Hey everyone,

A big announcement from the Registry Identity Digital, which is the result of a merger between Donuts and Afilias. They have made over 230,000 domain names available across more than 200 different extensions (primarily consisting of 1, 2, or 3 characters).

After examining the newly released domains, here's what I found:

- There are a total of 271 extensions, ranging from .ac to .zone. Among these, the only ccTLDs are .ac, .io, and .sh.
- The largest release was for the .pro extension, with 130,000 domains. Following that, .info had 45,000 domains, .run had 7,000, .mobi had 5,000, and .global had 2,000.
- Approximately 50% of the released domains are classified as premium, meaning they come with premium registration and renewal fees (e.g., .bet at $2880/year), while the remaining domains are priced at standard rates.
- For about 90% of the extensions, roughly 100 domains were released for each. These include a mix of trademarks, typical second-level combinations, random longer keywords, and some phrase-like keywords.
- Specific extensions such as .academy, .engineering, .camera, .wine, .dog, .bet, .football, .fund, .info, .mobi, and .pro had unique types of domain releases, including first name + last name combinations, company names, longer keyword lists, industry-specific keywords, LL and NL/LN combinations, geo-domains, NN combinations, LLL combinations, and various types of specific keyword lists.
- It's interesting to note that .info had German keywords, .mobi had 1-3 letter/number combinations, and .pro had 1-3 letter/number/dash combinations, as well as a large number of nonsensical domains.

If anyone is interested in conducting their own analysis, Netim has created a CSV file that can be downloaded from this link: https://netim.com/files/premium/identity-digital-reserved-domain-release-july-2023.csv

From my point of view, if you're just hearing about this now, you haven't really missed anything unless you're heavily into investing in premium domains with high registration fees. Personally, I pre-ordered 14 domains (13x .info and 1x .io) and ended up getting 9 of them. I'm hoping these 9 domains will prove to be worth the time I spent scanning the 230,000 domains!

Let me know if you have any detailed questions.

Best,
Till

The distribution of domains across different extensions is also noteworthy. The substantial release of 130,000 domains under the .pro extension indicates a strong focus on professional branding and representation. Additionally, the availability of various industry-specific extensions like .academy, .engineering, .camera, and others suggests a deliberate effort to cater to specific niche markets.

The distinction between premium and standard pricing for the released domains is crucial information for potential domain investors and businesses looking to secure valuable digital real estate. The fact that approximately 50% of the domains are classified as premium, with associated higher registration and renewal fees, underscores the competitive nature of acquiring sought-after domain names.
From a technical perspective, the unique characteristics of domain releases under specific extensions, such as first name + last name combinations, company names, longer keyword lists, and industry-specific keywords, imply a thoughtful approach to diversifying the available options. The inclusion of LLL combinations, NN combinations, and other specific keyword lists demonstrates a strategic consideration of domain naming conventions and patterns.