Press release

.eu continues robust growth in Q2 2012

Latest quarterly report available

Brussels, 18 September 2012 – .eu’s strong performance continued in Q2 2012 with 7.6% growth in domain name registrations compared with one year ago, according to the latest progress report from the .eu top-level domain registry, EURid. This built on the 6.1% year-on- year increase reported in Q1 2012.

“.eu has maintained healthy registration rates for the first six months of this year, a fact reinforced by the Q2 2012 results,” said EURid’s General Manager, Marc Van Wesemael. “I am heartened by this growth which shows that Europeans continue to want .eu domain names despite the economic and political crisis still affecting Europe.”

EURid’s Q2 2012 report shows that Lithuania had the highest annual growth, with a 30% increase of .eu registrations compared with Q2 2011, followed by Malta (29%) and Austria (23%). During the same period, registrations in a further six countries grew by over 10%, namely Bulgaria, the , France, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

.eu completed the second quarter of 2012 with 3.60 million registered domain names. During these three months, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia all saw quarterly growth of 5% or more.

The full report for Q2 2012 is available for download at: http://link.eurid.eu/reports.

About .eu and EURid The .eu domain ranks among the ten largest top-level domains in the world, connecting 500 million people in 27 EU countries to one Internet identity. More than three million .eu names have been registered since the domain opened for registration in 2005. Many companies use a .eu website as a practical solution to convey a clear European identity, including Bridgestone, Century 21, Hyundai, the MAN Group, Microsoft Corporation and the UniCredit Group.

EURid is the not-for-profit organisation appointed by the to operate the .eu top-level domain. EURid works with over 850 accredited registrars and provides support in the 23 official EU languages. With headquarters in Brussels (), EURid also has regional offices in Pisa (), Prague (the Czech Republic) and (Sweden). More information at: http://www.eurid.eu.

For media information, please contact: Megan Vosloo, Communications Officer Phone: +32 (0)2 401 3019 Email: [email protected] Press room: http://www.eurid.eu/en/press-room