Some creative uses of LLNN .com domain names in China

The beauty of LLNN .com domain names is that they are very cheap, and some are even available for registration at about $10. For some startups in China wanting to enjoy the prestige of .com but without much budget, LLNN .com names become attractive. Here are five Chinese companies I have found which use LLNN .com to launch their services.

BY56.com
Bai Yun Wu Liu (百运物流) is a logistics startup. BY matches its brand name and 56 rhymes with 物流 (logistics) which describes what the company does, so the domain name is quite easy to remember.

JC35.com
Ji Chuang Shang Wu (机床商务) is a B2B market place for machine tools. JC matches the first two characters and 35 rhymes with the second two characters of the brand name.

HQ51.com
Hou Qin Wu You (后勤无忧) is a B2B market place for suppliers and customers of services such as cleaning, office supplies, property maintenance, and gardening. HQ matches the first two characters and 51 rhymes with the second two characters of the brand name.

CN51.com
Zhong Guo Wu You (中国无忧) provides cloud-based computing services. CN matches the first two characters (China) and 51 rhymes with the second two characters of the brand name.

PM25.com
This service provides daily information on pollution levels of various cities in China. The domain name probably comes from the term PM2.5 — fine inhalable particulate matters with diameters that are generally 2.5 micrometers and smaller.

So, LLNN .com names offer a very cheap way for Chinese companies to leverage the prestige of .com when they start. If their succeed, they can then upgrade to better .com names. Now that many new extensions are available, startups in China have even more choices. However, it remains to be seen whether Chinese startups will go for the new extensions. One thing is quite certain — the prices have to be very low.