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    • .gs

    Country-code top-level domainsDNSSEC

    Overview

    .gs is the country-code top-level domain (ccTLD) for South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, a British Overseas Territory. The domain is intended for entities connected with the territory but is also used more broadly, notably for URL shortening and creative domain hacks.

    History

    • Introduced: 31 July 1997.
    • Registry: Atlantis North Ltd (operates the nic.gs service).
    • Sponsor: Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI).
    • Governance: .gs is a member of the Council of Country Code Administrators (CoCCA) and uses common registry and dispute resolution services provided through that group.

    Usage and Audience

    • Intended audience: entities connected with South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands.
    • Actual use: many registrations are unconnected to the territory.
    • Common use cases:
      • URL shortening services and short links for organizations.
      • Creative domain hacks (e.g., forming words or abbreviations ending in ".gs").
      • Businesses and individuals with a geographical or symbolic link to the territory.
    • Examples of thematic uses mentioned include technology/startup uses (e.g., for "games" or "game servers").

    Registration Rules

    • Restrictions: None specified — anyone can register .gs domains.
    • Structure: Registrations are made directly at the second level (example: example.gs).
    • Character and length rules (per registrar guidance):
      • Length: 1–63 characters.
      • Allowed characters: letters (a–z), numbers (0–9), and hyphens (hyphens not permitted as the first or last character).
    • Dispute policy: Uses CoCCA complaint/dispute resolution services (CoCCA Complaint Resolution Service).

    SEO and Brand Impact

    • There is no special registry-imposed positioning or restrictions tied to search engines noted in the sources.
    • Brand uses tend to be pragmatic: many organizations adopt .gs for short, memorable links and domain hacks rather than to signal geographic presence.
    • As a generic-like ccTLD in practice, .gs can be useful for branding (short URLs, promotional links) but is not described as having inherent SEO advantages or disadvantages in the provided material.

    Notable Cases or Examples

    The .gs extension is used by a variety of organizations for short URLs and branded links. Examples cited include:

    • brook.gs — Brookings Institution
    • redwn.gs — Detroit Red Wings
    • lakin.gs — LA Kings
    • goza.gs — Gonzaga Bulldogs
    • gado.gs — Georgia Bulldogs
    • hvd.gs — The Harvard Gazette
    • brd.gs — Bord Gáis Energy
    • eurowin.gs — Eurowings
    • coralsprin.gs — Coral Springs, Florida (municipal use)
    • win.gs — Red Bull GmbH

    These examples illustrate common uses for short, memorable links and domain hacks across sports teams, media, airlines, companies, and local government.

    Operator

    Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI)

    Whois

    % IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit http://www.iana.org
% This query returned 1 object

domain:       GS

organisation: Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI)
address:      Government House
address:      Stanley
address:      Falkland Islands F1QQ 1ZZ
address:      South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

contact:      administrative
name:         Customer Support and Development Officer
organisation: Atlantis North Ltd
address:      556 Strathmartine Road
address:      Dundee DD3 9ER
address:      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
phone:        +44 121 318 6707
fax-no:       +44 121 318 6707
e-mail:       helpdesk@nic.gs

contact:      technical
name:         Technical Director
organisation: Atlantis North Ltd
address:      556 Strathmartine Road
address:      Dundee DD3 9ER
address:      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
phone:        +44 121 318 6707
fax-no:       +44 121 318 6707
e-mail:       paul.shafi@sgisland.org

nserver:      NS.ANYCAST.NIC.GS 2001:500:14:6021:ad:0:0:1 204.61.216.21
nserver:      NS1.ANYCASTDNS.CZ 185.38.108.108 2a00:fea0:dead:0:0:0:0:beef
nserver:      NS2.ANYCASTDNS.CZ 185.28.194.194
ds-rdata:     23990 8 2 2cbc82da27fdb16662bf359f59df1b63fa0ab720bfc2120f17ba369a3249fc5e

whois:        whois.nic.gs

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: http://secure.nic.gs

created:      1997-07-31
changed:      2024-03-20
source:       IANA

    Registrars