Consumer appetite for the .uk domain name is at its highest ever and is outpacing demand for gTLDS, according to new research.
An annual report by Nominet, a not-for-profit organization responsible for .uk Internet infrastructure shows that registrations for the .uk domain name grew by 10.5 per cent over the past year.
The firm said .uk is the world’s second-largest country code registry, behind Germany’s .de.
There are now more than nine million .uk domain names, Nominet said.
Some 81 per cent of people surveyed said they prefer .uk sites when presented with a choice of a .uk or .com in search results.
The main reasons given were that it would be more likely to be a UK based company and have more relevance with prices in sterling and acceptable delivery charges.
“As business sites now account for more than three million .uk websites it is impossible to ignore the vital role that the .uk space plays in the national digital economy,” said Lesley Cowley, chief executive of Nominet.