The first new gTLD with an environmental bent has hit the market with .eco entering General Availability in late April. After 2 weeks, there are around 1,200 .eco domain names registered in 50 countries to companies, non-profits and individuals.
It is intended that brands using .eco domains will send a powerful message to consumers about their environmental responsibility and transparency. To activate a .eco domain, users must pledge to support positive change for the planet and list their commitments to environmental action on a public-facing .eco profile, much like building a social media profile.
According to research conducted by the registry, to date 60% of .eco profiles are businesses and 20% are non-profits, with more individuals registering domains than anticipated. And over one third (35%) of .eco domains are activated, usually within a couple of days, with profiles developed.
The gTLD launched with some high profile supporters such as the WWF, Conservation International, United Nations Global Compact, Natural Resources Defense Council. Some of the sites live include a cleaning product called Koala (koala.eco), Sea Semester created a landing page for their environmental study initiative (StudyAbroad.eco) and Greenpeace Argentina is using Oceanos.eco to drive attention to a petition from social media and advertising. Other leading global brands to register a .eco domain include Tesla, Google and LG who have also taken the .eco “pledge” and set up .eco profiles.
