The performance of .cc has surprised me. In my July 15 post, I analyzed domain extensions used by the best rising stars in the internet world of China. What I correctly expected was the dominance of .com and .cn. What I didn’t expect was the appearance of .cc on the stage. In fact, this extension ranks No. 3 after .com and .cn.
Among the 300 best new startups, five have built their businesses on .cc, followed by .net (4), .me (3), and .tv (2). In the western world, .cc is seldom heard but the other three are popular choices. China now paints a different picture — .cc may be emerging as a credible extension ahead of the other three.
.cc promoters often cite the advantage of country extensions being the shortest (2 characters only), thus allowing startups to use very short, cool name to stand above a long, dull name on mainstream extensions. They say cc also means “Chinese company” or “commercial company” (can a company be non-commercial?), so very suitable for end users. Let’s look at the five startups and see if that is true.
Youplus.cc
YOU+ provides apartment accommodation with a social feature. The company does not seem to own its .com and .cn names.
Mrfood.cc
黄太吉 (Huangtaiji) is a food delivery service. The company does not seem to own .com and .cn.
Fotoplace.cc
足 记 (Zuji) is an app to record your life like a movie. The company also owns .com but Baidu confirms .cc being their official website.
Huochaihe.cc
火 柴盒 (Huochaihe) is an app which allows sharing of memories in life such as song or poem. The company also owns .com but .cc is their official website.
Enjoymedia.cc
英众 (Yingzhong) is a sports-related video service. The company does not seem to own .com and .cn.
Interestingly, both Zuji and Huochaihe own their .com names yet they prefer to focus on .cc. This shows some startups in China actually like non com. The puzzling part is their domain names, which are quite long at two or three words, and there is no sematic relationship between the name and its extension. In these cases, the advantage of “shortness” and “playing with words” do not apply.
What we do know is some of the best emerging startups in China have built their businesses on .cc, which gives credibility to this extension. However, they have not taken advantages offered by country extensions such as .cc. So, I’m not sure if this trend will take root. Further watch of this extension is required and I may revisit this topic and check the growth of .cc in the future.
Yes this is very interesting.
Ultimately you want your home/address on a gTLD and not a country code that is governed by a small country who can arbitrarily do whatever they please should there be some sort of regime change. Or need to increase gov’t revenue by increasing registration fees.
Safest place to be is either .com or .net, or the country code in which you are based.
You are a wise investor. Like you, I focus on the jurisdiction of an domain extension. I want it to be managed in a democratic country with a sound legal system. For this reason, .com is the best choice even for folks in China.
THANK YOU! This is EXACTLY what I needed to hear, was a bit skeptical however noticed, http://www.Americans.cc was available so I decided to purchase it. Would love some input from the community on this domain? Thanks in advance.
P.S. I really do read all your emails.
Thanks to my loyal reader. It encourages me to research more and write more. If .cc can take root in China, then a Chinese entrepreneur may use Americans.cc to introduce to Chinese consumers things Americans do: fashion, music, movie, art, etc. At this stage, .cc is hopeful but it is not clear yet whether they can make it big time in China. I’ll keep a close watch and report to you in due time.
Thanks, in your opinion, what is a wiser choice? The singular or plural in TLD investing?
What I have learned is that singular is usually good for branding and plural is mostly for selling the named product. For example, orange.com can be used as a brand unrelated to the fruit but oranges.com implies you are selling oranges.
I don’t understand the Chinese market. Unsure if I ever will.
Still reading your thoughts is always helpful Kassey. Appreciate it. 🙂
Don’t worry. Even I don’t understand China well. That’s why I study it almost everyday, trying to paint a better picture of it.
It’s hard to fight the best-looking and easiest extension to type on the internet!
.cc is one of my favorites for years. It’s great to see Chinese companies using English words on a. Cc domain. It’s also run by the same company that runs .com which equals stability in many people’s minds. And the renewal fees just dropped down to around ten bucks per year!
Hi Steve, $10 is attractive for investors. Even though I don’t understand .cc and the reason for its rise, I’m open minded and will continue to study it.