Domain Statistics in October: Very Slow Growth
Hostmaster published statistics on domain name registrations in Ukrainian domain zones in October 2010. According to these data, the total number of domains increased by only 2,300 in October, while the number of names in the private .UA domain increased by only 146. This may be due to users waiting for the start of Cyrillic domain registrations in the .KIEV.UA/COM.UA zones.
Unlike previous months, when regional domain zones dominated the registration market, October saw the largest number of domains registered in the most popular Ukrainian domain zone, .COM.UA, with an absolute increase of 2,200. This figure is both significant and significantly lower than in previous months. For example, in September, users registered 3,000 new domains in the .COM.UA zone, 2,300 in June, and 3,300 in April. October wasn't the worst month for this domain zone in terms of registrations, but the number of new domains is quite small.
The .KIEV.UA domain zone saw an increase of 311 domains, while .NET.UA saw a mere 509. These figures also lag behind other months, when users were more active in these domain zones.
The situation in regional domain zones in October was mixed. In some domain zones, such as .DNEPROPETROVSK.UA and .DP.UA, the number of new domains increased by 504, while in .IF.UA and .CV.UA, which were popular just a few months ago, the number of new domains decreased. Domain zones such as org.ua (the leading decliner), .RV.UA, .PL.UA, and .UZ.UA also showed a negative balance.
The increase in the number of domains in other, less popular domain zones was also not very large – on the order of several dozen new domain names.
Overall, October turned out to be a far from ideal month, especially compared to the busy September. It's possible that several distinct factors simultaneously impacted the domain market, including market events (the start of Cyrillic domain registrations) and domestic events (elections and the new tax code, which will negatively impact online businesses).
