Countries Cashing In on Their Top-Level Domain Names

LONDON – Anguilla is reaping the benefits of the artificial intelligence boom, earning extra revenue from registration fees for its .ai web domain. But Anguilla isn’t the only country finding unexpected riches from the popularity of their unique top-level domain names.

Here are some other countries cashing in on their distinctive web address endings:

Tuvalu:

This string of coral atolls scattered across the Pacific Ocean, located between Australia and Hawaii, is one of the world’s smallest economies and faces significant threats from climate change. But it possesses a valuable resource: the .tv domain. Royalties from .tv, which users might assume stands for television, have been increasing, especially after video game streaming platform Twitch adopted the web address twitch.tv.

Libya:

Despite being plagued by turmoil since the death of Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, Libya controls web addresses ending in .ly. These have become popular as a domain hack for websites with English names that end in -ly. Well-known examples include bit.ly (Bitly) and parse.ly (Parse.ly analytics platform).

Montenegro:

This Balkan country, which gained independence after the breakup of Yugoslavia, boasts one of the smallest populations in Europe (about 620,000) and is bordered by the Adriatic Sea, Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, and Albania. Its assigned .me domain has become popular with individuals seeking to claim their pronoun for personal branding.

Website builder Wix notes, “Websites ending in .me are often used for personal websites, portfolios, blogs, and online resumes or portfolios because ‘me’ can be seen as a way to personalize an online presence.”

Colombia:

While one might assume .co is a generic web domain for companies, it actually belongs to Colombia. However, the South American country allows anyone to register for its web addresses. According to internet registrar GoDaddy, over 2 million .co domains have been claimed, including addresses used by major tech companies like Amazon (which uses it to redirect shoppers to its .com site) and Google (which uses g.co as an official shortcut).

Key Takeaways:

• Several countries are generating revenue from the popularity of their unique top-level domain names.
• Anguilla is benefiting from the rise of artificial intelligence with its .ai domain.
• Tuvalu’s .tv domain has seen increased interest, particularly from Twitch.
• Libya’s .ly domain is popular for websites with English names that end in -ly.
• Montenegro’s .me domain is favored for personal branding and online portfolios.
• Colombia’s .co domain has been widely adopted, even by major tech companies.