DomainTools Blog

A good time to evaluate a new Top Level Domain is after the first years registrations come in. So on this date we are three months after the anniversary of the first landrush in .EU and the name space is looking strong. As of this morning there are 2,487,014 registrations. For a TLD to be one year old and have over 2 Million registrations means a lot. However, Eurid could do a lot more help the growth. The registry actually thinks it can advertise and put out awareness videos to help the growth. They are dead wrong. The only way to grow a TLD is for consumers to see that TLD behind advertising campaigns for major brands that matter.

Putting out a video telling people the TLD exists is lame. If you want to drive home the fact that it exists, then put that TLD on packaging, behind a famous brand on billboards, and have TV commercials end with “Find out more information at www.BRAND.eu”. The registry will never achieve the level of advertising just one successful company in the EU space could achieve. The registry needs to approach large companies like BMW, Starbucks, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo to get them to use those registrations. Those companies are squatting on their own names. They are not actively using them. Why does Google.eu not resolve? Why does Starbucks.eu not resolve? Why does Yahoo.eu not resolve? Why does BMW.eu not resolve? The one brand I recognize in the Eurid Video is Century21. Century21.EU is a great example, but when I look deeper I see their SEO is horrible. They frame a page on another domain “frame src=http://www.century21.be/eu_home.aspx”. Yikes.

Eurid should consider approaching these large European companies and get them to use their EU domains. Now that would really do something. Sometimes the best press you can put out is not your own, but that of people using your services.

Breakdown of EU domain names registered per country:

	Count		Count
Austria	61,180	Aland Island	109
Belgium	70,642	Bulgaria	3,377
Cyprus	90,391	Czech Republic	51,083
Germany	801,037	Denmark	39,297
Estonia	5,302	Spain	53,731
Finland	11,616	France	168,404
United Kingdom	346,734	French Guiana	10
Gibraltar	2,407	Guadeloupe	74
Greece	18,187	Hungary	19,504
Ireland	26,880	Italy	122,372
Lithuania	4,285	Luxembourg	14,896
Latvia	7,016	Martinique	45
Malta	17,576	Netherlands	331,902
Poland	82,619	Portugal	10,386
Reunion	168	Romania	10,580
Sweden	90,596	Slovenia	3,814
Slovakia	10,902

In what seems impossible, a Spanish citizen named Pablo Bello García just defended himself in a European Arbitration Dispute Resolution case (ADR) against Google, Inc for the domain name Googles.eu. It seems crazy or insane that the European Panel responsible for deciding this case would allow the Spanish man to keep the domain. The Panel denied Google’s claim because they said Google lacked evidence that they were entitled to the name. Uh, What? *Shaking my head in disbelief* Did this panel live under a rock? How backwards is Europe? Had Google provided something like license or some other documentation they may have won the case. The case seemed so simple, I am sure the Google Lawyers must have been caught off guard. Google will need to dot their Is and cross their Ts before they do battle again in Europe. Just looking at the guy’s site, anyone in their right mind can see they are violating Google’s Trademark. Pablo even stole Google’s logo and adapted it. Absolutely nuts. Google is sure to appeal the case.