In 2020, The Moroccan ccTLD .ma domain name witnessed an unprecedented increase of new registrations with 19.37% more compared to 2019 and with an average monthly increase of 2,506 domain names.
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Impact of COVID-19 on .ma domain name in 2020
Registry statistics published by ANRT, the Moroccan administrator for the .MA country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD), highlighted the extent to which businesses and individuals have pivoted online through the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions. ANRT reported that the .MA registrations increased by 19.37% compared to 2019 to reach 93,506 domain names being registered by the end of 2020. 30,559 additional .ma domains were registered last year, with an average of 2,506 registrations per month. However these figures are very minimal compared to the world market which represents around 370.7 million domain names under various extensions (the .com and others .net).
Evolution of .ma domain registration in 2020
It is believed that COVID-19 was behind the spike of .MA new registrations in 2020. For instance, since the declaration of the World Health Organization COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020 the market of domain names skyrocketed around the world, being online was a necessity for every individual and business to survive during this difficult unprecedented crisis.
How to register a .ma domain name?
.MA domain name can be registered by an individual or a company residents of Morocco as well as to individuals and companies abroad, with the condition that they should designate an administrative contact established in Morocco. The request for a .MA domain name registration can be done through an accredited registrar such as CAP CONNECT, which is one of the major .ma registrars and web hosting providers in Morocco. The registrar is in charge of maintaining and managing the registration of the domain names and providing an online interface through which the owner of the domain name can easily manage his domain name and its related services such as changing the name servers and updating the DNS zone.
The majority of .MA domain registrations and renewals are done for a period of one year only, for instance in 2019, 95.3% of domain names were registered for a period of one year and 93.6% were renewed for one year. Obviously, domain names that are not renewed are automatically deleted from the registry 30 days after their expiration.