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Generic Domain Name Extensions
By admin | February 10, 2008
Generic TLDs were the first domain names in the world. As we discussed earlier in this series, first domain names were implemented in 1985.
10 years later, in 1995, .COM, .ORG and .NET were the first global domain names to be registered without restrictions. There were only a few registrars at that time and the price was much higher than today.
Implemented in 1985:
.com
Todays most popular TLD, became publicly available to register in 1995 - meaning anyone can register a DOT COM without restrictions. First intended for commercial websites, now stands for a global synonym of domain names. Register .com for any type of website: company, marketing project, or your personal website. Owning a short and memorable .com can also make you lots of money.
.org
ORG tld was originaly created for NGO-s, non-profit organizations and similar. From 1995 you can register it without restrictions. In practice .ORG is often a second option if .COM is already registered. If you ask people about .ORG, they expect the content to be somewhat less commercial than .COM. If you need a domain name for your organization, eductional, political or community project, art or culture website than .ORG is the best for you.
.net
is the last from the global unrestricted domain extensions that were made publicly available in 1995. Originally meant for network providers, now serves broad specter of websites connected to network, networking, technology and sites with totally different meanings. You can register .NET for commercial and non-commercial websites, internet services and anything you can think of.
.edu, .gov and .mil
These three TLDs are reserved for United States educational, government and military institutions. You cannot register these extensions.
New set of TLDs came in use in 2001:
.info
Dot Info is the most successful TLD from the second group of generic extensions. It is now widely recognized as extension for informational and educational websites. Some people argue dot INFO extension is not so valuable as dot COM, but I have several INFO domains and they are doing very well. There are no restrictions for registering and .info is a good substitute for overcrowded dot COM.
.biz
Dot Biz “Nothing Personal - Just Business!” is their slogan. Dot biz is a phonetic spelling of the first syllable of “business” and was intended to relieve some of the pressure on dot coms. I recommend to register a .biz if you have a company, however there are no restrictions.
.name
Dot name is the first domain name exclusively for individuals. You can now protect your name and register firstname.lastname.name or only lastname.name. One also gets a cool email address like this example: “grace@kelly.name”. Dot name is also the extension used for this domain: www.internet-domain.name.
.pro
Dot pro is intended for certain professions and require special credentials to be registered. This extensions costs more, because each applicant needs to be verified before he can get a .pro domain name. Register if you are a lawyer, physician or similar.
.aero, .coop, .museum
Dot aero is restricted for aviation related companies, institutions and individuals. Dot coop is restricted to the use of cooperatives. Dot Museum is restricted to museums. None of these three domain extensions are very known in the industry
Implemented in 2005:
.mobi
Dot Mobi is the one and only domain name dedicated to mobile users. Anyone can register a dot mobi as long as the content is 100% optimized for mobile users.
.jobs
Dot jobs is created for employment related websites. Each application is verified before approval and costs more.
.travel
Dot travel - is the Dot com of the travel industry. You need to get verified before you can register dot TRAVEL.
.cat
Dot CAT is restricted for the purposes of Catalan language and culture. It is not territory dependent, but one has to be a part of a Catalan cultural community.
Current Status
.asia
Dot Asia launch - March 2008. Dot Asia is created for Asian Region and is currently in Sunrise period.
Always check IANA for most current status of generic domain name extensions.
Next in this series: Country Code Extensions.
Topics: Learn from scratch |
February 10th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
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