I am the first to admit that I don’t really understand the Chinese domain name market. I understand why certain domain names have significant value, but I have no idea about the underlying factors that are really contributing to the growth in capital that has been pouring into the domain space.
One example of my lack of knowledge relates to .VIP domain names. Believe it or not, there are now nearly half a million registered .VIP domain names, according to nTLDStats.com. Over 83% of those registered domain names are parked. Also interestingly, I believe the 5 registrars with the greatest volume of .VIP domain name registrations are based in China.
I saw a video shared by 101Domain that offers some insight about why .VIP domain names are so popular, and I embedded it below for those who want to learn more about the extension and its popularity amongst buyers in  China. The video features Joe Alagna of 101Domain, Susan Lawrence of Minds + Machines (operator of .VIP), and Simon Cousins of Allegravita, a specialist in the Chinese domain market.
If you have questions about .VIP domain names or the Chinese market, you are welcome to post them in the comment section:
About France, I am happy to add that there is an “official” dictionary. It is the one from the “Académie Française”. They sometimes add and remove words. There is a list of words added from other countries (like China).
Jean, thanks for correcting my comments on that in the webinar!
Thanks for posting this, Elliot.
I watched this webinar live last Friday, and thought it was one of the most educational (and persuasive) presentations I’ve ever seen. Anyone who needs to ‘pitch’ anything at all needs to watch this — and I guarantee they’ll learn a ton from Simon Cousins.
Needless to say, he made a masterful case for investing in quality dot-VIP domains, especially if you’re planning to target China for either end-user (domain) sales, or as consumers of a product/service sold on a dot-VIP extension.
What webinar? Got a link?
Gene, I’m humbled by your exceptionally kind comments, and I’m sincerely happy that the info was helpful. Be sure to learn from true masters like Kassey Lee, my Allegravita colleague and co-founders Raymond Li and Catherine Davis, Mao Wei and his incredibly expert crew at ZDNS, Giuseppe Graziano from GGRG.com, and others, if you’ve also been bitten by the China bug! Thanks also Elliot for your coverage.
@ John
I’m referring to the video that Elliot posted here…which was a live webinar conducted on 09/02/16.
(Courtesy.vip) make me an offer? This is sooooo hot!!!