The top-level domain (TLD) “.merckmsd” is an example of a brand TLD, introduced with the expansion of the domain name system by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in 2011. The primary purpose of this expansion was to provide businesses and organizations with more opportunities and flexibility in their online presence.
Merck & Co. Inc., also known as MSD outside the US, is a global healthcare corporation headquartered in the United States. The .merckmsd TLD was applied for and launched by this company, in order to promote their brand and protect their brand name in the online realm.
According to ICANN’s registry of TLDs, Merck has delegated the .merckmsd domain. This means Merck has contracted with a registry operator to maintain the technical operation of this TLD.
Looking at the WHOIS record for .merckmsd at domain-index.com, this TLD is owned by Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., with an assigned internationalized domain names (IDNs) language of “en”. The domain status is currently listed as “inactive” which indicates it is registered but may not be fully operational.
The creation of the .merckmsd TLD allows Merck to create domain names that end in .merckmsd such as www.product.merckmsd or www.investors.merckmsd. This gives Merck full control over the naming conventions of their websites, making it a powerful tool for digital marketing, brand promotion and protection against domain name-related fraud and phishing.
However, the utilization of brand TLDs like .merckmsd is largely dependent on a company’s digital strategy. As per the website nTLDStats, as of the time of checking, this domain has 0 domain registrations and has not been assigned to any DNS zone, suggesting that MerckMSD is not currently using its domain but maintains its ownership.
Nonetheless, it’s an example of a trend where companies are securing their brand names as TLDs as part of their digital branding strategies. Large conglomerates such as Google and Amazon have done the same, securing .google and .amazon respectively.
In conclusion, .merckmsd is a top-level domain owned by Merck & Co. Inc. (also known as MSD), a leading global healthcare company. Like many other corporations, Merck secured this TLD to promote and protect its brand in the online world.
Sources:
- ICANN’s Registry of TLDs: https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
- WHOIS Record for .merckmsd: https://domain-index.com/whois/merckmsd.com
- nTLDStats: https://ntldstats.com/tld
- ICANN Information on Expansion of gTLDs : https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/program
