People were registering lots of worthless short domains (random 5L dot coms, 6-7-8N dot coms and so on) and a lot of them were doing it using coupons through which registrars lost money.
Registrars do this for marketing purposes, hoping that people will keep domains with them for years to come and that they’ll make money on the retail renewal fees.
Read MoreBut when manic periods such as the Chinese short domain craze take place, these promotions coupled with people’s appetite for speculative registrations can make the dot com growth stats seem rosier than they they are...