Small Nations Profit from Domain Games with Country Codes
Small nations like Tuvalu and Iceland are generating substantial income from their country code domains through creative domain hacks. Television companies pay premium prices for .tv domains, while other countries profit from word combinations. This digital real estate has become an unexpected revenue source for small economies.
Small countries earn substantial income from their national domain names through domain hacks. Some individuals pay nearly 100 million kronur for specific domains. A national domain is a two-letter code assigned to countries and territories for websites in their internet section. Iceland's code is .is and has existed since 1987. The oldest Icelandic websites include hi.is, hafro.is and os.is. Domain hacks occur when people buy domains that create words with the country code. For example, buying bjar.ki would form the name Bjarki. These domain games generate major revenue for several nations including Tuvalu and Anguilla. Tuvalu is a Pacific island nation with just over 10,000 residents. It owns the .tv domain. Television companies pay high amounts to use this national domain. Twitch.TV, Plex.TV and Eurovision.TV all use the extension. A large portion of Tuvalu's national revenue comes from its domain. The situation shows how digital assets can transform small economies. These nations found unexpected value in their internet real estate without significant investment.