LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in CentralNic Group PLC were trading at 52-week highs Friday morning, following news from Google Inc earlier this week that it will form a conglomerate called Alphabet Inc to hold its business units, using the new web domain abc.xyz.
CentralNic owns the top-level domain .xyz following new rules from the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers which has allowed for plethora of new top-level domains to launch.
The company had said Thursday that whilst the announcement from Google is positive, the growing interest in the .xyz domain had been expected.
The domain has been a particular growth driver for the company. In an interview with Alliance News in January, Chief Executive Ben Crawford attributed the domains success to being "easy to remember even if you don't speak any English or you don't use our alphabet."
With the launch of big brands such as Google under these new top-level domains, the uptake of the market and consumer awareness of the new domains is expected to accelerate.
"There could be no clearer endorsement than the world?s number one internet business Google choosing a .xyz domain for the website of its new parent company, Alphabet," Crawford said in a statement.
The domain alphabet.com is owned by Alphabet, a Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, or BMW, owned fleet management service.
Shares in Central Nic were up 7.6% at 66.72 pence. Shares in the company have risen 54% since the announcement from Google at the start of the week.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; hanassmith@alliancenews.com; @hanassallnews
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
