DNS Belgium : Not Every “G” Means the Same Thing!

DNS Belgium released recently an article, explaining that even though abbreviations are hany, they can sometimes cause confusion. For example,not everybody knows what the “g” from “gTLDs” mean.

You can read the article after the jump:

“Abbreviations are handy, but they can sometimes cause confusion. For example, with the new domain name extensions currently being released, we talk about the new “gTLDs”. In this case, the “g” does not make it mean “geographic top-level domain”, as many people might think, but “generic top-level domain”.

We have been using gTLDs for a long time now. The best known of these are the domain name extensions used most frequently on the Internet today, such as .com, .info, .net or .org. The extensions that refer to countries officially recognised by the UN are called ccTLDs. ccTLD stands for “country code top-level domain”, such as .be. All ccTLDs are made up of two letters and, in fact, ccTLDs are also the only extensions that are allowed to consist of two letters. That’s why having .vl as an extension for Flanders (Flanders) was not possible.

However, some of the new gTLDs – 66 of them, to be precise – do come under the “geographical” category. Sometimes they are cities (such as .barcelona or .brussels) and sometimes they are parts of countries (such as .wales or .vlaanderen). But they can also be regions that want to position themselves more clearly as being distinctive (such as .acquitaine or .ruhr, for example). There’s also .africa, an extension that covers a whole continent, with around a billion potential users. Some cities and regions have made a conscious choice to use their full name as an extension (such as .amsterdam or .vlaanderen), while others have gone for an abbreviation (such as .nyc or .frl).

Berlin, which has 3.5 million potential users, was one of the first cities with its own domain name extension. There are now already more than 135,000 .berlin domain names registered. In addition, .ruhr (with around five million potential users) is currently in what is known as the General Availability phase. In this case, General Availability means that anyone can apply for domain names with the .ruhr extension. At the moment, the registration meter for .ruhr has ticked past 4,600 registered domain names.

You’ll find many other new geographical gTLDs in Germany: .bayern (with 12.4 million potential users), .hamburg (1.7 million), .koeln and its international variant .cologne (with approximately one million potential users), .nrw (North-Rhine Westphalia, a region representing almost eighteen million potential users) and .saarland (another million or so).

Like Cologne, there are plenty more “geo’s” that are opting for a dual extension, often for commercial reasons. Take Wales, for example, where you can choose between .wales and .cymru (which is Welsh for Wales). This choice will be defined mainly by the audience that applicants for domain names want to reach. With .cymru, you would be aiming at the local population, whereas .wales would be a better choice if you are a Welsh organisation or business seeking a profile with an international audience. The city of Moscow has also applied to have 2 extensions, one in the international language of English and one in Russian : .moscow and .москва. “

So, when you look over the border at other countries, you might find yourself inspired to apply for a domain name with a .vlaanderen or .brussels extension.