.pro

Overview

• .pro is a generic top-level domain (gTLD) whose name is derived from "professional." It is intended for use by certified professionals and entities offering professional services.
• The TLD was introduced in 2004 and has been positioned as an address space for professionals across a range of fields.

History

• Conceptualized in October 2000 by Jason Drummond, who established RegistryPro to pursue the TLD.
• RegistryPro signed an agreement with ICANN in May 2002 to operate the .pro registry.
• The domain was launched in June 2004 with initial registration restrictions limited to four professions (accountants, engineers, lawyers, medical professionals) and limited rollout in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• In September 2008 ICANN approved an expansion to allow government-certified professionals in all countries to register .pro domains; registrants were required to self-certify and provide licensing details.
• In 2012 RegistryPro was acquired by Afilias (Afilias became registry manager in January 2012).
• A regulatory change made .pro unrestricted to all registrants starting 16 November 2015.

Usage and Audience

• Typical users and industries:
  • Internet & IT professionals
  • Consultants
  • Real estate professionals
  • Financial and accounting professionals
  • Engineers
  • Lawyers
  • Communications professionals
  • Medical professionals
• Adoption and distribution:
  • Registrations reached over 100,000 by January 2011 and about 160,000 by January 2013.
  • As of April 2010 the largest share of registrations were in the United States (42%), followed by France (24%) and the Russian Federation (5%).

Registration Rules

• Eligibility (historical and stated criteria):
  • Applicant provides professional services.
  • Applicant is admitted to or licensed by a government certification body or jurisdictional licensing entity recognized by a governmental body that regularly verifies its data.
  • Applicant is in good standing with the licensing authority.
  • Registrants may be asked to provide identifying information such as license numbers or other documentation relevant to the profession.
• Registration model and structure:
  • Second-level .pro domains have been available; the registry also supported specific third-level namespaces for professions (examples below).
  • Examples of third-level/professional labels used: law.pro, avocat.pro, bar.pro, jur.pro, recht.pro (legal); cpa.pro, aca.pro, acct.pro (accountancy); med.pro (medical); eng.pro (engineering).
  • As of April 2011 registrations could be made through 44 accredited registrars.
• Policy changes:
  • Early registration programs and services (e.g., ProForwarding in 2005) allowed provisional/unverified registrations with a window to validate credentials.
  • In November 2015 .pro became unrestricted to all registrants.

SEO and Brand Impact

• Brand positioning:
  • .pro has been marketed and positioned as an exclusive namespace for professionals, intended to signal professional status and credibility online.
  • The registry has enforced registration policies that require professional credentials or self-certification to maintain that positioning (historically).
• Policy changes and impact:
  • The 2008 expansion broadened eligibility globally while preserving an emphasis on certified professionals.
  • The removal of registration restrictions in November 2015 changed the TLD's access model, which may affect its exclusive positioning as a professionals-only namespace.

Notable Cases or Examples

• ProForwarding controversy (March 2005): a registrar-introduced service permitted unverified parties to register .pro names with a 30-day verification window, drawing criticism.
• Expiration of large portfolio (October 2012): about 40,000 .pro domains registered under a prior Hostway/Zip.pro program expired in October 2012.
• Sales and growth milestones:
  • ResellerClub reported selling 11,000 .pro names in one month after adding support for the TLD.
  • Afilias reported doubling .pro registrations in a year and reaching roughly 160,000 registrations by January 2013.
• Registry ownership and management changes:
  • RegistryPro (the original operator) was acquired by Afilias in 2012; the current registry is listed as Identity Digital.

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

domain:       PRO

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.PRO.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.182.0.1 2001:500:c0:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      A2.PRO.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.182.32.1 2001:500:e0:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B0.PRO.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.182.1.1 2001:500:c1:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      B2.PRO.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.182.40.1 2001:500:e1:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      C0.PRO.AFILIAS-NST.INFO 199.182.16.1 2001:500:d0:0:0:0:0:1
nserver:      D0.PRO.AFILIAS-NST.ORG 199.182.17.1 2001:500:d1:0:0:0:0:1
ds-rdata:     42154 8 2 5a8a58f4e30cde44a47091488870d109108ff45d42fdfdd30b448d78dffd5566

whois:        

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

created:      2002-05-08
changed:      2025-09-04
source:       IANA