The top-level domain (TLD) .BR is the Internet country code TLD (ccTLD) for Brazil. It was officially introduced on April 18, 1989, as the primary domain for Brazilian institutions, companies, and individuals. The administration and maintenance of .BR domains were initially managed by the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee (CGI.br). Now, it is handled by Registro.br, which is the operational branch of the CGI.br.
As of January 2020, Registro.br has registered more than 4 million .BR domains. This growth in .BR registration signifies the continuous development of the e-commerce and the digital industry sectors in Brazil.
There are over 100 types of .BR TLDs, each indicating different niches or sectors. Some examples of them are: .COM.BR for commercial services, .NET.BR for network services, .MIL.BR for military institutions, .EDU.BR for educational institutions, and .GOV.BR for government agencies. Besides these, there are regional TLDs like .RIO.BR for businesses and individuals in Rio de Janeiro.
The .BR domain registration is handled exclusively by Registro.br and any individual, company, or organization can apply for one. However, some specific sub-domains (like EDU.BR and GOV.BR) have certain restrictions and are exclusively reserved for institutions that qualify the requirements set by Registro.br.
Despite the existence of many other generic TLDs, many Brazilian companies and institutions still prefer the .BR TLD. This is primarily due to the local credibility and trust that .BR brings, along with better search engine optimization (SEO) for local searches. According to Google, using a ccTLD like .BR indicates to the search engine that the website is specifically targeted for the country – Brazil, in this case. This can ultimately have a positive impact on the local search ranking of the website.
In conclusion, the .BR TLD has played a crucial role in digitally representing Brazil’s online presence, contributing notably to the growth of internet usage and online businesses in the country.
Sources Used:
1. Registro.br: Domain registration data and .BR subdomain information.
2. Google Webmaster Central Blog: Working with multi-regional websites.
3. WhoIS: .BR domain information.
4. “The Brazilian Internet Observatory” by Hartmut Richard Glaser and others, published in the McNair Law Journal, provided historical information about the TLD .BR.
