Estonian Internet Foundation: Popularity of .ee domains growing

TALLINN - According to the Estonian Internet Foundation, the beginning of the year has brought new trends to the .ee domain names -- the year-over-year growth of the .ee domain as of the end of the first quarter is 6.1 percent and the total number of registrations was 9,513.

In 2024, the words "maja" (house), "pood" (shop) and "shop" have become more and more popular keywords used in .ee addresses. On the other hand, it can be seen that the popularity of the previously widely used keywords “kinnisvara” (real estate) and "est" (Estonia) has gradually started to decline. The top three spots on the list are still held by the words "auto" (car), "est" and "ehitus" (construction), the Internet Foundation said.

In the first quarter, the use of the word "laen" (loan), which did not show its presence at the top of the list in the same period last year, has increased by leaps and bounds. On the one hand, this is a sign of the emergence of companies offering loan services, but on the other hand, gives an idea of ​​Estonians' need for them. The economy and people's livelihood situation probably play their own role in it, according to the foundation.

In addition, although Estonian place names are still actively used in web addresses, Tartu has found more use in the first half of the year. This is thanks to the title of the European Capital of Culture, which is actively used by various institutions and companies in their digital channels and marketing. The words "teenus" (service), "digi" (digital) and "mees" (man) have also found more and more use in the .ee domains.

Changes can also be seen in the disappearance of previously popular keywords, such as "art", "lill" (flower), "elekter" (electricity) and "mets" (forest). Instead of them, however, "airsoft", "meister" (master), "food", "ost" (purchase) and "AI" are raising their heads. Various words related to technology have become more popular, but topics that were relevant last year, such as electricity, have already disappeared from people's thoughts, the foundation said.

Auctions of the single-character .ee domains have also brought new interest to the .ee web addresses. As part of this, the foundation has brought several .ee domains with Estonian place and country names, as well as one-letter and numeric domains, to the market. In weekly limited batches, several more memorable domains, including e.ee, l.ee and x.ee, will be auctioned.

"In summary, the words used in the web addresses give a good overview of current topics in society. Although the top list is filled with already familiar words, we see that the quarterly changes reflect well the fields of activity of new companies and institutions. Active registration of a domain with a country code shows that .ee is still highly valued," the foundation said.