I am looking for a domain name registrant. Where can I look it up?
The Whois is an easy-to-use tool for checking the availability of a .nl domain name. If the domain name is already taken, you can see who has registered it.
On the page looking up a domain name you will find more information about what a domain name is, how the Whois works and how the privacy of personal data is protected. Alternatively, you can go straight to look for a domain name via the Whois.
I would like to transfer my domain name to another registrar. What is the procedure?
To get your domain name transferred, you need the token (unique ID number) for your domain name. Your existing registrar has the token and is obliged to give it to you within five days, if you ask for it. The procedure for changing your registrar is described on the page transferring your domain name.
The details registered about me/my company are incorrect or out of date. How can I get them updated?
To update the contact details associated with your domain name, you need to contact your registrar. Read more about updating contact details.
Why is my domain name in quarantine?
When a domain name is cancelled, we aren't told the reason, so we can't tell you. You'll need to ask your registrar. The advantage of quarantine is that, if a name's cancelled by mistake, you can always get it back.
One common reason is that the contract between you and your registrar says you've got to renew the registration every year. If you haven't set up automatic renewal and you don't renew manually, the registration will expire.
Ik heb een klacht over mijn provider/registrar. Kan ik daarvoor bij SIDN terecht?
Wanneer je een klacht hebt over of een geschil met je registrar dan zijn er verschillende mogelijkheden om tot een oplossing te komen. Hierover lees je meer op pagina klacht over registrar. SIDN heeft geen formele klachtenprocedure voor het behandelen van een klacht over jouw registrar.
What conditions do I have to meet as a registrar?
Would you like to be able to register domain names for customers or for your own organisation by dealing directly with SIDN? If so, you can become a .nl registrar. Read more about the conditions and how to apply for registrar status on the page becoming a registrar.
At the close of 2014, the total number of .nl domain names was 5,531,186. That made the .nl domain 2.7 per cent larger than at the end of 2013. Of the 5.5 million-plus .nl domain names, more than 40 per cent are now signed using DNSSEC. In both absolute and percentage terms, the .nl domain has more signed names than any other domain in the world. Although the rate of growth in the .nl domain has eased since 2011, .nl remains by far the most popular extension on the Dutch domain name market, with a share of 73.7 per cent. The plateauing of .nl's growth in recent years mirrors the trend apparent in all European country-code domains.
After years of linear growth, the number of .nl domain names has been increasing less rapidly since 2011. By the end of 2014, the number of .nl domain names was 5,531,186. In percentage terms, .nl's year-on-year growth in 2014 was 2.7 per cent. That compares with growth of 5.3 per cent in 2013.
Strong decline in net growth
A net total of 142,822 names was added to the .nl domain in 2014. That figure represents a substantial 47.6 per cent drop on the net numeric growth in 2013. The trend of declining net growth has been established for several years.
Slight fall in the number of new registrations
In 2014, nearly 900,000 new .nl domain names were registered. That is only 7.4 per cent fewer than in 2013 (971,304). Despite the slower growth, interest in .nl domain names remains strong.
More .nl domain names cancelled
The slowdown in net growth was due mainly to an increase in the number of domain names that were cancelled. Cancellations in 2014 were 9 per cent up on 2013. Every year, more domain names are cancelled than the year before. While the upward cancellation trend cannot be attributed to any one cause, it is certainly the case that registrants with multiple domain names are tending to look critically at their portfolios. In addition, people are nowadays quicker to cancel unused domain names than in the past.
.nl leads the world on DNSSEC
The number of DNSSEC-secured .nl domain names grew substantially in 2014. By the end of the year, there were 2,251,993 signed .nl domain names. That figure represents a rise of more than 34 per cent on 2013. In both absolute and percentage terms, the .nl domain now has more signed names than any other domain in the world. The growth in the number of DNSSEC domain names was due mainly to the active implementation support that SIDN gave to a number of large registrars.
.nl is the most popular extension in the Netherlands
Relative to other extensions, the .nl domain performed very well in 2014. It remained the largest and most popular extension in the Netherlands. The national domain's share of the domestic market has been stable for some years. Its main 'rivals', .com and .eu, saw their shares contract slightly in 2014. So far, the new gTLDs have secured a very small share of the Dutch domain name market.
Global context
With a growth of 2.7 per cent, .nl performed quite well by international standards. Comparable European country-code domains recorded weaker growth in 2014. Germany's .de domain grew by just 1.1 per cent in 2014, for example. In 2014, the global market for domain names was buoyed mainly by the explosive growth of the .tk domain, which offers free registrations. Other drivers of numeric growth were the market introduction of new generic top-level domains and increasing demand outside Europe.
