The Top-Level Domain (TLD) .GROUP belongs to the category of Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs). As its name indicates, .GROUP is especially suited for organizations, societies, associations, clubs, and any other form of groups that wants a recognizable and unique web presence which clearly states their identity. The .GROUP TLD was delegated by ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, which governs the overall architecture of the Internet, including domain names.
As per the ICANN’s record, the registry operator for .GROUP is Donuts Inc., a major domain registration company operating a large number of new gTLDs. Donuts Inc. operates the .GROUP domain under a regime known as ‘open registration’, meaning it is available for registration to anyone without any restriction. The .GROUP TLD was introduced to the Root Zone of the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) on May 7th, 2015 as part of ICANN’s new gTLD Program (ICANN Delegated Strings).
According to data from domainnamestat.com, there are around 81,840 registered .group domain names as of February 2022. Some popular examples of websites utilizing .GROUP are: investor.group, a financial services platform, telegram.group, a platform by Telegram Messenger for group communication, and varsity.group, a real estate group that buys, renovates and rents out apartments.
The .GROUP TLD can add value in terms of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well. Google’s official stance suggests that all TLDs, including .GROUP, can potentially rank well as search keywords are distributed evenly across all TLDs. Moreover, businesses can utilize the .GROUP domain to separate their brand’s products or services, or highlight a particular aspect of their operations.
However, it’s also important to keep in mind the potential risks of choosing a less common TLD like .GROUP. As per a research paper from Georgia Tech, users are slower to trust and click on links with newer or less common TLDs. Therefore, organizations should carefully consider their target audience’s familiarity and comfort with non-traditional TLDs when choosing to register a .GROUP domain.
Sources: icannwiki.org, domainnamestat.com, researchgate.net
References:
“TLDs”. ICANNWiki. Retrieved 2022-02-28 from https://icannwiki.org/TLDs
“Domain Names”. DomainNameStat. Retrieved 2022-02-28 from https://domainnamestat.com/
Vissers, T., Joosen, W., and Nikiforakis, N. (2017). “The Wolf of Name Street: Hijacking Domains Through Their Nameservers”. Retrieved 2022-02-28 from https://www.cc.gatech.edu/~traynor/papers/vissers-ccs17.pdf
