It’s been almost a year ago since we last posted on what we liked about the new upcoming ccTLD dotCO representing the country of Colombia. The re-launch happened on Tuesday July 20, 2010 at 11 am PST and though there’s been mixed opinions among “internet gurus” on how its success will play out, so far the massive landrush shows global interest from the starting gate.
The CoInternet registry initiated a .CO Founders Program, where those who submitted applications and qualified were awarded a domain at no cost but committed to develop a full working site. They also did a great job marketing, using the slogan “pigs fly” domains were taking off in milliseconds. Just in the first 15 minutes there were 90,000 .CO domains registered and within the first couple of hours 195,000 domains had been claimed. On Friday the registry reported over 300,000 domain names had found a home. North America had over 100,000 registered, Europe +80,000, South America +60,000 and Asia registering +40,000.
The .CO registry also caught the attention of some big internet players and news media, receiving strong support from both camps. The social media company Twitter was awarded T.CO under the .CO Founders Program, with the intention of using it as a Link Service. On the day of launch, there was a record breaking sale of O.CO for $350,000 which was purchased by Overstock. In a press release Chairman and CEO of Overstock, Patrick Byrne said “In the new era of the Internet, where short and memorable web addresses are critical for capturing the attention of mobile and socially connected Internet users, our O.CO web address will help to reinforce our brand and expand our business among these audiences.” The purchase amount was confirmed by the registry who dispelled any contrary rumors. In addition, #1 ranked giant Google got in on the action, announcing this week that they would treat .CO as an international extension in the search results.
Domain investors all around the world are typing frantically for this virtual prime real estate, all based on speculation of its popularity and growth. Even the well known domain investor “Domain King” Rick Schwartz weighed in on the subject on his blog. And from all this excitement among domainers, a new service has popped up dedicated to Flipping.CO. But for most people, like the everyday internet user, blogger and webmaster, a renewed opportunity of buying a domain name they really wanted is the motivation to its success.
With thousands of businesses securing their TM brand, it’s obvious .CO is here to stay. Who knows, it may possibly give some popular top level domains, such as the mother of all extensions DotCom, a run for the money. So, did you get your flying pig yet? We did! 
eDomaining.CO
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