.london

Overview

• .london is a city-level GeoTLD (generic top-level domain) created for London, England.
• It is intended to identify and associate websites and email with the city of London for residents, institutions, businesses and organisations that wish to promote a London connection.

History

• The .london application was put forward with involvement from the Mayor's office and London & Partners (the city's official promotional agency).
• ICANN approved the .london string in June 2013 (approval date recorded as 7 June 2013).
• A registry agreement was signed in November 2013 (14 November 2013).
• The TLD was delegated to the DNS root zone in early 2014 (dates recorded in sources include 13 February 2014 and 22 March 2014).
• The domain went on sale to the public on 29 April 2014.
• The registry/operational arrangement:
  • Dot London Domains Limited is identified as the registry/manager for .london.
  • Registry services have been provided by Minds + Machines (Minds + Machines Group Limited).

Usage and Audience

• Target audience:
  • London-based businesses, institutions and residents.
  • Organisations worldwide that want to associate their brand, services or events with London.
• Expected common uses and industries:
  • Tourism and hospitality, cultural organisations, higher education, technology and creative industries, local government and city promotion.
• Positioning: the TLD was promoted as an exclusive, city-branded namespace to help entities signal a London affiliation.

Registration Rules

• General operating model: registrations are generally on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Eligibility and affiliation:
  • Applicants are expected to have an association or affiliation with London, but that association need not be based on the physical location of the applicant.
• Pricing and availability:
  • The registry indicated that .london domains would be competitively priced and intended to be affordable, though London & Partners noted a premium for exclusivity.
• Governance/operations:
  • Dot London Domains Limited (a subsidiary of London & Partners) acts as the registry entity; Minds + Machines provides registry services.
  • Some operational details in source materials (for example structure and dispute policy) were listed as TBA.

SEO and Brand Impact

• Brand positioning:
  • As a city-specific GeoTLD, .london is designed to signal a clear geographic and cultural association with London, supporting city branding and marketing.
  • The registry emphasized making .london available to organisations and individuals who want to promote their association with London.
• Trust and perception:
  • .london was marketed as an exclusive, London-focused namespace intended to help organisations identify with the city; sources note premium positioning due to that exclusivity.
• Note: source material discusses branding and demand expectations; it does not provide technical or search-engine ranking guarantees.

Notable Cases or Examples

• Launch and public availability:
  • The public sale of .london domains began on 29 April 2014.
• Organisations involved in the initiative:
  • London & Partners (the city promotional agency) and the Mayor's office led the application effort, with Dot London Domains Limited as the registry and Minds + Machines providing registry services.

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

domain:       LONDON

organisation: Dot London Domains Limited
address:      London & Partners, 169 Union Street
address:      London SE1 0LL
address:      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         Jo Darwin
organisation: London & Partners
address:      169 Union Street
address:      London SE1 0LL
address:      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
phone:        +44 (0)7985079805
e-mail:       contact@domains.london

contact:      technical
name:         CTO
organisation: CentralNic
address:      Saddlers House, 4th Floor
address:      44 Gutter Lane
address:      London EC2V 6BR
address:      United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)
phone:        +44.2033880600
fax-no:       +44.2033880601
e-mail:       tld.ops@centralnic.com

nserver:      A.NIC.LONDON 194.169.218.141 2001:67c:13cc:0:0:0:1:141
nserver:      B.NIC.LONDON 185.24.64.141 2a04:2b00:13cc:0:0:0:1:141
nserver:      C.NIC.LONDON 212.18.248.141 2a04:2b00:13ee:0:0:0:0:141
nserver:      D.NIC.LONDON 212.18.249.141 2a04:2b00:13ff:0:0:0:0:141
ds-rdata:     9956 8 2 dded8bee7362bbbf9f4186b413c901ff293f5897412fd92e5ef507765d0a6443
ds-rdata:     17464 8 2 bc991b8aaf8a17d5328d74cf6439bf4ec08b21a2968308af2316f01205cdab09

whois:        whois.nic.london

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information:
remarks:      http://dotlondondomains.london/

created:      2014-02-13
changed:      2023-11-06
source:       IANA