Why Facebook, Google and all the others wanted a 1 char short domain

One character short domains are an extremely rare type of domains. One of the reasons is the limitation of internet names. Any TLD like .com, .de, .pl etc. allows only 36 such domains directly from the Latin-1 character set. The other reason is that many registries blocked 1-char domains for potential future use or other reasons. When it comes to the shortest possible domains, country code ccTLDs like g.co or f.ie the number worldwide gets quite limited. The limited market made the domains an interesting investment object too.

Here a list of popular examples:

1.pl - Gram.PL
7.fr - 7Médical
8.pl - Polsat
a.co - Amazon
b.mw - BMW
f.ie - Facebook
g.cn - Google
g.co - Google
m.me - Facebook
t.co - Twitter
t.de - Deutsche Telekom
v.me - Visa

But what beside being rare made the shortest 1-char domains so attractive some big tech companies pay even millions to get one? Why do they care to get one if some expensive pre-release phase is offered? The decision is always an individual but there are some common things that we can spot here that are worth mentioning.

#1 The obvious: shortening

Surely you noticed already YouTube using youtu.be or links that start with bit.ly - this are cool domain hacks. But they also help to make life easier for users and even save data. And it's easier to use something like http://w.fo/1sN4 than http://www.1-single-letter-domains.com/news/news4/index.php?lang=en - just try to type it! With the shortest possible domain this can be taken to perfection. One of the most prominent example might be Twitter with its t.co domain.

#2 Brand and security

Since with a 1-character domain we have a potential 80+ times higher than with a 2-char (or 6.400 times better than with a 3-char, 512.000 times better than 3-char etc.) such a domain suites perfectly to get consumers used to it. So it automatically happens to become a brand. Users who see an internet link starting with this domain know this is a domain belonging to a company so they don't have to fear after they click a link the friend sent by messenger a malware download will start. This additional advantage is not only convenient for clients. It also adds to the prestige of a company. If you want both - the benefits of shortening and be recognized as a trustful resource - a 1 character domain gives you the best option.

#3 Make something nice for your users

Believe it or not but there really are many people out there who prefer a simple 1sld.com over a sophisticated settle explaining 1-single-letter-domain.com! We cut put it philosophically on our age and the "time is money" society. But the fact is why should we complicate typing when it's possible to avoid it. And t must admit I live the polish websites with it cryptic URLs like wp.pl, rp.pl, a.pl for making my life just a little simpler. But seems not only we from Poland like it. Facebook paid millions for fb.com. And according to rumors Google paid millions too for g.cn only because the people in China don't like to spend time on unnecessary typing.

#4 New applications

If companies combine the advantages of shortening based on a 1-char domain with using a QR 2D code the benefits are hard not to see. You can get more codes based on one domain that are more effective. This efficiency can be used to make simply smaller codes that do not look so ugly. Or to make codes that can be scanned better and even from longer distance. Tests at QR.mk - our sister startup working on better use of such technologies - show that the distance for scanning QR codes could be extended 30+% allowing the use of QR in completely new ways ( http://qr.mk/examples ). Because of taking 1-chars an improvement by more than 85 times had been made compared to a 2 character domain and more than 50 million best quality ver1 codes can be used with a single domain.

Make working codes smaler...

... or scannable from wider distance

This allows significant improvement for marketing purposes. But this is only one possible use when combining short domains with QR. A lot of other new applications may appear in future.

#5 Prestige and gimmick

Short domains are nice since the use does not need to type much and many will appreciate this. But 1-char are additionally very rare and limited to 36 per country. They do not appear often so this is also a gimmick to get interest of clients. German car maker BMW already had quite short bmw.de but now also uses b.mw too. And famous and controversial Kim Dotcom owns the k.im domain.

#6 The asset

This is usually more interesting for small businesses that managed to get a 1-char at a good price to use it for some project. But since such project not always end as a success-story it still is possible to sell such a domain at some value. Sometimes the same appears to the big players too and a domain gets an important source of money or matter of a deal even for the big ones. Especially if it is already good positioned and aged. Though the most prominent examples are not ccTLD it's still worth mentioning the examples of z.com sold at 6.500.000 USD and x.com lately acquired by famous Tesla chief Elon Musk.

(JBS)