.US, the national extension for the United States, has surpassed two million registered domains. The milestone comes partly thanks to a marketing push from Neustar, the company that manages .US.
The road to two million has been a long one. ”.US” is the oldest national extension, with a history stretching back more than 31 years. But it only became available for public registration in April 2002. On that date, “phone.us” became the first publicly registered .US domain.
Part of .US’s slow growth comes down to a simple fact: ”.COM” has always been the de facto national extension for the United States. The sheer recognition of .COM as the American internet standard has kept .US on the sidelines, until now.
Why .US Is Making a Comeback
The growing difficulty of finding a quality “.com” domain, combined with a strategic shift from Neustar, is raising .US’s profile, and its importance is likely to grow further. Neustar is applying to .US the playbook it used to promote .CO domains (originally Colombia’s country code) as a .COM alternative. The company is rolling out promotional initiatives to boost awareness, including significant discounts that have driven a sharp increase in registrations.
Neustar has also been sponsoring events and recently struck a deal with Major League Baseball to feature .US domains on league team websites. The goal: convince American users that .US is a genuine alternative to .COM.
