.IE Domain Profile Report 2020

Foreword The .IE Domain Profile Report explores and analyses the .ie database. This edition assesses the first year of the new decade. We reveal the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on new .ie registrations and analyse the counties and countries of the registered domain holders. We also take a closer look at the broader .ie domain ecosystem and plot new .ie registrations on a month-by-month timeline. In 2020, peaks and troughs in new .ie registrations generally followed the Government’s restrictions on travel and business. The biggest peak in registrations occurred in May, approximately 6 weeks after the closure of non-essential retail. This peak began to drop off from June, as restrictions eased, but moved up sharply in October, peaking again in November corresponding to the announcement of the second national lockdown. What the timeline shows clearly is an unprecedented mass mobilisation of digital across every part of Irish society and economy. Businesses migrated online, many for the first time, in direct response to the lockdowns. They realised that having an online presence, and in many cases e-commerce capabilities, would at the very least minimise the damage of reduced or non-existent footfall but also open new markets and create new ways to interact with customers. Having a website has enabled businesses to communicate their new pandemic operating procedures, advertise their products and services, and operate click-and-collect and direct-to-door delivery services. Many professional services companies are now delivering their services online through virtual consultations. Digital has given them the tools they need to adapt to a socially distanced Covid-19 economy and sustain revenue, saving many from permanent closure. At the end of 2020, the total number of .ie domains in the database was almost 310,000. 65,113 new .ie domains were registered last year, the highest annual figure ever recorded; 7,003 of those were registered in May alone, the highest monthly figure ever. The fact that it is now far quicker and easier to register a .ie domain will have no doubt been a great relief for business owners who were eager to simply get online using their own uniquely Irish online identity and stay open. Encouragingly, the increase in .ie registrations was universal across the country. For the first time ever, annual .ie domain registrations increased in every county on the island of Ireland. Four counties—Clare, Limerick, Monaghan, and Tipperary—recorded year-on-year registration increases in every month of 2020. Our keyword analysis of the .ie domain database shows that health services, too, went online in increasing numbers. New .ie web addresses that contain the words “doctor” or “nurse” increased 44% year-on-year, while “mental health” and “counselling” were 105% more common. Many of these services will have offered patients virtual consultations and e-prescriptions. The Central Bank recognises new .ie registrations as a forward indicator of economic health. While new company start-ups fell in 2020 because of the pandemic, this report indicates that entrepreneurs and new businesses are taking a digital-first approach and ensuring they secure their preferred online identity with a .ie domain before they register their company. A local .ie web address has therefore been a lifeline, a way to mitigate the worst effects of the physical lockdown. It has advantageously positioned many businesses for a more digitally integrated post-Covid-19 economy. David Curtin Chief Executive, .IE Contents Foreword Timeline of new 1 registrations in 2020 Analysis of .ie domain 2 database and growth Analysis of .ie domains 3 by geography Analysis of .ie domains 4 by county Analysis of .ie domain 5 ecosystem About .IE 6