[hmhrex]

Side note: I didn't know Google had their own TLD. Is this new? Seems weird that an organization has that ability to do that.

[sarabande]

You could do it, it just took $185,000 per application (https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/applicants/agb) and a super involved process.

Edit: s/can/could (thanks to child commenter).

[dragonwriter]

> You can do it, it just takes $185,000 per application [...] and a super involved process.

And when you say “super involved”, keep in mind that part of the required process is to travel back in time to before April 2012, because “The application window for the first application round closed in April 2012. Comprehensive reviews of the program are currently underway to assess its performance in meeting intended objectives. These reviews will inform ongoing discussions with the ICANN community to determine when a second round will take place.” [0]

[0] https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/program

[ehsankia]

They've added it for over 3 years now, you can read more about it here: https://icannwiki.org/.google

blog.google is used pretty often.

[saagarjha]

There's also https://domains.google.

[hmhrex]

Maybe I've just never really noticed before. Maybe a case of glancing and just imagining the `.com` after.

[sp332]

It was pretty gradual. For a while the only public-facing domain was elgoog.google which I think started as an April Fool's joke.

[warent]

Not that it matters much but IIRC joke was http://com.google

[sp332]

Ah, you're right. Here it is: https://web.archive.org/web/20150401041958/https://com.googl...

[bennettfeely]

Waiting for google.google to become a thing

[scrollaway]

https://com.google :)

[Kwpolska]

https://com.google/ is. It used to be a flipped version of google.com: https://web.archive.org/web/20150401041958/https://com.googl...

[dextermb]

Anyone can apply for their own TLD but it's not cheap. £130K+ a year iirc after a long application process

[dragonwriter]

> Anyone can apply for their own TLD but it's not cheap. £130K+ a year iirc after a long application process

Anyone could during the one-time “new gTLD” scramble, but applications closed for that years ago; no decision on any subsequent round has yet been made, because the review of that first round has not yet been completed.

So, other than establishing a new country and getting a new ccTLD, there's no way to get a new TLD right now.

[DC-3]

ICAAN now allows organisations to purchase Branded TLDs. Google, Sky, Barclays among others have done it.

[dragonwriter]

> ICAAN now allows organisations to purchase Branded TLDs

No, ICANN years ago allowed that for a limited time, and is currently reviewing the results of that to decide if, when, and how to do so again.

[konschubert]

Cern has one too: https://home.cern

[forapurpose]

Why did CERN spend $185,000 plus labor on a TLD?

[beojan]

CERN is one of the rare cases this makes sense, since it's otherwise an international organisation with a domain under a ccTLD of a specific country (Switzerland).

[forapurpose]

> makes sense

It might make sense by the logic of domain names, but it doesn't by the logic of return on the investment of scarce resources. cern.org or cern.ch or cern.anything would meet all functional needs just as well and for much less.

[planteen]

What about cern.int instead of cern.ch?