The Top-Level Domain (TLD) .BRADESCO is a Brand TLD (also known as gTLD, which stands for a generic Top-Level Domain) that was introduced into the Domain Name System (DNS) in the Internet’s root zone on July 23, 2015. The sponsor and the entity maintaining its registry is Banco Bradesco S.A., one of the largest financial institutions in Brazil.
As a Brand TLD, .BRADESCO belongs to a category of TLDs that represent the trademark or brand name of corporations and products. It is a part of an initiative by ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), which allowed businesses to apply for their unique TLDs starting from 2012. The purpose of these type of domain endings is to enhance customer trust, consolidate brand’s virtual presence, and protect a brand’s integrity online. Given their nature, they are also closed to public registration.
Specifically speaking, the .BRADESCO TLD allows Banco Bradesco to create domain names that end with its own brand name. This is a powerful online branding and marketing tool that enables the bank to make its web presence more recognized and trusted by clients, as it clearly communicates the brand’s ownership of the registered domain names, improving click-through rates and SEO positioning.
For instance, before introducing this TLD, Banco Bradesco’s online banking site might have been at a domain like www.bradescobanking.com. But now it can streamline things with a .BRADESCO domain such as www.banking.bradesco.
However, it is important to note that domains under the .BRADESCO TLD are not publicly available for general registrations, being restricted to Banco Bradesco’s internal use only. This exclusivity further emphasizes the security and trustworthiness of the .BRADESCO TLD, as only websites and email addresses officially owned and created by Banco Bradesco can bear this domain ending.
This information was sourced from ICANN’s Official gTLD Website, which provides the specifics and timelines of each gTLD’s delegation and assignment. Other sources utilized include IBM’s business blogs discussing the value of Brand TLDs, and NameStat.org that provides usage statistics for gTLDs.
References:
1. ICANN (2015). Delegation Record for .BRADESCO. Retrieved from https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
2. IBM (2016). What Are Brand TLDs and Why Should I Care?. Retrieved from https://www.ibm.com/blogs/business-analytics/brand-tlds/
3. NameStat (2021). Top-Level Domain .BRADESCO. Retrieved from https://namestat.org/bradesco.
