Columbia's Newest Export: "Dot Co"

 

Since it was introduced last year Columbia’s new web  domain  .co has become a  top-seller  in the internet domain market. The domain is short, which makes it  practical  to use on Twitter and other  social media networks .

It’s also easy to remember because it’s like the .com domain which is the most  popular  in the whole world.  Especially  British companies use it because it is a short form of .co.uk that companies and  businesses  use.

 

 

Columbia thinks it can make a lot of money with the  top-level  domain because it is difficult to get a free .com domain today. There are already a hundred million such domains. Chances are that if you want a certain .com name, it’s not  available  anymore, so .co would be a great alternative. Other countries are also  competing  in the domain market and making  profit  out of it, like Tuvalu (.tv) or Montenegro (.me)

In the past year the Columbian  government  has sold about 1 million of its top-level domains. Big  global businesses  want to use short web addresses for their internet presence . Google has  announced  that it bought a Columbian domain for its alternative  URL  g.co. Twitter already uses its new address t.co.

Ordinary .co domains cost between $15 and $25 and can be  registered  within minutes. Columbia uses most of the money to  improve  internet  access  and  broadband connections.

 

 

Related Topics

 

Words

  • access   = the right to use something
  • announce   = to say officially
  • available   = to be had, exist
  • broadband   = to use internet connections at a very high speed
  • business   = company
  • compete   = fight for something
  • domain   = part of a website’s address ; the last part shows in which country the website is registered
  • especially   = above all
  • global   = worldwide
  • government   = the people who rule a country
  • improve   = to make better
  • ordinary   = normal
  • popular   = well-liked
  • practical   = useful
  • presence = to show that you exist
  • profit   = money
  • register   = to put something down on a list
  • social  media network  = internet platforms where users can communicate with each other and share private information
  • top-level   = the last part of an Internet address
  • top-seller   = very popular
  • URL   = internet address