The top level domain (TLD) “.haus” is a specialized domain extension introduced as a part of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)’s new gTLD program. It is managed by an organization named Rightside Registry, a subsidiary of Donuts Inc., a global leader in the domain name industry.
As per data provided by ICANN, “.haus” falls under the category of Generic top level domains(GTLD) and is denoted as a sponsored domain. The purpose of introducing .haus is primarily aimed at targeting German-speaking audiences, as Haus translates to ‘house’ in German. This TLD is intended for individuals, business owners, manufacturers, designers, and retailers in the home goods, construction, architectural, real estate industries, and other stakeholders in related sectors who wish to mark their online presence while appealing directly to this contingent of potential customers.
The new TLDs like .haus offer users more choices and flexibility in tailoring their domain names, helping them to optimize their online brand identity. For instance, a real estate company specifically catering to German-speaking clients can register a .haus domain to communicate its brand promise more fittingly. For instance, www.besteimmobilien.haus could immediately indicate a real estate business catering to the German market.
In a technical context, .haus, like all other TLDs, is a string of characters used to categorize a certain set of destinations on the web. It’s the last part of the domain name, the letters immediately following the “dot” symbol. Domain names are part of the DNS (Domain Name System) that translates human-friendly web addresses (like www.example.haus) into an Internet Protocol (IP) address (like 192.0.2.1) that computers use to identify each other on the network.
The date of delegation for .haus was on April 3, 2014, and it opened for public registration on November 12, 2014. However, before public registration, there was a “Sunrise Period” for trademark holders to secure their brand’s domain name.
In terms of regulations, the registration of .haus domain names is open to the general public, with no explicit restrictions. Though it’s primarily targeted at the German-speaking community, there’s no obligation or requirement to be a resident or entity in a German-speaking nation to register a .haus domain.
Sources:
1. ICANN’s list of TLDs with their delegation and launch dates (source: https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/delegated-strings)
2. Information on .haus registration and timeline (source: https://donuts.domains/about/page/timeline)
3. The Rightside Registry official website (source: http://rightside.co/)
4. Information on Domain Name Systems (source: https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/what-2012-02-25-en)
