne), which is Web 3 Messenger for Open Communication and 58.ME, a service that lets you outsource your human resources operations to HR experts. 
  • The top registrars are GoDaddy (14 domains), NameCheap (10 domains), Key-Systems (6 domains) and PSI-USA/InterNetX (2 domains).
  • Top countries are the United States (25 domains), Proxy (10 domains), and China (2 domains). 
  • The total number of 2 character domains – 14 
  • Total number of three-character domains – 1.

The challenges ahead

The challenges for premium domain names are like those that the domain industry, in its entirety, is facing such as recurring discrepancies between demand and supply, saturation of the domain search and increasingly stringent regulations imposed by different legislations. Also, it is no secret that the ongoing armed conflicts and the ensuing economic crisis are taking their toll, like they do in every other aspect of life and economy. However, the greatest challenge for premium domain names remains universal acceptance in terms of what if offered to the average Internet user. There are still some huge one-stop shops for building the online presence that do not support premium domains although implementation (at least on the registry-registrar side) is easier than ever (most of them are available via EPP protocol). And they are, obviously, missing out. It is difficult to say whether this will change in h2, 2022 but we can almost certainly announce that it is something worth discussing in more detail in our second .ME Premium Domain Report for 2022.

Vuksan Rajkovic

Head of Sales, .ME Registry