The Top-Level Domain (TLD) .PRESS came into existence as part of ICANN’s new gTLDs program, with the intent to provide a dedicated online space for journalists, news corporations, and individuals involved in the publication of news and information. It is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) introduced in 2014, and is managed by Radix, one of the world’s leading domain registry companies (IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority).
According to the Radix website, the .PRESS domain gives journalists, publishers, news corporations, etc., a specific space online to share news, views, and journalism-related enlightenments. Examples of uses could be company press releases (e.g., apple.press), personal online journalism portfolios (e.g., johnsmith.press), news aggregation portals (e.g., breakingnews.press), or industry-specific information like marketing.press. It provides a versatile and creative set of opportunities for those within the journalism industry, as well as companies and individuals who regularly create press content.
The .PRESS TLD can enhance the visibility of websites, allowing for more direct and intuitive navigation for users. For example, influential.press is arguably more memorable and understandable compared to influentialpress.com or other iterations. Plus, it can provide SEO benefits, as some research suggests search engines could potentially favor domain names providing clear and topic-specific markers like .PRESS (Search Engine Journal).
Furthermore, the .PRESS domain extension is fortified with comprehensive anti-abuse policies implemented by Radix. This ensures that this particular TLD isn’t misused for phishing, spamming, or any other illegal activity detrimental to the integrity of the journalism profession (The Spamhaus Project).
In terms of adoption, the domain has been adopted by both individuals and organizations. For example, Freedom of the Press, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting journalism in the public interest, uses freedom.press as their website.
Considering all of these facets of the .PRESS TLD, it can be concluded that this domain provides an excellent opportunity for journalists, news corporations, publishers, and anyone related to news dissemination to create a unique digital presence. It’s both a tool for improving online visibility and a digital asset helping to build more secure and crowd-free cyber space for the journalism community.
Sources:
1. ICANN.org
2. Radix.website
3. Iana.org
4. SearchEngineJournal.com
5. Spamhaus.org
6. Freedom.press
