10 Most Popular Domains

Today, there are more than 1.1 billion domains registered online, and five billion internet users. This massive growth has greatly impacted the popularity of common domain names.

2022 marked some significant popularity changes for web domains around the globe. Large domains like Google and YouTube reclaimed their dominance at the top of the pack, pulling ahead of newcomers like TikTok. Other members of the list remained relatively steadfast, despite tough competition.

Read on to discover who made the top 10 ranking in 2022.

Top 10 popular domains of 2022 

1. Google.com
2. YouTube.com
3. Facebook.com
4. Twitter.com
5. Instagram.com
6. Baidu.com 
7. Wikipedia.org 
8. Yandex.ru 
9. Yahoo.com 
10. Whatsapp.com 

This list, based on Similarweb data, is slightly different when compared to the most popular domains of 2021.

Last year, TikTok.com was the world’s most popular domain, while Google.com and Facebook.com took the second and third position. 

Insights from the world’s most popular domain names

The most popular domains reveal some interesting insights about TLDs and domain name length.

Current trends show that .com will continue to be the most popular domain extension. More than one in three people say that .coms are more memorable than other TLDs (top-level domains), which is why it’s considered to be the most trustworthy extension on the internet.

The popularity of .com is reflected in multiple domain rankings for 2022. Only two of the world’s top 10 most popular domains end in something other than .com. Those ending in  .ru and .org place further down the list. 

But popular domains may also be supported by a less obvious component: their name. According to a Nielson study, naming conventions are one of the most important elements of supporting a brand. The best domain names are short, sweet, and to the point, with a touch of memorability. Most of 2022’s 10 most popular domains consist of two syllable words.

Most popular domains by type

Worldwide domain popularity does not necessarily paint a full picture of the digital ecosystem. Today, there are thousands of high-ranking domains within individual categories, particularly ecommerce, social media, video, and more.

These rankings were accumulated from Statista and SimilarWeb.

• The most popular TLD extension is .com
• The most popular ecommerce domain is Amazon.com
• The most popular social media domain is Facebook.com
• The most popular video streaming domain is YouTube.com
• The most popular news domain is Yahoo.com
• The most popular sports domain is ESPN.com
• The most popular health domain is Healthline.com
• The most popular travel domain is Booking.com
• The most popular chat domain is WhatsApp.com
• The most popular banking domain is Chase.com

Popular domain TLD extensions

The .com remains one of the most popular TLDs in the world and is currently used by 53.3% of global websites. The lesser known .ca controls less than 11% of the market, followed by .org at 4.4%.

Ranked by use in global websites, the top domain TLD extensions of 2022 are:

1. .com
2. .ca
3. .org
4. .ru
5. .net
6. .au
7. .uk
8. .in
9. .ir
10. .de

Popular ecommerce domains

Since 1995, retail giant Amazon.com has been one of the most popular ecommerce domains. Today, Amazon reaches three billion monthly visitors, across all devices. Rivaled by AliExpress and eBay, the company continues to hold a 40% market share across the ecommerce industry.

The top 10 most popular ecommerce domains in 2022 are:

1. Amazon.com
2. eBay.com
3. AliExpress.com
4. Walmart.com
5. Etsy.com
6. Taobao.com 
7. Avito.ru 
8. Craigslist.org
9. Wildberries.ru 
10. Mercadolivre.com.br 

Popular social media domains

Social media use continues to grow among different demographics. Facebook ranks at the top of the list, followed by Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The top 10 social media domains in 2022 are:

1. Facebook.com 
2. Twitter.com 
3. Instagram.com 
4. WhatsApp.com
5. TikTok.com 
6. Reddit.com 
7. LinkedIn.com 
8. VK.com 
9. Discord.com 
10. Pinterest.com 

Popular video streaming domains

Video is the most popular form of online content. Today, four in five consumers use the internet just for video streaming. YouTube.com boasts the highest amount of traffic, with 500 hours of footage uploaded per minute. While perhaps more curated, video streaming domains like Netflix.com and Hotstar.com take a back seat to user-generated content.

The 10 most popular video streaming domains are:

1. YouTube.com
2. Netflix.com
3. IMDB.com 
4. Hotstar.com 
5. DisneyPlus.com 
6. HBOMax.com 
7. Hulu.com 
8. PrimeVideo.com 
9. Nicovideo.jp 
10. Xfinity.com 

Popular news domains

Internet users prefer Yahoo.com as a trusted news source, followed closely by Naver.com and QQ.com. Non-English sites including Globo.com and UOL.com.br retain a spot in the top ten.

2022’s top 10 news domains are:

1. Yahoo.com
2. Naver.com 
3. QQ.com 
4. MSN.com 
5. Globo.com 
6. TurboPages.org 
7. BBC.co.uk 
8. CNN.com 
9. NYTimes.com 
10. UOL.com.br 

Popular sports domains

The sports industry has a strong online presence. ESPN.com is the most popular sports domain, with more than 500 million unique visitors every month. 

The 10 most popular sport domains in 2022 include:

1. ESPN.com
2. Marca.com
3. AS.com 
4. Cricbuzz.com
5. CBSsports.com 
6. Futbol24.com 
7. ESPNcricinfo.com 
8. Livescore.com 
9. Kooora.com 
10. Betman.co.kr 

Popular health domains

Website traffic related to health and wellness spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, Healthline.com pulled ahead of nonprofit and governmental sources with an average of 190 million visitors per month.

The top 10 most popular health domains are:

1. Healthline.com
2. NIH.gov
3. MayoClinic.org 
4. WebMD.com 
5. MedicalNewsToday.com 
6. CDC.gov
7. CVS.com 
8. MedlinePlus.gov 
9. NHS.uk 
10. Tuasaude.com 

Popular travel domains

Sites like Booking.com enjoy 420 million visitors from all over the world, helping travellers book flights and reserve hotels. Other popular sites, including TripAdvisor and Airbnb, lead the industry in terms of size, traffic, and general interest.

Below are the 10 most popular travel domains worldwide:

1. Booking.com
2. TripAdvisor.com
3. Airbnb.com
4. Expedia.com
5. Uber.com 
6. Travelerdreams.com 
7. Southwest.com 
8. AA.com 
9. Ryanair.com 
10. Hotels.com 

Popular search engine domains

Google.com is the decided victor of search engine domains worldwide. As of 2022, more than 90 billion people in 180 countries rely on the website to find what they’re looking for. Google’s web traffic can’t be matched by secondary competitors Baidu.com (six billion monthly visits) and Yandex.com (four billion monthly visits).

The top 10 search domains in 2022 are:

1. Google.com
2. Baidu.com 
3. Yandex.ru
4. Bing.com 
5. DuckDuckGo.com 
6. Daum.net 
7. Seznam.cz 
8. Sogou.com 
9. Sm.cn 
10. Ecosia.org 

Popular banking domains

PayPal.com is the leading domain in the banking and financial industries. Online web traffic hovers at 514 million visitors per month, with an average growth rate of 10%. Chase.com lags behind at 200 million total visits.

Globally, the 10 most popular banking domains of 2022 are:

1. PayPal.com 
2. Chase.com
3. WellsFargo.com 
4. BankOfAmerica.com 
5. CapitalOne.com 
6. CreditKarma.com 
7. AmericanExpress.com 
8. Sberbank.ru 
9. HDFCBank.com 
10. Citi.com 

Factors that influence domain popularity

Humans are attracted to the best of the best—including the domains they visit. Although the vast majority of traffic stems from having a powerful brand name, generating buzz is a surefire way to attract attention, draw visitors, and grow an online presence.

There are several factors that affect the worldwide popularity of domains:

• Social media trends. The whims of social media are infamous for dictating domain trends. Sharable content or memes with relevant images often influence the flow of online traffic. However, social media trends usually cause very short-term spikes in popularity. 

• Worldwide relevance. Breaking news and changing geopolitical climates can have significant impacts on the way domains are accessed. The Russia–Ukraine conflict kept many users offline or away from certain domains, blocking some 114.9 million users from accessing the internet. 

• Major holidays. The closer the holiday season gets, the higher certain domains will rank. Amazon saw more than 2.9 billion unique visitors in December 2021, which slumped to 2.2 billion the following February. Domains—particularly those in ecommerce—quickly climb the ranks during busy seasons.

Domain name trends for 2022

Domain names have a relatively predictable pattern. Traditional naming conventions haven’t changed much at all in 2022, although new TLDs, price increases, and unique extensions continue to shape the industry.

One of the biggest influencing factors is the sheer number of TLDs. The WHOIS list of extensions continues to grow, with more than 1,200 available as of April 2022. .com is the most popular TLD, with 53.3% of the world’s websites choosing it over other extensions .

The .com extension’s success is set to cause significant price increases throughout 2022. According to Politico, certain domains with a .com extension may see a 7% price increase four out of every six years. An 8.4% increase in US inflation is not likely to help the issue.

To circumnavigate higher costs, more companies are turning to easily branded domains with unique extensions. Generic TLDs like .dev, .eco, and .ai are perhaps some of the most popular. But not all that glitters is gold. Some extensions face the threat of being scrubbed entirely, with many domains hanging in the balance. Despite this, unique and less competitive domain extensions continue to trend.

Subdomains will continue to be an important element of internal strategy. Brands will continue to hedge investment bets with internal testing and optimization, as well as differentiating certain sites for individual countries. Popular domains like news.google.com and blog.hubspot.com are the most obvious (and popular) of these.

Which domains will be the most popular in 2023?

With brands like TikTok eclipsing Google in less than 10 years, it can be difficult to forecast domain trends even months in advance. However, we do know that current events and social movements will continue to emphasize certain platforms, TLDs, and searching behaviors.

• Domains in the metaverse will become more popular. The keyword “meta” is already seeing significant upticks around the web, with a global search volume of 74,000 monthly searches. This interest has also extended into website creation. According to domain providers, almost 50,000 new domains have been registered with .meta—proving the trend is popular right now.
• Mobile-friendly domains have the upper hand. In 2022, 50.59% of all web visits were undertaken on mobile, with 49.41% on desktop or laptop computers. Users have come to expect adaptability across all domains, with 75% of audiences reporting a preference for mobile rather than desktop-friendly destinations.
• SEO-based domains won’t be as effective. Google’s John Mueller released a statement in 2022 explaining that SEO phrases in domain names no longer provide a benefit to ranking. Choosing a domain name based on keywords alone may even detract from brand authority and page ranks. 2023 will show an increase in brand-friendly, sustainable, and catchy decisions. 

Looking ahead to domain evolution 

2022 brought monumental changes to the world of domains, although whether they will last for any significant amount of time remains to be seen. Plenty of factors affect a domain’s popularity, and there’s no telling what the future will bring. 

If history is any indicator, we can expect to see most of these domains back on the list next year. We may see some new competitors climbing up the list, including domains that are just beginning to find their footing online.

In either case, the most popular registered domains of 2022 as of this time have already been decided. As for what you might see later this year and next—only time will tell.