.top
| File:.top domain.jpg | |
| Introduced | November 18, 2014 (general public) |
|---|---|
| TLD type | Generic top-level domain (gTLD) |
| Status | Active |
| Registry | .top registry (Bangning Group) |
| Registry website | www.nic.top |
.top is a gTLD (generic top level domain). It was accredited by ICANN and was officially delegated in ICANN's New gTLD Program on August 4, 2014. The domain is managed and operated by the .top registry,[1] which is affiliated with Jiangsu Bangning Group in Nanjing, China and can be registered by anyone as of November 18, 2014.
.top domain is now the No. 1 most registered new gTLD, excluding those offered free of charge, and obtained around 1.8 million registrations from 230 countries.[2]
Development
- June 20, 2011, ICANN officially announced that the application for new gTLDs was to open in 2012.
- April 11, 2012, the application was submitted online. On June 9, 2012, it appeared on the ICANN public list.
- March 20, 2013, it passed initial evaluation.
- March 20, 2014, the registry signed a contract with ICANN.
- August 5, 2014, the domain entered the root zone of ICANN new gTLD.
- October 15, 2014, it entered its sunrise period.
- November 18, 2014, .top domains could be registered openly. Registration volume exceeded 10,000 on the first day.
- April 24, 2015, .top was put on record with Chinese national government department MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology).[3][4]
- September 2015, .top domains obtained 250,000 new registrations within one week, making its registration volume surge to 530,000.
- December 2015, .top registration reached around 1,000,000.
- January 2016, .top will release its IDN domains, supporting Arabic, Chinese (traditional + simplified), French, German, Japanese, Russian and Spanish - the exact date of IDN release will soon be announced.[5]
- March 2016, .top registration reached around 1,800,000.