.meme

Overview

• .meme is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) intended to signal association with memes, viral phenomena, and cultural ideas.
• The application cites the term 'meme' (coined by Richard Dawkins) and describes the gTLD as a dedicated domain space for ideas, images, videos and other viral content.

History

• Applicant and registry operator: Google (Charleston Road Registry Inc.).
• Application revealed as part of ICANN's New gTLD Program; Google was the successful applicant for the .meme string.
• Registry Agreement with ICANN signed on 30 January 2014.
• .meme was delegated to the DNS Root Zone on 30 August 2014.

Usage and Audience

• Intended audience includes businesses, organizations and individuals producing or curating viral, cultural or meme-related content.
• Use cases described by the applicant include sites that host or organize ideas, images, videos and other viral phenomena.
• The applicant envisioned registrants using .meme to signal the kind of content available within the domain namespace.

Registration Rules

• The applicant stated .meme would remain open and unencumbered by registrant restrictions.
• No restrictions on second-level domain name registrations were proposed; domain names would be available to the general public.
• Registry services were to be made available to all ICANN-accredited registrars.
• The registry committed to implementing a suite of intellectual property rights protection mechanisms in line with ICANN requirements.

SEO and Brand Impact

• The applicant positioned .meme as a namespace that can 'signal' content and provide new layers of organization and consumer choice on the Internet.
• The gTLD was presented as a branding opportunity for registrants wanting a clear association with meme or viral content.
• The registry emphasized commitments to rights protection mechanisms to support trust and brand integrity.

Notable Cases or Examples

• The application included illustrative second-level examples such as: discoverthis.meme, needtoknow.meme, and memename.meme.

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

domain:       MEME

organisation: Charleston Road Registry Inc.
address:      1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
address:      Mountain View CA 94043
address:      United States of America (the)

contact:      administrative
name:         TLD Admin
organisation: Google Inc.
address:      111 8th Avenue
address:      New York NY 10011
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1 404 978 8419
fax-no:       +1 650 492 5631
e-mail:       iana-contact@google.com

contact:      technical
name:         TLD Engineering
organisation: Google Inc.
address:      76 Ninth Avenue, 4th Floor
address:      New York NY 10011
address:      United States of America (the)
phone:        +1 404 978 8419
fax-no:       +1 650 492 5631
e-mail:       crr-tech@google.com

nserver:      NS-TLD1.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4802:32:0:0:0:69 216.239.32.105
nserver:      NS-TLD2.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4802:34:0:0:0:69 216.239.34.105
nserver:      NS-TLD3.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4802:36:0:0:0:69 216.239.36.105
nserver:      NS-TLD4.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4802:38:0:0:0:69 216.239.38.105
nserver:      NS-TLD5.CHARLESTONROADREGISTRY.COM 2001:4860:4805:0:0:0:0:69 216.239.60.105
ds-rdata:     12857 8 2 58b9e8925215859c971bd949c9dbd299900c9d017211fb30282a3be9d8e7abf8

whois:        

status:       ACTIVE
remarks:      Registration information: https://www.registry.google

created:      2014-06-12
changed:      2025-04-11
source:       IANA