.io domain

In this post we talk about the popularity and rise of the .io ccTLD. 


What is the .io domain extension 

Ah, the .io domain extension. To some, it might just look like another two letter country code TLD, but to those in the know, it represents something much more. Something that's cool, trendy, and maybe even a little bit edgy.

So, what is the .io extension all about? Well, let's start with the basics. The .io extension is a country code top-level domain (ccTLD) that is assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory also known as BIOT. But over the years, it's become popular with tech startups due to the fact that the two letters, i/o, represents input/output and has significance in the tech community at large.

But what else, you might ask, has contributed to the ascension of the .io extension in general and for the extension to become so popular within tech to begin with? Well, there are a few reasons. As previously mentioned, i/o, in tech, represents input/output. Which led many in the tech industry to develop an affinity toward the extension and thus, was repurposed from Indian Ocean to Input/Output. People gravitating towards certain ccTLDs and rebranding them to represent their industry is not an uncommon practice. Other examples of this is when the e-sports crowd repurposed .gg to stand for "Good Game", or .co being rebranded to represent "company". I have even seen some say that, io, is also reminiscent of 1's and 0's, the binary computer language and yet another reason for the adoption of the extension by the tech crowd. Either way, they are both terms that are meaningful in tech. Therefore making the extension a natural choice for those with in tech to signify that they are a tech company. 

Also, the availability of quality domain names that are short, catchy, memorable and would serve as good brand names, helped to make the .io extension an attractive option. The .io extension was introduced in 1997, as opposed to the .com, the .io ccTLD is relatively new. So, the .io extension, like any other alternative, likely became a thing when the domain name a particular individual wanted was not available in the .com. That reason, above all else, is the number 1 factor that leads to this phenomena of alternative extensions being repurposed and what inevitably, caused the tech industry to adopt the .io ccTLD as their number 1 after the .com.

That said, there is no doubt that the .io extension has developed a certain cachet over the years. The extension, is often used by companies that are working on cutting-edge technology. That cutting edge ethos, has become synonymous with the .io extension and has lead to other sectors in tech (or very closely related to tech) to gravitate towards the extension. In particular,  web3 (or blockchain, crypto and NFT's), gaming, and cybersecurity. The .io extension has a kind of futuristic feel to it, like something out of a sci-fi movie.

But there's more to the .io extension than just its popularity with tech startups. One of the things that makes it so interesting is that it has gained some traction in some areas outside of tech. People have started using .io domains for all sorts of things, from personal blogs to online stores to marketing.


"Controversy" Surrounding .io

let's talk about the elephant in the room: the fact that the .io extension, on some level has been embroiled in controversy. Some people have criticized the use of the .io extension, arguing that it's inappropriate to use a domain name that's associated with colonialism and oppression. Long story short, the Chagos Archipelago is located in the BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory), the inhabitants of the Chagos Island (Chagossians) were forcibly removed from their home in order to allow the U.S. to create a military base there. For more details about this you can click on the above mentioned link or google about it.  

To those who assert the above, I say this: linking the .io extension to England's past colonialist transgressions is a bit of a stretch, IMO. I dot get it or see the connection of how a ccTLD is somehow involved or how people who use the extension contribute to the oppression of the Chagossians. The only argument that I see is valid is how the Chagossians do not benefit from any of the proceeds made from the .io extension. Everything else, in my opinion is not valid and those that use the extension should not be made out to feel as if they are doing anything wrong or are somehow responsible for what happed to the Chagossian people and all the other stuff that continues to happen to them. 

A little More history of the .io domain extension

Back in 1997, the IANA which stands for Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, granted British entrepreneur Paul Kane the ownership of the ccTLDs .io, .ac for Ascension Island and .sh for St Helena. For roughly two decades, Kane operated them under the "Internet Computer Bureau" which was his business. 

Supposedly, the first domain registered under .io was levi.io by the Levi Strauss company. Quick aside, if you visit levi.io nothing comes up, it doesn't even redirect to the main Levi Strauss website. However, Levi still seems to own the domain as the picture of the whois record below shows 

In 1998. In April 2017, Afilias, a private domain name registrar services provider, purchased the Internet Computer Bureau from Kane for a whopping $70.17 million.

Later in December 2020, Hal Lubsen, Afilias' owner, sold the company to Donuts, a private company, for an undisclosed sum. A month later, in January 2021, private equity firm Ethos Capital acquired Donuts and later formed Identity Digital.


Is a .io domain good for SEO 

So, like other TLDs the .io does not have any inherent mechanism that allows it to be "good for SEO" or have any other advantage. Google has stated the above mentioned, however, Google does consider the .io to be a generic extension (gccTLD) which does not make the .io partial to a specific country. Also, there is something to be said for human behavior in the sense that people know and are familiar with the .io extension. That comfortability can lead to a certain level of trust and ultimately lead to more click and thus, leading to higher Google rankings. So although Google itself will not rank you higher or lower based on your TLD, the human element of familiarity and trust can lead to better SEO rankings.    

What companies are using .io 

Because .io has become so popular there are a lot of companies that build their brand and business on a .io domain. Which means there will be too many to list below, however, I will still list a few with a link to Alternative Club which keeps track of companies that operate on alternative domain extensions and has a much larger list of .io sites.

So, there you have it, my ode to the .io domain extension. Whether you love it or hate it, there's no denying that it's a TLD that's here to stay. And if you're thinking about starting a new website or launching a new startup, I highly recommend considering a .io if you cant get your desired .com domain.