The launch of .co began March 1 with a Grandfather phase for existing third level domain holders. This phase has ended and now begins the Sunrise periods for trademark holders. Sunrise phase A begins April 1 and extends through April 20.

In addition to “co” being common abbreviation for company and corporation, having a .co domain name can help increase website traffic. Using proprietary typographical analysis, our research indicates that on average a .co domain name can generate 7% of the traffic of the equivalent .com domain name. In many cases this will make it well worth the cost of adding a number of .co domains to your portfolio. The estimates are based on website averages for domain name type-in behavior and analysis of typographical errors.

Due to the resemblance to .com and other popular associations, companies may want to consider securing their brand as a defensive registration since .co will become available to the general public in the landrush and general availability phases. Companies interested in application for any phase can submit their domain name requests now and we’ll handle submission for the appropriate phase.