A recent CENTR (the association of European country code top-level domain (ccTLD) registries) study by CENTR’s Data Analyst, Patrick Myles, is examining how renewals are influenced by domain usage and age.

The research assesses the relationship between domain classification, age and retention, focusing specifically on how web content and registration longevity impact likelihood of renewal.

Using the CENTR signs-of-life crawler, approximately 700,000 domains across 21 ccTLDs were scanned in March 2023, just before their upcoming renewal/expiry date. Domains were classified into high-content (developed websites), low-content (parked sites), and no-content (no web presence) categories. Once the expiry date had passed, renewal rates were analysed within these groups, alongside technical features such as redirects, MX records, SSL certificates, and the domains’ age.

Domains with high-content websites have significantly higher renewal rates (90.1%) than those used for parking (78.5%) and those without web content (70.5%).

Domain age was also found to play a significant role in renewal likelihood, with a 54.5% renewal rate at the end of the first year, 79.6% by the third year, and up to 95% for domains over 18 years old (see chart below). While age is important, the study found that web content remains a stronger predictor. Domains with developed web content consistently outperform parked domains or domains with no content, even when the latter are older.