.info

Overview

.info is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) whose name is derived from "information." It was created for informational websites but is unrestricted in registration and is used for general purposes. Registrations are permitted at the second level.

History

• Approved and assigned in 2001 as one of seven new gTLDs added after ICANN's late-2000 expansion program.
• ICANN approved Afilias to operate .info on May 11, 2001; the domain was publicly opened for registration on October 1, 2001. (ICANN/registry dates in sources also cite June 2001 launch activity.)
• Afilias operated .info from its creation. In November 2020 Afilias was acquired by Donuts; in 2022 Afilias and Donuts were merged under the Identity Digital brand. The registry agreement with ICANN governs the TLD.
• Technical and policy milestones:
  • First gTLD to support IETF standards-based Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) in 2003.
  • Launched a Sunrise period and landrush for initial allocation (first major use of these processes for a new gTLD).
  • Implemented an anti-abuse policy in 2008 and deployed DNSSEC across the zone by 2010.
  • Introduced features such as a Site Rater (2009) and ran annual ".info Awards".

Usage and Audience

• Intended use: informational websites; actual use: broad/general-purpose registrations.
• Early and widespread adoption made .info the most successful of the seven gTLDs launched at the same time.
• Registration statistics cited in sources:
  • ~1 million registrations by November 2002.
  • Over 5.2 million names in the registry by April 2008.
  • About 6.8 million registrations reported in December 2010.
  • Approximately 7.4 million at the end of 2012, followed by an 11% decline into 2013 attributed in part to anti-abuse actions.
• Geographic distribution (2010 data): North America ~58%, Europe ~27%, Asia Pacific ~12%.

Registration Rules

• Unrestricted: anyone may register a second-level .info domain for any lawful purpose.
• No general restrictions noted in the sources; the domain was explicitly created for unrestricted use.
• Launch procedures and rights protection:
  • Sunrise Period (for trademark and servicemark holders) ran from July 25, 2001 to August 27, 2001 in the initial launch.
  • Landrush phases followed; some improperly registered Sunrise names were canceled and redistributed.
  • Country names were reserved from public registration at ICANN's request prior to launch.
• Dispute policy: UDRP is used for trademark disputes and similar challenges.
• Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) support:
  • First IDN support deployed in 2003 (German script/umlauts), later expanded to additional scripts and languages (noted expansions in 2006 including Polish, Swedish, Danish, Hungarian, Icelandic, Latvian, Lithuanian and Korean).

SEO and Brand Impact

• Branding: ".info" is neutral and stands for "information" in roughly 37 languages, making it a broadly understood and descriptive suffix.
• Perception and trust:
  • The domain's low-cost, open registration contributed to rapid adoption but also attracted spam and abusive registrations early on; this led to some negative perceptions.
  • In 2011 the Australian parliament blocked access to .info domains citing higher rates of malware (as reported in the sources).
  • Registry responses included adoption of an anti-abuse policy (2008) and takedown/enforcement actions that the operator credited for later declines in apparently abusive registrations.
• Marketing: Afilias actively promoted .info with registrar incentives, outreach, and awards to improve quality and adoption.

Notable Cases or Examples

• mta.info: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority used mta.info as an easy-to-remember site for transit information after September 11, 2001.
• cat.info: Example cited of trademark precedence concerns—Caterpillar (the company) registered cat.info during Sunrise, preempting other generic uses.
• los-angeles-real-estate-search.info: Identified as the one-millionth .info registration in November 2002.
• Auctions and promotions: Sedo and Afilias conducted auctions of .info names (noted activity in 2013); Afilias ran the annual .info Awards with cash prizes for notable sites.

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

domain:       INFO

organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      c/o Identity Digital Inc.
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Vice President, Engineering
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      c/o Identity Digital Inc.
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldadmin@identity.digital

contact:      technical
name:         Senior Director, DNS Infrastructure Group
organisation: Identity Digital Limited
address:      c/o Identity Digital Inc.
address:      10500 NE 8th Street, Suite 750
address:      Bellevue WA 98004
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1.425.298.2200
fax-no:       +1.425.671.0020
e-mail:       tldtech@identity.digital

nserver:      A0.INFO.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.254.31.1 2001:500:19:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      A2.INFO.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.249.113.1 2001:500:41:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B0.INFO.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.254.48.1 2001:500:1a:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B2.INFO.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.249.121.1 2001:500:49:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      C0.INFO.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.254.49.1 2001:500:1b:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      D0.INFO.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.254.50.1 2001:500:1c:0:0:0:0:1
ds-rdata:     5104 8 2 1af7548a8d3e2950c20303757df9390c26cfa39e26c8b6a8f6c8b1e72dd8f744

whois:        

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.identity.digital/

created:      2001-06-26
changed:      2025-09-04
source:       IANA