It might be time for Alibaba to buy a shorter domain.

Going short seems to be a trend in China. Just look at internet giant Alibaba. The name is well-known, easy to remember, and short at 7 characters only. Still, Chinese consumers think it is too long.

Why? The name is 4-pin (A Li Ba Ba=阿里巴巴) but Chinese consumers love 2-pin names as explained in What's 2-pin and why does it matter for domain investing?. So, it is nicknamed "Ali" (A Li=阿里), which is frequently found in Chinese news.

The company might have been inspired by the 2-pin nickname because now we see the use of "Ali" in many of Alibaba's sub-brands. Some examples are listed below.

Sub-brand Domain Business line

AliPay AliPay.com Mobile payment

AliExpress AliExpress.com Online shopping

AliYun AliYun.com Cloud services

AliHealth AliHealth.com Medical supplies

AliSports AliSports.com Sports news

AliTrip AliTrip.com Travel services

AliMama AliMama.com Digital marketing

AliGenie AliGenie.com Voice assistant on ioT

AliCapital AliCapital.co VC

AliTelecom AliTelecom.com Telco services

AliMusic (not found) Music

AliMail (not found) Email services

Is it time for Alibaba to follow its sub-brands and acquire Ali.com to complement Alibaba.com?

Authentic Brands Group, LLC owns the domain. For many years, Ali.com was the official website of Muhammad Ali. After Ali passed away in 2016, the domain forwarded to MuhammadAli.com or Alicenter.org. Currently, the domain sends you to Muhammad Ali's account on Instagram. So, there may be a chance for Alibaba to acquire Ali.com.

Source from Domain Name Wire

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