'.eu' domain names top 2.5M in first year

updated 8:05 p.m. ET April 11, 2007

BRUSSELS, Belgium - More than 2.5 million ".eu" Internet addresses have been registered since the European domain name launched just over a year ago, the European Commission said Wednesday.

Many worldwide brands — from companies like Air France and Versace to environmental campaigners Greenpeace — now have a ".eu" address, officials said, singling out non-European brands Sony Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus for also choosing an ".eu" address in ad campaigns.

"After just one year '.eu' has become a well-established part of Europe's cyberspace," EU Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said.

It has become the seventh most popular suffix worldwide and the third for Europe since it launched on April 7, 2006, topped only by Germany's ".de" and Britain's ".uk."

Strongest demand for the ".eu" address in the last year came from Germany — making up nearly a third of all applications — followed by Britain and the Netherlands.

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