Newly Registered Domain (NRD) landscape in February 2026 was characterized by a broad market cooling, with total registration volumes across the Top-20 countries and registrars seeing double-digit declines compared to January. Despite this contraction, .com maintains its absolute dominance with over 52% market share, while .xyz has solidified its position as the primary challenger, climbing to the #2 rank.
A significant shift is emerging in the registrar space, where Western giants like GoDaddy and Namecheap saw volume drops of ~20%, while Asian registrars—specifically GMO Internet and Chengdu West Dimension—experienced explosive triple-digit growth. Data transparency remains a "tale of two fields": registrar metadata is nearly 95% accessible, while direct contact details remain almost entirely redacted (95.5%) due to privacy standards.
Key highlights
TLD & Market Dynamics
Legacy Contraction:.com registrations fell by over 721,000 (-21%), though it remains the market leader.
High-Growth Niche TLDs:.sbs was the month's breakout performer with +71.1% growth. The entry of .makeup (#16) indicates rising interest in industry-specific extensions.
.xyz Momentum: Bucking the general downward trend, .xyz grew by 7.4% and moved into the #2 spot globally.
gTLD Dominance: Generic TLDs account for 80.1% of all registrations, leaving country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) with a 19.9% share.
Geographic & Registrar Trends
Global Volume Drop: Top-20 country registrations fell by 13.9%, with the largest losses occurring in Iceland (-17.7%) and China (-14.5%).
The "Asian Surge":GMO Internet (Japan) and Chengdu West Dimension (China) saw massive gains of +118% and +117% respectively, signaling a pivot in regional registration activity.
Top-Heavy Concentration: The top five countries (led by the US) facilitate 75% of global volume, while the top two registrars still control 35% of the Top-20 market.
Data Quality & Intelligence
Reliable Registrar Metadata: At 94.8% "Cleaned" coverage, registrar fields are the most viable dimension for security and trend analysis.
Privacy Wall: Contact details are 95.5% redacted, meaning identity resolution must rely on infrastructure patterns rather than personal info.
Address Transparency: Address data remains available for 51.8% of records, providing enough signal for effective geo-segmentation.
Top 20 TLDs - Full Period
The TLD landscape this period shows a significant contraction in volume for the industry leader, while niche TLDs continue to show volatility in their positioning.
Comparison with January 2026
Newly added in February (entered Top-20):
.makeup → 87,969 (new entry, ranked #16)
.pro → 56,926 (new entry, ranked #20)
Removed in February (dropped out of Top-20):
.vip → was 90,834 in January (ranked #17), not in February Top-20
.cn → was 93,465 in January (ranked #15), not in February Top-20
.com retains the #1 spot, but saw a sharp decline of 721,850 (-21.0%) in February, reflecting a broader cooling in total domain registration volume.
.xyz is showing strong momentum, climbing to the #2 position and bucking the trend of decline seen in most other top-tier TLDs.
.sbs recorded the most significant relative growth this month (+71.1%), suggesting a potential surge in targeted, niche-market activity.
The entry of .makeup into the Top-20 indicates emerging interest in industry-specific TLDs, while consistent performers like .shop and .online faced double-digit percentage drops.
Share of Top 5 TLDs - Pie View
The top five TLDs account for ~69% of all newly registered domains in the month of February 2026; “Others” make up the remaining 31%.
.com remains the undisputed market leader, capturing 52.5% of all newly registered domains in this period—representing more than half of the total market share for the top tier.
Long-tail market presence: The “Others” category accounts for 31.0%, indicating that nearly a third of all registration volume remains distributed across a massive variety of smaller or niche extensions.
.xyz is the strongest secondary performer at 4.66%, closely followed by .top at 4.65%, positioning these two as the primary challengers to legacy extensions.
.org and .online round out the top five with 3.76% and 3.4% respectively, reflecting consistent baseline demand for non-profit and alternative generic extensions.
Daily Dynamics - Top 5 TLDs
.com
Stable high-volume band (~110k–130k): Aside from standard weekly fluctuations, .com maintains a high daily baseline, peaking at approximately 142k in late February.
Weekly cyclical dips: Consistent with weekend processing patterns, sharp troughs appear around Feb 1, 8, 15, and 22, with volumes dropping into the ~80k–95k range before rapid recovery.
Late-month surge: The TLD saw its highest activity of the month between Feb 22 and Feb 26, climbing from a low of 78k to its monthly peak.
Correction into March: After the late-month peak, the series shows a moderate decline, closing the month at roughly 125k registrations.
.xyz
Low baseline early month (~5k–10k): For the first two weeks, activity remained subdued, characterized by minor fluctuations and a single early spike to ~14k on Feb 3.
Mid-month plateau: Registrations largely stabilized between Feb 15 and Feb 22, averaging around 8k daily registrations.
Massive late-month acceleration: Activity exploded starting Feb 23, shooting from ~6k to a major monthly peak of ~52k on Feb 26.
Sharp end-of-month correction: Immediately following the peak, registrations crashed back down to roughly 9k by March 1, suggesting a temporary campaign or bulk registration event.
.top
Highly volatile early period: February began with erratic spikes reaching ~25k (around Feb 6–7) followed by a steep decline.
Mid-month stagnation: From Feb 13 to Feb 22, registrations sat at a significantly lower baseline, often dipping below 5k per day.
Second-wave recovery: A secondary surge occurred late in the month, climbing back up to approximately 20k around Feb 25, showing a "double peak" pattern for the period.
Closing drop: Similar to .xyz, .top ended the month with a sharp downward trend, finishing near the 6k mark.
.org
Stable operating range (~6k–9k): Unlike the more volatile gTLDs, .org maintained a relatively consistent daily volume throughout the month.
Early month peak: The highest activity for .org occurred around Feb 4, reaching nearly 11k registrations.
Weekly stability: Dips were less pronounced than in .com, with volumes rarely falling below 6k even during typical low-activity periods.
Steady finish: The month concluded with registrations holding steady in the ~8k range.
.online
Sustained growth trend: Starting at roughly 5k registrations on Feb 1, the TLD showed a gradual upward trajectory throughout the month.
Late-month outlier peak: A major registration burst hit on Feb 27, briefly sending daily registrations soaring to over 12k.
Mid-month consistency: Excluding the final peak, the TLD mostly oscillated between 6k and 8k daily registrations.
Correction to baseline: Following the Feb 27 surge, volume immediately corrected back down to approximately 7k by month-end.
Country-wise analysis
Top 20 Countries - Full Period
New registrations remain highly concentrated, with the United States maintaining a dominant lead, though the overall market experienced a general contraction in volume compared to the previous month.
Comparison with January 2026
Newly added in February (entered Top-20):
Australia: 25,128
Italy: 22,707
Removed in February (dropped out of Top-20):
Greece: was 115,275 in January (ranked #6), not in February Top-20
Hong Kong: was 40,276 in January (ranked #16), not in February Top-20
Biggest UPs (January → February)
No country in the Top 20 saw an absolute increase in registrations during this period; the market trend was universally downward.
Biggest DOWNs (January → February)
China: 426,977 → 364,906 (-62,071, -14.5%)
Iceland: 647,626 → 532,857 (-114,769, -17.7%)
Lithuania: 159,193 → 134,393 (-24,800, -15.6%)
United States: 1,227,953 → 1,162,580 (-65,373, -5.3%)
Leaderboard (absolute counts):
What this says
Total (Top-20) fell from 3,568,050 (Jan) to 3,071,196 (Feb) → -496,854 (-13.9%).
The contraction is most notable in the top three geographies, which collectively accounted for over 80% of the total volume loss.
Market Concentration: The United States and Iceland combined represent 55.2% of the total Top-20 registrations, a slight decrease from January, suggesting a marginal broadening of registration activity outside the top two leaders.
Share of Top 5 Countries - Pie View
Top five countries together contribute ~75% of all newly registered domains this period.
Implication: Security and brand protection strategies should remain heavily focused on US, Iceland, and China-based registrars, as these three alone facilitate nearly 67% of the total market volume.
Daily Dynamics - Top 5 Countries
United States
High-volume volatility: Daily totals range significantly from a low of ~34k (Feb 16) to a monthly peak near ~57k (Feb 4).
Weekly cyclicality: Deep troughs consistently appear around Feb 1, Feb 8, Feb 15, and Feb 22, with volumes dropping below the 40k mark.
Strong late-month recovery: Following the Feb 22 dip, registrations surged back to reach ~57k again by Feb 26 before a minor taper.
Iceland
Erratic daily swings: The series is marked by sharp peaks and valleys, ranging from ~15k to ~27k.
Mid-month instability: After an early peak near 26k (Feb 3), the series saw a significant drop to 18k (Feb 8) followed by another sharp decline to its lowest point on Feb 23.
Late-month rebound: Activity increased sharply in the final week, recovering from its monthly low to finish the period near ~26k.
China
Dominant early-month peaks: Multiple high-activity bursts occurred in the first week, with the largest reaching approximately ~28k on Feb 8.
Normalization at mid-month: Following the early surge, registrations cooled into a steadier band of ~10k–15k, with a monthly low near 5k on Feb 18.
Intermittent late-month spikes: Short-lived bursts returned in the final week, hitting peaks near 22k on Feb 22 and Feb 25.
Lithuania
Consistent cyclical behavior: Registrations generally fluctuate between 4k and 7.5k, following a clear pattern of multi-day growth followed by sharp corrections.
Monthly low at mid-month: The series hit its bottom near ~3.8k on both Feb 8 and Feb 15.
Growth into month-end: Lithuania saw sustained upward momentum in the second half of the month, reaching a peak of ~7.6k on Feb 26.
India
Highly concentrated early activity: The month was dominated by two massive spikes in the first week, reaching a monthly high of ~12.5k around Feb 4.
Extended flat-line period: After Feb 8, registrations dropped sharply and remained remarkably flat near the ~3k–4k range for the remainder of the month.
Minimal late-month movement: Unlike other top countries, India did not see a significant late-month recovery, closing the period at a subdued volume of ~3.5k.
Top 20 Registrars - Full Period
New registrations remain highly concentrated among a select few industry giants, with the top two players maintaining a substantial lead despite an overall market cooling.
Comparison with January 2026
Newly added in February (entered Top-20):
No new registrars entered the Top-20 this period; the leaderboard remained stable with the same participants as January.
Removed in February (dropped out of Top-20):
No registrars dropped out of the Top-20 this month.
Biggest UPs (January → February)
GMO Internet Group (onamae.com): 138,378 → 301,878 (+163,500, +118.15%) | rank #12 → #6
Total volume (Top-20) decreased from 5,578,270 (Jan) to 4,737,428 (Feb) → -840,842 (-15.07%).
Consolidation at the top: While GoDaddy and Namecheap both saw volume drops, they still account for 35% of all Top-20 registrations, maintaining a massive gap over the #3 spot.
Regional Surges: The dramatic rise of GMO Internet and Chengdu West Dimension suggests a targeted surge in Asian market activity, contrasting with the general decline seen in Western-based registrars.
Share of Top 5 Registrars - Pie View
Within the top five registrars, the mix for this period is:
GoDaddy.com, LLC: 19%
Namecheap, Inc: 16%
Hostinger Operations, UAB: 7.94%
Dynadot Inc: 7.25%
NameSilo, LLC: 6.38%
Others: 43.4%
Implication: While GoDaddy and Namecheap lead, the aggregate of non-top-5 registrars (“Others”) is the single largest slice (43.4%), meaning market monitoring must remain broad to capture volume across the long-tail.
Daily Dynamics - Top 5 Registrars
GoDaddy.com, LLC
Consistent High-Volume Fluctuations: Daily registrations oscillated between ~23k and ~40k, maintaining the highest baseline in the industry.
Sharp Weekly Troughs: Clear dips occurred around Feb 1, 8, 15, and 22, with the lowest point reaching ~22k on Feb 22 before a strong rebound.
Late-Month Peak: Volume surged to its monthly high of ~40k on Feb 26, reflecting a sharp end-of-month registration push.
Namecheap, Inc
Strong Early-Month Momentum: Started Feb with a spike to ~28k, maintaining a relatively higher operating band (24k–28k) during the first two weeks.
Mid-Month Volatility: Experienced sharp drops around Feb 8 and Feb 16, falling briefly to the ~15k–16k range before recovering.
End-of-Month Stabilization: After a late-month peak of ~26k on Feb 26, volume held steady to finish the month around 25k.
Hostinger Operations, UAB
Extreme Early Spike: The month was defined by a massive surge on Feb 4, where registrations peaked at nearly ~25k, far exceeding its normal daily average.
Long-Tail Decay: Following the early peak, volume steadily declined and stabilized into a low, consistent band of ~14k–16k for the rest of the month.
Low Points: The TLD hit its floor around Feb 15 and Feb 22, dipping toward 11k during weekend cycles.
Dynadot Inc
Batch-Driven Volatility: Showed an erratic pattern with two major registration "bursts"—one reaching ~18k on Feb 3 and an even larger spike to ~21k on Feb 17.
Deep Mid-Month Troughs: Volume repeatedly collapsed between spikes, falling as low as ~5k on Feb 8, 15, and 22.
Stable Close: The month ended with a more controlled recovery, stabilizing around ~12k in the final days.
NameSilo, LLC
Highly Erratic Peaks: Demonstrated a "sawtooth" pattern with frequent spikes reaching ~9k (Feb 4, 19, and 26) followed by immediate corrections.
Lowest Monthly Baseline: Maintained the lowest daily volume among the top 5, frequently dipping toward the ~3k–4k range.
Late-Month Resilience: Despite the volatility, NameSilo saw a cluster of activity in the final week, peaking at ~9k before ending the month around 6.5k.
Cleaned vs Redacted - Data Quality Snapshot
Registrar Details
Cleaned: 6,454,653 (94.8%) — Registrar data is exceptionally well-maintained and provides the most reliable field for identification.
Redacted: 354,002 (5.2%).
Takeaway: Registrar metadata remains the gold standard for tracking new registrations and attribution.
What it shows
Interpretation: Registrar metadata is highly reliable and broadly available, serving as the essential backbone for reporting and trend analysis.
Practical implication: Registrar-based analytics (share, growth, and anomaly detection) are significantly less biased by redaction compared to address or contact-based metrics.
Why it matters
Provides a solid foundation for concentration analysis and spike attribution.
Cleaned: 3,528,973 (51.8%) — Over half of the newly registered domains contain usable address data.
Redacted: 3,279,682 (48.2%).
Takeaway: While nearly half of address fields are masked, the usable portion is significant enough for regional segmentation.
What it shows
Interpretation: Address data availability is a "coin flip" this period, with privacy redaction impacting nearly half of the dataset.
Practical implication: Address-based segmentation is most effective when cross-referenced with non-address signals like registrar and TLD to avoid redaction bias.
Why it matters
Useful for geo-segmentation and risk scoring by region.
Enables clustering of related domain registrations even when direct contact info is missing.
Contact Details
Total: 6,808,655 records evaluated for contact fields.
Near-total redaction: 6,503,633 (95.5%) — Contact records are almost entirely hidden from public view.
Minimal cleaned coverage: 305,022 (4.48%) have usable contact details.
Takeaway: Direct contact information is extremely rare, consistent with strict privacy proxy usage.
What it shows
Interpretation: Contact fields are the most privacy-protected segment of the dataset (consistent with GDPR standards).
Practical implication: Owner attribution workflows must rely on infrastructure metadata and domain behavior rather than PII.
Newly / Newly Cleaned - Daily Trend
Divergent scales: "Newly" registered domains fluctuate between ~200k and ~385k/day, while "Newly_Cleaned" remains near the chart floor (averaging ~15k–25k).
Newly peaks late-month: The highest volume point occurs around Feb 25–26, peaking at approximately 385k daily registrations.
Cleaned shows "batch spikes": Notable jumps in cleaned data appear on Feb 4 and Feb 17, spiking to roughly 40k–50k before reverting to a low baseline.
Interpretation: Cleaning and enrichment likely operate in periodic batches or experience a lag behind initial ingestion.
gTLDs vs ccTLDs
gTLDs dominate:5,457,112 (80.1%) are generic Top-Level Domain registrations.
ccTLDs are sizable:1,351,543 (19.9%) are country-code registrations, representing roughly 1 in 5 new domains.
Why it matters
Interpretation: The market is heavily gTLD-weighted, but ccTLD activity remains a critical secondary signal for local adoption trends.
Action prompt: Monitor separate baselines for gTLDs and ccTLDs to isolate whether a registration spike is driven by global or regional factors.
