A lot of big cities eventually start to just get called “the city,” after awhile. In the Bay Area, the City is San Francisco (Oakland is still the Town), on the East Coast, it often means New York. And in Turkey, it means none other than Istanbul. But Istanbul is unique in that people have called it “The City” for so long now that it’s name literally means “The City,” in Greek (the original Golden Gate was also in Istanbul).

Of course, it was Constantinople and Byzantium before (but that’s nobody’s business but the Turks). It’s been the capital of empires and religions, and now it has its very own TLD. Well, two—.istanbul and .ist:—both of which are now available in the Landrush phase at Gandi.

During this phase, you can buy a .istanbul or a .ist domain for just $151.38 per year. Or you could wait until the GoLive phase starts on May 10, 2016 and get them for $23.33 per year (at A rates).

And .ist isn’t just great for lovers of Istanbul's iconic architecture, luxurious gardens and many bridges, but also to adherents of any kind of -ism (Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year in 2015).

Register a domain under one of these TLDs?:

Mother’s Day is May 8 this year. What are you getting your mom? Is it a domain name? How about a whole lovely bouquet of domain names?

You might be interested to know that .mom is entering the GoLive phase soon. Previously, we said that was going to happen April 26, but the date has changed and is now May 3, 2016 at 9:00 AM PDT: the Tuesday before Mother’s Day. The regular price for .mom domain names once it enters the GoLive phase will be $48.22 at A rates.

And just to sweeten the deal, because we know you love your mothers very much, until May 6, 2016, you’ll be able to get a .mom domain for just $1.00 per year. Even better, this also means that if you pre-reserve in the GoLive phase now, you can pay the $1.00 price.

What are you getting for your .mom?

Some 29% of English words have a French origin. Sometimes these are words for specific concepts like laissez-faire or déjà vu, but it’s also a lot of words that have a more boring-sounding English way to say them but have that certain je ne sais quoi in French.

You could have a fun night out, but make it a soirée and it’s just that much more sophisticated. Or maybe you’re bored? Call it ennui and turn it into a philosophical condition.

From April 1 through June 30, 2016 we have a few extensions like this on sale for just $10.00 a piece (per year) that give your domains the same allure.

For example, don’t just open a store, make it a .boutique (normally $32.49 at A rates). A trip becomes that much more epic when you make it a .voyage (which goes for $52.65 at A rates). And maybe you knew .maison is French for house?

We should also mention a couple that maybe haven’t quite crossed over into English yet: .immo and .sarl (usually $38.34 each) that are both on sale. The former is for the real estate industry and the later is the equivalent of “LLC” in a company name.

Register a domain under one of these TLDs?:

Cinco de Mayo, the day we all know as when the Mexicans defeated the French, is just around the corner and all month this April, .mx domains, the country TLD for Mexico, is on sale for $16.00 per year. That’s a third off the normal price of $48.00,  from April 1 through 30 (at 5:00 PM PDT), so don’t delay.

Register a .mx?

With a lot of new gTLDs honing in on particular niches, two TLDs have aimed for the generic: .website and .site.

Of course, you can use a domain name for many different things. But there’s one use that is so closely associated with the idea of a domain name that it’s easy to confuse the two terms. We’re talking, of course, about websites.

And what better TLDs, then, to build a website on than a .website or a .site? Well, now could be the time to do it because both are on sale from April 1 until April 30, 2016 (at midnight UTC or 5:00 PM PDT) for just $1.99 per year (normally $17.87 for .site and $16.81 for .website per year at A rates).

Register a domain under one of these TLDs?:

Starting today, April 1, domains through the FFM registry will be available for just $2.00 per domain per year. And this is no April Fool's Day joke. In case you don’t have that list memorized, here it is:

• .accountant: (normally $41.37 at A rates)
• .bid: (normally $38.30 at A rates)
• .cricket: (normally $41.37 at A rates)
• .date: (normally $41.37 at A rates)
• .download: (normally $41.37 at A rates)
• .faith: (normally $41.37 at A rates)
• .loan: (normally $41.37 at A rates)
• .party: (normally $38.29 at A rates)
• .racing: (normally $41.37 at A rates)
• .review: (normally $41.37 at A rates)
• .science: (normally $38.29 at A rates)
• .trade: (normally $38.30 at A rates)
• .webcam: (normally $38.30 at A rates)
• .win: (normally $41.37 at A rates)

This promotion lasts from now until the end of the year, so you have time to take advanate (but don't wait too long).

Register a domain under one of these TLDs?:

A few of the notable strings added to the root this month (that is, newly-added TLDs) provide a glimpse into some of the factors that ICANN considers when it decides to approve or not approve new gTLD applications.

.tunes — February 25

Amazon’s application for .tunes prevailed against a Community Objection from the American Association of Independent Music. The Community Objection process allows “communities” to file a formal objection with ICANN against a certain application.

In this case, AAIM filed an objection because it felt that it was anti-competitive for Amazon to manage the .tunes TLD.

ICANN’s experts, though, didn’t buy it. To begin with, ICANN found that AAIM couldn’t legitimately claim to represent the entire “tunes” community. In fact, they took issue with the idea that “tunes” is specific enough to qualify as a community.

They also dismissed AAIM’s claims that Amazon would abuse its market power or support pirate networks as “purely speculative.”

.passagens and .vuelos — March 2

Passagens is Portuguese for fare or ticket and vuelos is Spanish and Portuguese for flights. In both cases, the application for these TLDs came from Despegar Online SRL, which describes itself as “a branch of the largest online travel agency in Latin America.”

Altogether, Despegar applied for five new TLDs. In addition to these two, they also applied for .hoteles (Spanish for hotels), .hoteis (Portuguese for hotels) and .hotel. All of their applications were met with a GAC objection. Of these, .hoteles was added last June.

Not only can industry groups and other “communities” file objections but so can ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), which is how world governments provide input into the process.

The objection claimed Despegar’s application was anti-competitive. When a TLD applicant gets a GAC objection, the GAC recommends certain actions to mitigate that. For both .passagens and .vuelos, Despegar was required to “specify transparent criteria for third party access to the TLD.”

.gmbh — March 9

For those who are not familiar, GmbH is a German abbreviation for Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, which is more or less the German equivalent of an LLC. ICANN received numerous applications for this TLD but in the end, Donuts prevailed.

Interestingly, a community TLD application was received for this TLD from TLDDOT GmbH. A Community TLD is a type of TLD ICANN created to allow certain “closely related” communities to opt to manage their own TLDs.

In this case, TLDDOT was created specifically to represent the business community in German-speaking countries. Ultimately, the community TLD application was withdrawn.

However, in the end Donuts was required to add a PIC to their application. A PIC is a Public Interest Commitment. These are ways for ICANN to amend an application to make sure that a registry uses a TLD the way it thinks it should. In this case, the PIC was primarily to make sure that Donuts had a process for limiting registrants to companies who are in fact GmbHs.

.stream — March 18

There were two competing applications for this TLD. Last year Famous Four Media beat out Hughes Satellite System Corporation for this TLD when it was put up for auction. Because .stream is obviously oriented towards video streaming services, ICANN required a PIC for this application as well.

This time it wasn’t to ensure registrants were part of a community, as was the case with .gmbh, but to address concerns that .stream would become a hotbed for illegal streaming.

The PIC for .stream includes provisions for an Acceptable Use Policy allowing the registry to quickly lock down and revoke registration of any abusers. It also includes a “Rights Protection Mechanism,” which commits Famous Four Media to make abuse prevention one of it’s “core objectives.”

You can keep track of future developments on this page from ICANN.

Remember: these are new TLDs on the cutting edge of having been added by ICANN. As such, any discussion of one of these TLDs should not be interpreted as meaning any of these extensions will be imminently available on Gandi (though we, of course, try to offer all the extensions we possibly can).

Lately it seems like there's a lot driving us apart but today two extensions that bring people together, .group and .salon, are entering the Sunrise phase. For now, that means that those with a TMCH registration can purchase a domain in one of these extensions for $144.33 per year for .group and $164.49 per year for .salon.

Then, on June 5 and lasting until June 8, these extensions will be in the Landrush phase, when it will be available to anyone for $164.49 for a .group and $184.65 for a .salon.

Finally, on June 8, 2016 at 8:00 AM PDT, both of these extensions will enter the GoLive phase when they will be open to all and available for $25.24 per year at A rates for a .group and $63.55 per year at A rates for a .salon.

Register a domain under one of these TLDs?:

“This domain name is categorized as ‘Premium’ at the registry.”

Maybe you’ve seen something like this message before at Gandi or another registrar. If you have, you may also have wondered what makes these domains special and why they cost extra.

The concept of a “Premium” domain applies primarily to the field of new gTLDs. Within the space of a little over a year, around 900 new extensions have been added to the once relatively narrow band of “classic” TLDs (you know, like .com, .net, .org …). The result has been a steady multiplication of the number of available domain names.

One consequence of this flourishing domain name market has been that it is now possible to replicate the same name across hundreds of extensions (think of how many Google must own). It’s now also possible to choose an extension that matches a special area of interest or a particular commercial market. Take .beer or .archi, which primarily focus on beer and architecture (all you need in life, really).

It’s important to note, however, that each extension is not created equal. They are each managed by a different registry. Some large registries like Donuts manage hundreds of extensions. Other registries like dotStrategy were created specifically to manage a single extension. In this case .buzz.

Not every domain name is equal either. Some domain names have a much higher probability of being popular (or have a higher market value if you prefer). Kind of like search engine keywords.

Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) keeps a database of registered trademarks. Obviously, terms stored there are likely to generate higher demand. In general, though, we are talking about easily-recognizable and memorizable domain names. Or ones that have optimum SEO.

Some are generic. Others, like englishmuffins.cooking, teahupoo.surf (it’s a famous Tahitian wave), or royals.london are especially valuable only in conjunction with particular extensions. The domain name romance.bets isn’t terribly attractive, but romance.online is quite the catch.

The registries of these new extensions, then, have a set of unique challenges. How can they ensure an orderly roll-out of these high-value domain names? This doesn’t just mean managing competing purchases (generally domains are registered on a first-come-first-served basis). It also includes keeping out domain squatters, especially on domains corresponding to brand names.

Most of these registries are also commercial entities. They’re also motivated to take advantage of the high demand in these domain names.

One solution to the problem is to auction off domains to the highest bidder during the Landrush phase or Early Access Period.

The other option is to make certain domains “Premium” . But it’s not actually a uniform solution. Some registries make all their Premium domains open to all (again, generally first-come-first-served). Others have eligibility requirements. These can range from a statement of motivation and the registrant’s “good faith" to a complete business plan.

There are also several ways of pricing Premium domains. Some registries have complicated hierarchies of Premium domains. Afilias ( .blue, .vote, .rich, and .porn among others), for example, has eight categories of Premium domains.

Approaches to pricing can vary too. Large registries often prefer a finely tuned machine that hones in on that sweet spot on the supply-and-demand curve that gives optimal ROI. Small registries might release their extensions in the GoLive phase without designating any domains as Premium. Then, when they have the budget to do some research on the topic, they add domains to their premium list.

Likewise, compiling lists of Premium domains varies widely as well. To determine what domains are likely to be popular, registries sometimes monitor social media (like in the case of United TLD, the registry for .ninja domains). They might use search-engine history and traffic or even sales history of the classic TLDs like .com. One thing that’s relatively consistent, though, is that the secret sauce and the list itself is rarely made public.

So, what it all means is sometimes when you’re looking for a domain, you might find that it’s Premium. But “Premium” doesn’t always mean “prohibitively expensive.” For example, sql.agency and pop.solutions are two premium domains under $50.

And, it’s important to note, your domain might not be Premium at all. If you’re a small business and your company name isn’t super generic and isn’t another brand name, it probably isn't.

Or maybe, if you find out you can’t register a particular domain, your domain is actually “reserved.” It’s important to make the distinction.

A Premium domain would likely be at the top of the list of domains a registry would like to see registered. A registry’s list of reserved domains however are the ones they don’t want to open up to the public.

This can be for moral and political reasons to potential liability or even vanity. The domain rob.sucks, for example, is a reserved domain because the CEO of the .sucks registry is Rob Hall.

So be sure to note whether the domain you want is actually “reserved,” or if it’s “Premium.”

Which brings us back to:

“This domain name is categorized as ‘Premium’ at the registry.”

What should you do with this message? If you can register it online, then you should see the Premium price right next to. But sometimes you’ll need to contact our Customer care team to find out what the Premium price is. You may also want to ask if the extension has particular eligibility requirements. If you don’t want to pay the Premium price, try a different iteration of your domain name. If a domain name sounds like it’s Premium, it probably is.

If you are the owner of a domain name, there's a good chance you've already been exposed to this slamming campaign: an email exhorting you to quickly renew your domain or update your banking information while threatening the loss of your domain due to an imminent expiration.

Here is an example of one of these deceptive emails, which can be safely disregarded:

Attention: Important Notice , DOMAIN SERVICE NOTICE

Domain Name: EXAMPLE.COM

Complete and return by fax to: 1-716-650-4815

ATT: JOHN DOE, ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACT

G23475397CF426333A39B8A1BF5BD226A-1234567@CONTACT.GANDI.NET

GANDI 63-65 BOULEVARD MASSENA - - (GANDI) PARIS - - - (GANDI) 75013

WWW.EXAMPLE.COM

Please ensure that your contact information is correct or make the necessary changes above

PART I: REVIEW SOLICITATION

As a courtesy to domain name holders, we are sending you this notification for your

business Domain name search engine registration. This letter is to inform you that

it's time to send in your registration and save. Failure to complete your Domain name

search engine registration by the expiration date may result in cancellation of this

offer making it difficult for your customers to locate you on the web. Privatization

allows the consumer a choice when registering. Search engine subscription includes

domain name search engine submission. You are under no obligation to pay the amounts

stated below unless you accept this offer. Do not discard, this notice is not an invoice

it is a courtesy reminder to register your domain name search engine listing so your

customers can locate you on the web.

This Notice for: WWW.EXAMPLE.COM will expire on FEBRUARY 26,2015 Act today!

Select Term:

[ ] 1 year 02/26/2015 - 02/26/2016 $75.00

[ ] 2 year 02/26/2015 - 02/26/2017 $119.00

[ ] 5 year 02/26/2015 - 02/26/2020 $199.05

[ ] 10 year -Most Recommended- 02/26/2015 - 02/26/2025 $295.00

[ ] Lifetime (NEW!) Limited time offer - Best value! Lifetime $499.00

Payment by Credit Card: Select the term above, then return by fax: 1-716-650-4815

By accepting this offer, you agree not to hold DS liable for any part.

Note that THIS IS NOT A BILL. This is a solicitation. You are under no

obligation to pay the amounts stated unless you accept this offer.

The information in this letter contains confidential and/or legally

privileged information from the notification processing department

of the DS 3501 Jack Northrop Ave. Suite #F9238 Hawthorne, CA 90250 USA,

This information is intended only for the use of the individual(s) named

above. There is no pre-existing relationship between DS and the domain

mentioned above. This notice is not in any part associated with a

continuation of services for domain registration. Search engine

submission is an optional service that you can use as a part of your

website optimization and alone may not increase the traffic to your site.

If you do not wish to receive further updates from DS reply with

Remove to unsubscribe. If you are not the intended recipient, you are

hereby notified that disclosure, copying, distribution or the taking of

any action in reliance on the contents for this letter is strictly prohibited.

How to tell if an email is really from Gandi

Sender email address

Before clicking any links or even opening the email, check the address of the sender. This is no guarantee that the email is legitimate, because it's easy to spoof emails to

look like they come from another address.

For most TLDs, we warn you 60, 30, 15 and 1 day before the expiration date from the email address support-renew[@]gandi.net.

Recipient email address

If you have our anti-spam protection activated on your account, another thing to check is the receiver email address.  We only send email directly to the address you have on file with us, so if you see the receive email address is the "obfuscated" forwarding address visible in the whois (e.g. G23475397CF426333A39B8A1BF5BD226A-1234567@CONTACT.GANDI.NET, as in the example above), you can know that the email didn't come from Gandi.

Check messages and domains in your account

You can find copies of all the reminders we send you in the Messages folder in your account, and you can verify the expiration date of your domain from your list of domains. 

By the way, if you are concerned about missing an expiration date, you should know that you can always activate automatic renewal.

Activate or refresh anti-spam

Remember that you can replace your real email address in the whois with an obfuscated forwarding address (see how). Every time you submit your contact information (whether you make any actual changes or not), the "scrambled" forwarding address is regenerated and the old one stops working. If you're getting multiple emails to the obfuscated whois address, just resubmit your handle's contact info.

If you have any questions, you can always contact our Customer Care team or ask @gandibar on Twitter.