Fiesta time in Spain as over one million domain names, with extension .ES, have been registered, with the slogan, “lo hemos conseguido, 1,000,000 de .ES”, roughly translated as, “we have exceeded, 1,000,000 .ES”.

Since 1988, when the .ES domain was created, the number of registrations has steadily grown but, it wasn’t until 20 years later that it reached a million. The sudden influx coincided with a change to registration rules, allowing any citizen to register a .ES domain name, at a much lower cost than previously. The .ES domain has experienced a growth of 17%, representing the largest increase in four years. With approximately 1,460,000 active domains at the end of 2011 this indicates an increase of over 200,000. 

Today, .ES is unrestricted and anyone in the world is able to register a domain name without having to prove local presence. With over 45 million inhabitants in Spain and the world’s second largest tourist industry, adopting a .ES domain name opens up a vast audience to businesses and individuals.

Don’t go loco, be a local hero

Another explanation for this recent growth spurt would be the marketing push encouraging websites, with content in Spanish, to promote their identity and location by adopting the .ES extension. The hope is that this will engender an increased appreciation of Spanish businesses, the businesses thus benefiting from improved web ranking, brand awareness, trust and quality of service.

facts&figures.es

• .ES accounts for approximately 50% of the Spanish market, 57% belong to individuals and the remaining 43% to corporations, limited partnerships, cooperatives, associations, etc.

• 2007 saw the government approve the use of accented characters in .ES domain names.

• The number of .ES domains not renewed in 2010 has decreased in 2011 by 29%.

• Geographic distribution – Madrid hosts 329,900 active domains, Catalonia 199,600, Andalucia 168,600. 

A strong presence in the main domain forums, including: CENTR, LACTLD and ICANN, has brought invaluable support. 

Pronto!

“Action is the foundational key to all success” Pablo Picasso

Already popular in Spain, the .ES domain extension has been used for ‘domain hacks’, a domain name using the extension letters to spell out the full name of the domain. Examples utilizing the .ES domain are geociti.es, beach.es and iTun.es.

EuroDNS offers a wide range of solutions and services to assist our customers with all their domain name requirements. For more information, please visit our website, or speak to one of our sales representatives at sales@eurodns.com.

In a world that has over 500 million Spanish speakers, it makes perfect sense, act now!