Global by Design

So Bit.ly has launched an even shorter URL: J.mp. You can’t get any shorter than this, at least not until we see single-digital TLDs. I can’t help but wonder if this new URL is a sign that Bit.ly is planning to shift away from its Libyan-dependent domain to one that may be a tad bit [...]

[Read more →]

Another day, another URL shortener. Only this one I think will be around a lot longer than many that are out there. That’s because it’s supported by WordPress. It’s also the world’s first two-letter Montenegro (.me) domain. Even though I use Bit.ly on Twitter, I still have concerns about what would happen if Libya clamped [...]

[Read more →]

Nearly one year ago, I asked Will .CN become the next .COM? And perhaps I was right in more ways than one. Because now it appears that .CN is experiencing its very own .COM bust. Just a year ago Chinese domain registrations were booming, so quickly in fact that .CN had surpassed .DE to become [...]

[Read more →]

A country code top-level-domains (ccTLD) has traditionally been used to signify a country-specific web site or resource, or simply to tell users where a given organization is located. For example, Russia’s leading search engine, Yandex, is hosted at www.yandex.ru and The Holy See hosts its site at www.vatican.va (.va = Vatican City). Then along came [...]

[Read more →]

Bit.ly, the URL shortener now used by Twitter, is not the first company to craft its name out of a county code top-level domain (ccTLD). But Bit.ly does appear to be the first company to do so with the Libyan ccTLD. As some have speculated, Bit.ly could put itself into a precarious position should it [...]

[Read more →]