PRUDENTIAL is a top-level domain (TLD), of which has a unique status within internet’s domain name system (DNS). However, PRUDENTIAL is not currently recognized as a general top-level domain (gTLD) or country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).
IANA, which is under the stewardship of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), is a non-profit private organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of domains and address spaces on the internet. Their list of TLDs, as described in their Root Zone Database, include several categories such as generic TLDs (like .com, .net, .org), country-specific ccTLDs (like .uk, .us, .nl), and add-ons TLDs under ICANN’s new gTLD Program.
Under ICANN’s New gTLD Program, organizations can apply to create new TLDs in any script or language. Since the program’s inception, over 1,300 new TLDs have been added to the DNS. Mostly, the new TLDs reflect the names of companies, brands, community names, and geographic names.
In this context, PRUDENTIAL could be speculated as a brand TLD (bTLD). These are specific to businesses and organizations who want their brand or trademark name as their TLD, such as .google, .apple, .bmw, and more. This allows businesses to have full control over their domain namespace. Since the applications for new gTLDs are periodically opened by ICANN, it is possible that .PRUDENTIAL could be a future bTLD if Prudential Financial Inc or other companies with “Prudential” in their name apply for it.
However, as of the time of writing this, there is no recorded use of .PRUDENTIAL as a TLD. This fact was confirmed by cross-checking with IANA’s Root Zone Database, ICANN’s TLD Application Status tracker, and other domain lookup services.
In conclusion, while PRUDENTIAL could theoretically be used as a TLD, it is currently not an officially recognized one. It would first have to go through the application and evaluation process put forth by ICANN for new gTLDs.
Sources:
1. “Root Zone Database”, IANA, https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db
2. “TLD Application Status”, ICANN, https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/program-status/application-results
3. “Domains”, ICANN, https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/domains-2013-05-10-en
4. “New gTLD Program”, ICANN, https://newgtlds.icann.org/en/about/program
5. “Brand TLDs”, Authentic Web, https://authenticweb.com/resources/brand-tlds/
6. “Domain Lookup Service”, WHOIS, https://whois.icann.org/en}
