On November 21st, .blog domains went on sale to the general public.
For the first time ever, you can purchase “my.blog” instead of “myblog.com.”
But just how does this magic work?
And is it worth buying a .blog domain?
Keep reading for everything you need to know about .blog domains.
blog is a completely new top-level domain (TLD), which might raise an entirely different question:
What is a top-level domain?
A top-level domain is essentially the part of a domain name which appears directly to the right of the final “dot” in your domain name.
Originally, there were six: .com, .org, .net, .edu, .gov, .mil.
But as the Internet has grown, so has the number of top-level domains.
In the early 2000s, new TLDs started springing up after ICANN, the international body who oversees domains, started opening up the system.
In 2012, ICANN announced a new type of TLD: generic top-level domains (gTLD).
Through an auction process, companies can purchase generic extensions like .store, .host, and…you guessed it, .blog.
Who Controls .blog domains?
In 2015, the rights to control .blog domains were auctioned off to a mysterious Panamanian buyer for the princely sum of ~$19 million, an amount about roughly three times as much as any other gTLD auction (at that time).
A year later in 2016, it was revealed that this mysterious buyer was none other than WordPress’ own Automattic (in partnership with another company).
By purchasing the rights to .blog, Automattic secured the authority to sell and oversee .blog domains.
After giving trademark owners first-purchase rights and opening up domains to early (paid) applications, Automattic officially started selling .blog domains publicly on November 21st, 2016.
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