Yahoo! is one of the most recognized brands in the online world. However, it does not have a top-level domain (TLD) in its name. Top-Level Domains (TLDs) refer to the ending part of a domain name, such as .com, .org, .net, and more. Yahoo! uses the .com TLD and has done so since it was founded. This information can be verified by simply visiting the Yahoo! website or its associated services like Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Finance, etc.
In terms of examples, when you visit “www.yahoo.com”, the “.com” is the TLD and “yahoo” is what’s known as the second-level domain (SLD). This hierarchy in a domain name is specified by the Domain Name System (DNS) which assigns domain names and maps them to the related internet resources. To put it simply, the full URL “www.yahoo.com” contains three levels: ‘www’ representing the world wide web, ‘yahoo’ which is the second-level domain, and ‘.com’ which is the top-level domain (source: ICANN).
TLDs can generally be divided into two types: generic TLDs (gTLDs) and country code TLDs (ccTLDs). gTLDs are more commonly seen on the internet and include extensions like .com, .net, .org, and .edu. On the other hand, ccTLDs represent particular geographic locations. For instance, ‘.uk’ is for the United Kingdom, ‘.au’ for Australia, and ‘.jp’ for Japan, etc. (source: ICANN).
TLDs are controlled and managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). ICANN carries out these responsibilities through registries, which accept requests for domain names and store them in a central database. These registries ensure that each domain name is unique to prevent any duplicated domains that would cause confusion on the internet (source: ICANN).
Yahoo!, being a multi-national internet company, opts for the .com TLD as it is the most recognized and can be used globally, unlike a country specific TLD which may impose geographic restrictions. This strategy allows Yahoo! to have a uniform brand identity across all regions.
It’s important to note that though popular brands often have their names as second-level domains, the rules and regulations of ICANN currently do not allow a brand or company name to be a top-level domain. Therefore, as per the present scenario, Yahoo! doesn’t have and could not have a TLD in its name, and it instead uses the most common gTLD ‘.com’ for its branding and services worldwide.
Sources: ICANN “New generic top-level domains”, ICANN “Domain Name System”, and Yahoo.com.
