Many investors seem to dislike domain names containing the letter V. However, if you look at recent domain sales in China, you’ll see a different picture. Last year, VV.cn was sold for about $225k, where the two Vs may mean 微微 (tiny tiny). Early this year, VQ.cn was sold for about $45k, where VQ may mean 味千 (thousand tastes). Very recently, VS.com was launched as a consumer brand offering financial services. Here VS stands for 维胜 (Wei Sheng = maintain victory).
These names all have very good meanings which can be turned into major consumer brands. So, to understand how V is used in Chinese domain names, recently I did a study of 3-letter .cn containing V. I found many of them have been built into websites and here are some examples.
AIV.cn (艾维)
Is a job training site. AI and V rhyme with its Chinese name. AI means ‘to stop or cut short’ and V means ‘to maintain’.
DLV.cn (大连网)
Is a news site about the Dalian city. DL refers to the city and V means ‘net’. Normally, W is used to mean ‘net’ but many companies also use V instead because it rhymes with ‘net’ as well.
KGV.cn (快购网)
Is an online shop. KG means ‘fast purchase’ and V means ‘net’.
LJV.cn (林积为)
Manufactures hi-tech products. LJV may refer to the name of a person and V means ‘because’.
FRV.cn (富瑞沃)
Is a Chinese company making electrical equipment for the global market. FRV is the abbreviation for the company name Forever.
GOV.cn
Is an information site run by the Chinese government. GOV is the abbreviation for ‘government’, which is commonly used in the west. So, this usage has no Chinese connection.
IOV.cn (病毒所)
Is the acronym for Wuhan Institute of Virology.
In conclusion, these actual operating websites show that many Chinese companies have no problem buying domain names containing the letter V. Personally, I don’t have any problem with this letter either. When I look at a domain name, I judge it on its own merits. If it is short, meaningful, and easy to remember, then it has potential.
We always hear “no vowels no V” to describe Chinese premium. Interesting to see how V can be used in China, and equally interesting to see that three of your seven examples of developed sites had one or more vowels in them.
I’ve always felt these types of blanket statements were an oversimplification, but then again unless you speak Mandarin or know someone who does, this type of “rule” is the only way to play it safe as an investor.
I would be interested to hear your thoughts on 0 and 4, as that seems like it could be a similar oversimplification. Are there any situations were these numbers wouldn’t hurt a numeric domain? Maybe a topic for a future blog post if you haven’t covered it already?
Thanks for sharing, interesting article.
only dumb sheep dislike the letter V. but V stands for Virtual or Video so goo luck sayin irtualReality or ideoGames and the only character domains worth having these days are 2 character domains not 3 or 4.