Who assigns the top-level domains?
What was the name of the first top-level domain?
Why a ccTLD?
Why do we need new domain extensions at all?
The new domain extensions on the market, the ngTLDs
Local domain endings on the World Wide Web
When will ccTLDs and ngTLDs conquer the market?
When the abbreviation ccTLD is mentioned, the abbreviation country code top-level domain is meant. This corresponds to the description of country-specific domain extensions. In Switzerland, companies, associations and private individuals mainly use the ccTLD .ch for Confoederatio Helvetica (the Latin name for Switzerland). KreativMedia takes you through the jungle of ccTLDs and also introduces you to the ngTLDs, the new generic top-level domains, which have been in circulation for around ten years.
Who assigns the top-level domains?
All domain names are assigned by registries such as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). But who is behind this organization? The abbreviation ICANN is the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers and was founded in 1998. It is a non-profit organization that is responsible for the management of the Domain Name Systems (DNS). It tries to bring together as many interest groups as possible, including governments, businesses and individual users. There are many ways to give ICANN feedback. You can leave comments for improvement on forums, take part in public meetings or even become a member.
What was the name of the first top-level domain?
While the internet was mainly used by universities and computer scientists in 1985, ICANN created the first top-level domains. On January 1, 1985, the TLDs .com, .org, .edu, .gov, .mil and .net were introduced. These were further divided into unrestricted TLDs, which are available to everyone (such as .com/.net) and sponsored TLDs (such as .mil/.gov), which are reserved for organizations such as the military or government agencies.
Why a ccTLD?
The domain extension .com, which stands for .commercial, is one of the generic top-level domains (gTLD). Many international companies use this TLD for their main domain. They often set up domains with the corresponding ccTLD for their representatives in individual countries, such as .ch in Switzerland.
But why do companies need a country code top-level domain at all?
Search engines, especially Google, are big fans of ccTLDs. Google works with crawlers, automated programs that systematically search and index the web. These crawlers file the websites accordingly and thus display the results with the .ch domain extensions first to a user from Switzerland.
According to the registry ICANN, the first ccTLD ever registered was .us for the United States in 1985, followed by .uk, which stands for the United Kingdom. The ccTLD .gb was actually intended for the United Kingdom. Although this ending was registered, it was never used as the abbreviation UK had already established itself in the language. The .ch ending was introduced back in 1987, which means that it is one of the oldest on the market. The first three domains registered in Switzerland in 1987 were the sites:
cern.ch
The domain of the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Particle Physics
ethz.ch
The domain of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich
switch.ch
The domain for the further distribution of all CH domains
.me domain extension
After .me came into circulation in 2008, the domain extension from Montenegro was a real blockbuster. The extension is particularly popular with bloggers, social media users and creative minds. Combinations such as love.me and meet.me have been auctioned off for six-figure sums.
Ferrero secures the domain extension
The domain extension .kinder, in which aid organizations, for example, are interested, was sold to the company Ferrero (distributor of children's chocolate). Trademark rights are asserted for the word Kinder, which secure the company worldwide use.
Who gets .amazon?
South American governments are in dispute with online retailer Amazon over the TLD of the same name. Internet giant Amazon wanted to buy the domain extension .amazon. This was rejected by Latin and South America, as the Amazon region is of global importance and the domain extension should remain open. However, ICANN decided in favor of Amazon and six domains went live under the domain extension for the first time in 2021.
Why do we need new domain extensions at all?
Internet usage statistics show that the number of users worldwide has risen from 2.9 billion within ten years to 5.4 billion in 2023. Many domain endings with .com or .ch are already taken. With the gTLDs and ngTLDs, alternatives are now emerging that are perhaps not yet so well known, but make sense for use. Small and medium-sized companies as well as private individuals can now place their website on the Internet with an alternative domain extension.
The new domain extensions on the market, the ngTLDs
The new generic top-level domains were introduced in 2013. The most well-known include .app, .blog, .guru, .store and .technology. Since then, domain endings can be longer than three characters and also contain umlauts. This has opened up a new market in the domain area.
The .xyz domain extension released in 2014, which was managed by the company xyz.com, was particularly popular. An initiative was launched to promote the distribution of this domain extension: It was initially offered free of charge, later at a very low price. During the introductory phase, anyone could set up their domain name as an additional .xyz domain free of charge.
Local domain endings on the World Wide Web
A lot has happened on the global domain extension market since the introduction of ngTLDs. .berlin was the first city domain extension worldwide. The ngTLDs with a local reference such as .london or .zuerich are particularly used by public institutions: theater.london or regierung.zuerich are just two of numerous examples. The ngTLDs are used for trade fairs, transportation companies, libraries and museums. In Switzerland, the city domain extension .zuerich is available for registration for companies and organizations operating in the canton.
There are various conditions for registration:
Legal entity
The .zuerich domains cannot be acquired by natural persons. Companies, public corporations or associations in the canton of Zurich can register the domain.
Domain names that can be registered
Certain domain names cannot be registered directly, but are allocated by tender. You can find all reserved names in the list of the Canton of Zurich.
When will ccTLDs and ngTLDs conquer the market?
There is a certain reluctance when it comes to using new types of domain extensions. Many users are already familiar with generic top level domains such as .ch, .de, .fr or .com - these are the usual extensions for websites. If you create one with a new extension, you may be a pioneer in your field. With a memorable and creative domain name, you'll stand out from the crowd.
You can consider using such an innovative domain extension. Address your target group directly with your domain extension: modern ngTLDs and ccTLDs are suitable if your desired name is already taken with .ch. You can use .restaurant, .blog or .store (depending on the business and topic) instead. There are many different new endings with which you can create new types of domains. You can let your imagination run wild and create something unique with the wide range of possibilities.
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