Another interesting point is that .io domains started to become more popular after Google decided to categorize them as Generic ccTLDs [1] (I believe in 2013).

Another interesting point is that .io domains started to become more popular after Google decided to categorize them as Generic ccTLDs [1] (I believe in 2013). Before this, .io domains weren't great because of Google's algorithm taking region into account, and SEO was nigh impossible. [1] https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1347922?hl=en https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/1347922?hl=en