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Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are one of the categories of
top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...
s (TLDs) maintained by the
Internet Assigned Numbers Authority The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System (DNS), media types, and other Interne ...
(IANA) for use in the
Domain Name System The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other resources in the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks. It associates various information with domain names assigned to ...
of the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
. A top-level domain is the last level of every
fully qualified domain name A fully qualified domain name (FQDN), sometimes also referred to as an ''absolute domain name'', is a domain name that specifies its exact location in the tree hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS). It specifies all domain levels, including th ...
. They are called generic for historical reasons; initially, they were contrasted with country-specific TLDs in RFC 920. The core group of generic top-level domains consists of the
com Com or COM may refer to: Computing * COM (hardware interface), a serial port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers * COM file, or .com file, short for "command", a file extension for an executable file in MS-DOS * .com, an Internet top-level d ...
,
net Net or net may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence * Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2 * Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...
, org, biz, and
info Info is shorthand for "information". It may also refer to: Computing * .info, a generic top-level domain * info:, a URI scheme for information assets with identifiers in public namespaces * info (Unix), a command used to view documentation produc ...
domains. In addition, the domains
name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...
, and
pro Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...
are also considered ''generic''; however, these are designated as ''restricted'', because registrations within them require proof of eligibility within the guidelines set for each. Historically, the group of generic top-level domains included domains, created in the early development of the domain name system, that are now sponsored by designated agencies or organizations and are restricted to specific types of registrants. Thus, domains edu,
gov A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
, int, and mil are now considered
sponsored top-level domain A sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) is one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet, alongside country-code top-level domains (ccTLD) ...
s, much like the ''themed'' top-level domains (e.g.,
jobs Jobs may refer to: * Job, an activity that people do for regular income gain People * Steve Jobs (1955–2011), co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc ** Steve Jobs (disambiguation) * Laurene Powell Jobs (born 1963), widow of Steve Jobs * Lisa ...
). The entire group of domains that do not have a geographic or country designation (see
country-code top-level domain A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all t ...
) is still often referred to by the term ''generic'' TLDs. The number of gTLD as of March 2018 exceeds 1,200 domains.


Types

Overall, IANA distinguishes the following groups of top-level domains: *
infrastructure top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...
(
.arpa The domain name arpa is a top-level domain (TLD) in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. It is used predominantly for the management of technical network infrastructure. Prominent among such functions are the subdomains ''in-addr.arpa'' ...
) *generic top-level domains (gTLD) *restricted generic top-level domains (grTLD) *
sponsored top-level domain A sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) is one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet, alongside country-code top-level domains (ccTLD) ...
s (sTLD) *
country code top-level domain A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code. All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all t ...
s (ccTLD) *internationalized top-level domains (IDNs) **
internationalized country code top-level domain An internationalized country code top-level domain is a top-level domain in the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet. IDN ccTLDs are specially encoded domain names that are displayed in an end user application, such as a web browser, in the ...
s (IDN ccTLD) * testing top-level domains (tTLD)


History

The initial set of generic top-level domains, defined by RFC 920 in October 1984, was a set of "general purpose domains":
com Com or COM may refer to: Computing * COM (hardware interface), a serial port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers * COM file, or .com file, short for "command", a file extension for an executable file in MS-DOS * .com, an Internet top-level d ...
, edu,
gov A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
, mil, org. The
net Net or net may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence * Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2 * Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...
domain was added with the first implementation of these domains. The com, net, and org TLDs, despite their originally specified goals, are now open to use for any purpose. In November 1988, another TLD was introduced, int. This TLD was introduced in response to
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
's request for a domain name which adequately reflected its character as an international organization. It was also originally planned to be used for some Internet infrastructure databases, such as ip6.int, the
IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communication protocol, communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic ...
equivalent of in-addr.arpa. However, in May 2000, the
Internet Architecture Board The Internet Architecture Board (IAB) is "a committee of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and an advisory body of the Internet Society (ISOC). Its responsibilities include architectural oversight of IETF activities, Internet Standards ...
proposed to exclude infrastructure databases from the int domain. All new databases of this type would be created in arpa (a legacy domain from the conversion of ARPANET), and existing usage would move to arpa wherever feasible, which led to the use of ip6.arpa for IPv6 reverse lookups. By the mid-1990s there was discussion of introduction of more TLDs.
Jon Postel Jonathan Bruce Postel (; August 6, 1943 – October 16, 1998) was an American computer scientist who made many significant contributions to the development of the Internet, particularly with respect to standards. He is known principally for be ...
, as head of
IANA The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is a standards organization that oversees global IP address allocation, autonomous system number allocation, root zone management in the Domain Name System (DNS), media types, and other Interne ...
, invited applications from interested parties. In early 1995, Postel created "Draft Postel", an Internet draft containing the procedures to create new
domain name registries Domain may refer to: Mathematics *Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined **Domain of definition of a partial function **Natural domain of a partial function **Domain of holomorphy of a function *Dom ...
and new TLDs. Draft Postel created a number of small committees to approve the new TLDs. Because of the increasing interest, a number of large organizations took over the process under the
Internet Society The Internet Society (ISOC) is an American nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1992 with local chapters around the world. Its mission is "to promote the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people ...
's umbrella. This second attempt involved setting up a temporary organization called the International Ad Hoc Committee (
IAHC Prior to the globalization of the Internet, its assignment of domain names was administered within the research and academic communities through the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). As the Internet grew to a global service, in the 1990 ...
). On February 4, 1997, the IAHC issued a report ignoring the Draft Postel recommendations and instead recommending the introduction of seven new TLDs (arts, firm, info, nom, rec, store, and web). However, these proposals were abandoned after the U.S. government intervened. In September 1998, the
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN ) is an American multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces ...
(ICANN) was created to take over the task of managing domain names. After a call for proposals (August 15, 2000) and a brief period of public consultation, ICANN announced on November 16, 2000 its selection of seven new TLDs:
aero Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero (P ...
, biz,
coop Coop, COOP, Co-op, or ''variation'', most often refers to: * A chicken coop or other enclosure * Cooperative or co-operative ("co-op"), an association of persons who cooperate for their mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit ** Housing co ...
,
info Info is shorthand for "information". It may also refer to: Computing * .info, a generic top-level domain * info:, a URI scheme for information assets with identifiers in public namespaces * info (Unix), a command used to view documentation produc ...
,
museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
,
name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...
,
pro Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...
. biz,
info Info is shorthand for "information". It may also refer to: Computing * .info, a generic top-level domain * info:, a URI scheme for information assets with identifiers in public namespaces * info (Unix), a command used to view documentation produc ...
, and
museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
were activated in June 2001,
name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...
and
coop Coop, COOP, Co-op, or ''variation'', most often refers to: * A chicken coop or other enclosure * Cooperative or co-operative ("co-op"), an association of persons who cooperate for their mutual social, economic, and cultural benefit ** Housing co ...
in January 2002,
pro Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...
in May 2002, and
aero Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero (P ...
later in 2002.
pro Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...
became a gTLD in May 2002, but did not become fully operational until June 2004. ICANN added further TLDs, starting with a set of
sponsored top-level domain A sponsored top-level domain (sTLD) is one of the categories of top-level domains (TLDs) maintained by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for use in the Domain Name System of the Internet, alongside country-code top-level domains (ccTLD) ...
s. The application period for these was from December 15, 2003 to March 16, 2004; it resulted in ten applications. Of these, ICANN approved ,
cat The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
,
jobs Jobs may refer to: * Job, an activity that people do for regular income gain People * Steve Jobs (1955–2011), co-founder and former CEO of Apple Inc ** Steve Jobs (disambiguation) * Laurene Powell Jobs (born 1963), widow of Steve Jobs * Lisa ...
,
mobi Mobi or MOBI may refer to: Companies * Mobi (company), an American wireless provider Computing * .mobi, internet top domain name * .mobi, a file extension of the deprecated Mobipocket e-book format People * Mobi Fehr (born 1994), American socce ...
, tel and
travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...
. In March 2011, xxx was approved (one year after an independent review found ICANN had broken its own bylaws by rejecting the application in 2007). Of the remaining applications (
post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...
,
mail The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letter (message), letters, and parcel (package), parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid ...
and an alternative tel proposal),
post Post or POST commonly refers to: *Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal service **Iraqi Post, Ira ...
was introduced in 2012. On June 26, 2008, during the 32nd International Public ICANN Meeting in Paris, ICANN started a new process of TLD naming policy to take a "significant step forward on the introduction of new generic top-level domains." This program envisioned the availability of many new or already proposed domains, as well as a new application and implementation process. Observers believed that the new rules could result in hundreds of new gTLDs being registered.


New top-level domains

The introduction of several generic top-level domains over the years had not stopped the demand for more gTLDs; ICANN received many proposals for establishment of new top-level domains. Proponents argued for a variety of models, ranging from adoption of policies for unrestricted gTLDs (see above) to chartered gTLDs for specialized uses by specialized organizations. In 2008, a new initiative foresaw a stringent application process for new domains, adhering to a restricted naming policy for ''open gTLDs'', ''community-based'' domains, and
internationalized domain name An internationalized domain name (IDN) is an Internet domain name that contains at least one label displayed in software applications, in whole or in part, in non-latin script or alphabet, such as Arabic, Bengali, Chinese (Mandarin, simplified ...
s (IDNs). According to a guidebook published by ICANN, a ''community-based gTLD'' is "a gTLD that is operated for the benefit of a defined community consisting of a restricted population." All other domains fall under the category ''open gTLD'', which "is one that can be used for any purpose consistent with the requirements of the application and evaluation criteria, and with the registry agreement. An open gTLD may or may not have a formal relationship with an exclusive registrant or user population. It may or may not employ eligibility or use restrictions." The establishment of new gTLDs under this program required the management of registrar relationships, the operation of a
domain registry A domain name registry is a database of all domain names and the associated registrant information in the top level domains of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet that enables third party entities to request administrative control of a do ...
, and demonstration of technical (as well as financial) capacity for such operations. A fourth version of the draft applicant guidebook (DAG4) was published in May 2011. On June 20, 2011, ICANN's board voted to end most restrictions on the creation of generic top-level domain names (gTLDs) -- at which time 22 gTLDs were available.New Internet Name Rule Opens Door to Huge Changes.
Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the state-owned news network and international radio broadcaster of the United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international broadcaster. VOA produces digital, TV, and radio content ...
, June 20, 2011. Accessed June 20, 2011
Internet minders OK vast expansion of domain names
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
, June 20, 2011. Accessed June 20, 2011
Companies and organizations would be able to choose essentially arbitrary top-level Internet domains. The use of non-Latin characters (such as Cyrillic, Arabic, Chinese, etc.) would also be allowed in gTLDs. ICANN began accepting applications for new gTLDs on January 12, 2012. A survey by registrar Melbourne IT considered entertainment and financial services brands most likely to apply for new gTLDs for their brands.Who will apply for gTLDs
Managing Internet IP, June 21, 2011.
The initial price to apply for a new gTLD was $185,000. ICANN expected that the first batch of new gTLDs would be operational by September 2013. ICANN expected the new rules to significantly change the face of the internet. Peter Thrush, chairman of ICANN's board of directors, stated after the vote: "Today's decision will usher in a new internet age. We have provided a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration. Unless there is a good reason to restrain it, innovation should be allowed to run free." Industry analysts predicted 500–1000 new gTLDs, mostly reflecting names of companies and products, but also cities, and generic names like ''bank'' and ''sport''. According to Theo Hnarakis, chief executive of
Melbourne IT Webcentral, formerly known as Melbourne IT Group, is an Australian digital services provider. It is a publicly-traded company that was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange () in December 1999. It provides internet domain registration, ...
, the decision would "allow corporations to better take control of their brands. For example, ''apple'' or ''ipad'' would take customers right to those products." In agreement, Nick Wood, Managing Director of Valideus, suggested "Your own gTLD demonstrates confidence and vision and may accelerate your brand and its value. An internet address at the Top Level is far better than registration at the 'low rent' Second Level." However, some companies, like Pepsi, ruled out a branded gTLD.


Popularity

Most popular gTLDs as of 2018.


Top TLDs


Top City TLDs

* The number of new gTLD sites found for each TLD in the latest Alexa Top 1 Million list


Terminology

Unrestricted generic top-level domains are those domains that are available for registrations by any person or organization for any use. The prominent gTLDs in this group are
com Com or COM may refer to: Computing * COM (hardware interface), a serial port interface on IBM PC-compatible computers * COM file, or .com file, short for "command", a file extension for an executable file in MS-DOS * .com, an Internet top-level d ...
,
net Net or net may refer to: Mathematics and physics * Net (mathematics), a filter-like topological generalization of a sequence * Net, a linear system of divisors of dimension 2 * Net (polyhedron), an arrangement of polygons that can be folded up ...
, org, and
info Info is shorthand for "information". It may also refer to: Computing * .info, a generic top-level domain * info:, a URI scheme for information assets with identifiers in public namespaces * info (Unix), a command used to view documentation produc ...
. However, info was the only one of these, and the first, that was explicitly chartered as unrestricted. The others initially had a specific target audience. However, due to lack of enforcement, they acquired an unrestricted character, which was later
grandfathered A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...
.


Sponsored gTLD

The term ''sponsored top-level domain'' is derived from the fact that these domains are based on theme concepts proposed by private agencies or organizations that establish and enforce rules restricting the eligibility of registrants to use the TLD. For example, the
aero Aero is a Greek prefix relating to flight and air. In British English, it is used as an adjective related to flight (e.g., as a shortened substitute for aeroplane). Aero, Ærø, or Aeros may refer to: Aeronautics Airlines and companies * Aero (P ...
TLD is sponsored by the
Société Internationale de Télécommunications Aéronautiques SITA is a multinational information technology company providing IT and telecommunication services to the air transport industry. The company provides its services to around 400 members and 2,500 customers worldwide, which it claims is about ...
, which limits registrations to members of the air-transport industry. The new gTLD programme saw the arrival of many such top-level domains, with a ''restricted open'' policy, eligible to those active in a regulated industry, such as .pharma or .bank, or in other industrial domains such as .safety


Geographic gTLD

A
geographic TLD A geographic top-level domain (often shortened as geographic TLD or geoTLD) is any of an unofficial group of top-level domains in the Domain Name System of the Internet using the name of or invoking an association with a geographical, geopolitica ...
(or ''GeoTLD'') is a generic top-level domain using the name of or invoking an association with a geographical, geopolitical, ethnic, linguistic or cultural community. As of 2009, only two GeoTLDs existed: the sponsored domains
.cat .cat (pronounced in Catalan: ''punt cat'' ) is a sponsored top-level domain intended to be used to highlight the Catalan language. Its policy has been developed by ICANN anFundació puntCAT It was approved in September 2005. History Before . ...
, for the Catalan language and culture and
.asia The top-level domain .asia is the officially designated regional domain in the Internet for Asia and the Pacific. It is a sponsored generic top-level-domain (gTLD) operated by the DotAsia Organisation Ltd. The domain is open to companies, indivi ...
; as of 2014 there were many more, including
.kiwi .kiwi is an Internet generic top-level domain with emphasis on New Zealand. It employs the colloquial term ''kiwi'', used to refer to New Zealanders. It is the first, and presently only, New Zealand-specific top level domain name approved by ...
,
.paris .paris is a top-level domain for the city of Paris, France. It was introduced in June 2008 by ICANN, and the first 100 ".paris" web addresses were assigned in mid-2014. At the time of launch, domain names corresponding to Parisian places (str ...
,
.scot .scot is a GeoTLD for Scotland and Scottish culture, including the Gaelic and Scots languages. Later it was decided to allow almost any top-level domain for introduction some time in 2013, and a list of applications for these was published i ...
and
.gal .gal () is a GeoTLD intended to highlight the Galician people, Galician language, and Galician culture. It was approved on 14 June 2013 by ICANN, and the first 93 domains went online on July 25, 2014. The initiative was backed by more than 13, ...
, but many others are being added regularly.


Brand gTLD

Brands have also applied to get their brand as a top-level domain. Specification 13 is an addendum to the registry contract that describes specific provisions to brands to run their Top Level Domain in a closed fashion. 517 applications to qualify to Spec 13 were made to ICANN, 36 requests were rejected by ICANN or withdrawn by the applicant, 4 are pending review. In 2018,
Spamhaus The Spamhaus Project is an international organisation based in the Principality of Andorra, founded in 1998 by Steve Linford to track email spammers and spam-related activity. The name ''spamhaus'', a pseudo-German expression, was coined by Linf ...
rated
.men GRS Domains is a domain registry service provider based in Gibraltar. History GRS Domains succeeded Famous Four Media as the operator of the Domain Venture Partners (DVP) gTLD portfolio in 2018 as it went into administration due to creditors f ...
as the worst
top-level domain A top-level domain (TLD) is one of the domains at the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet after the root domain. The top-level domain names are installed in the root zone of the name space. For all domains in ...
in terms of
spam Spam may refer to: * Spam (food), a canned pork meat product * Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages ** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages ** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...
and
scamming A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have de ...
. .men comes top with 60.6% of its 73,000 domains identified as "bad", resulting in a badness index of 6.48. The company that runs .men,
Famous Four Media GRS Domains is a domain registry service provider based in Gibraltar. History GRS Domains succeeded Famous Four Media as the operator of the Domain Venture Partners (DVP) gTLD portfolio in 2018 as it went into administration due to creditors f ...
also runs the third worst registry -
.loan GRS Domains is a domain registry service provider based in Gibraltar. History GRS Domains succeeded Famous Four Media as the operator of the Domain Venture Partners (DVP) gTLD portfolio in 2018 as it went into administration due to creditors f ...
– with 59 per cent bad domains and a 6.22 index.


Expansion of gTLDs

The new generic top level domain (gTLD) application system opened on January 12, 2012. The application window was initially to close on April 12, 2012. However ICANN's Chief Operating Officer, Akram Atallah, stated there was a glitch in the TLD application system leaving applicants' information visible to others. The system was shut down to protect applicants' information, and measures were taken to resolve the situation. ICANN re-opened the TLD Application System on May 21, allowing applicants to submit and review their applications until May 30, 2012. On "Reveal Day" June 13, 2012, it was announced that ICANN received about 1,930 applications for new gTLDs, 751 of which were contested. It was expected for the new gTLDs to go live in June 2013. However, as of March 2013 only non Latin domains have gone through Initial Evaluation. The updated timeline suggested the new TLDs will go live in November 2013. On November 26, first seven new generic top-level domains, .bike, .clothing, .guru, .holdings, .plumbing, .singles, and .ventures, have entered the
Sunrise period The sunrise period of domain name registration is a special period during which trademark holders may preregister names that are the same or similar to their trademarks in order to avoid cybersquatting. This occurs prior to the general launch of th ...
. A lottery was held in December 2012 to determine the order in which ICANN would evaluate the 1,930 applications. After the Application Window there was a public comment period from June 13, 2012, to September 26, 2012, in which the public could express their views on the individual new gTLD applications submitted. Concerns were raised over Closed Generic applications in which the applicant would be the sole registrant for the TLD. In particular objections were raised by publishers over Amazon's .book application. Of the technology giants,
Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
has filed for 101 new gTLDs,
Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology c ...
comes 2nd with 76, and
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
has filed for 11. The more specialized domain name companies include
Donuts A doughnut or donut () is a type of food made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and fra ...
submitting the most (307) applications and Uniregistry pursuing 54 gTLDs.


New gTLD launches

On July 15, 2013, the first four new gTLD agreements were signed in Durban, South Africa. They all consisted of Top Level Domains in non-Latin characters: * International Domain Registry Pty. Ltd.'s شبكة , Arabic for "web" or "network" * Core Association's онлайн, Russian for "online" * Core Association's сайт, Russian for "site" * Spring Fields, LLC's 游戏, Chinese for "game" On July 10, 2014 the 330th gTLD was delegated. On November 9, 2014, the 400th gTLD was delegated in the root. As of 3 May 2015, the number of new gTLDs available is 605. The most popular gTLD has been .guru, launched in February 2014 and reaching 50,000 domains in April 2014, briefly surpassed by .club between June 2 and June 9, 2014, with around 55,000 domains; .club was then surpassed by .xyz, which had more than 300,000 domains after one and a half months of existence. The growth of .xyz has been concentrated on one registrar due to a promotion they ran. Recently, SBI bank has started using gTLD as "Bank.SBI" on February 20, 2017.


Technical issues

Some browsers and software applications do not properly recognize new gTLDs as top-level domains. For example, some browsers do not recognize many new gTLDs and instead treat them as a search query. Prefixing the domain with "http://", or including a trailing slash, will usually force the browser to perform a DNS lookup rather than a search.


Criticism

Following the vote to expand gTLDs, many trade associations and large companies, led by the
Association of National Advertisers The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) represents the marketing community in the United States. Its headquarters is in New York City and it has another office in Washington, D.C. ANA's membership includes over 600 companies with 25,000 br ...
, formed the
Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) represents the marketing community in the United States. Its headquarters is in New York City and it has another office in Washington, D.C. ANA's membership includes over 600 companies with 25,000 br ...
. The coalition opposes the expansion of gTLDs, citing "its deeply flawed justification, excessive cost and harm to brand owners." In a statement to the US Congress on December 9, 2011,
National Restaurant Association The National Restaurant Association is a restaurant industry business association in the United States, representing more than 380,000 restaurant locations. It also operates the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation. The associ ...
vice president Scott DeFife stated, "Even beyond the financial toll the gTLD program will exact on millions of U.S. businesses, the Association believes that ICANN’s program will confuse consumers by spreading Internet searches across hundreds or even thousands of new top-level domains." Another opponent is
Esther Dyson Esther Dyson (born 14 July 1951) is a Swiss-born American investor, journalist, author, commentator and philanthropist. She is the executive founder of Wellville, a nonprofit project focused on improving equitable wellbeing. Dyson is also an ang ...
, the founding chairwoman of ICANN, who wrote that the expansion "will create jobs
or lawyers, marketers and others Or or OR may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * "O.R.", a 1974 episode of M*A*S*H * Or (My Treasure), a 2004 movie from Israel (''Or'' means "light" in Hebrew) Music * ''Or'' (album), a 2002 album by Golden Boy with Miss ...
but little extra value."


See also

*
List of Internet top-level domains This list of Internet top-level domains (TLD) contains top-level domains, which are those domains in the DNS root zone of the Domain Name System of the Internet. A list of the top-level domains by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) ...
*
Pseudo-top-level domain A pseudo-top-level domain is a label or name for a computer network that is not participating in the world-wide official Domain Name System and may not even participate in the Internet, but may use a similar domain name hierarchy. Historically the b ...
* Reserved domains


References


External links


ICANN New Gtlds

ICANN New Gtlds Sunrise and claims periods database
{{GTLD Top-level domains Computer-related introductions in 1984