The miracle of domain name registration is a magical and sometimes obscure process, but according to our research, the registration and management of a domain name has been found to adhere to a few very precise rules which may seem complicated for some.

We’ve already presented this information, at length, in our extensive wiki.

But it seems these processes remain a puzzle.

Well, now we are beginning to demystify the processes that lay beneath the surface through a series of graphics describing exactly those complicated processes.

This month, we are delving into the life and death of a domain name: from the moment it is first registered and blinks into existence, to its renewal, and then to the mysterious afterlife that lies beyond expiration.

This is how a domain is born, grows old and expires, and then what happens next.

Since .com and .net domains are the most common extensions, we decided it was most useful to show the lifecycle as it applies to these two extensions. Most domain names lead a life much like .com and .net domains, the differences largely being in the length of late-renewal periods and restoration, which can change by registry. You can find more specific information on an individual TLD’s info page.

Who hasn’t dreamed of opening a little café or a bookstore for only out-of-print art books or a fabric shop that sells just those yellow and blue Provençal tablecloths and Eiffel Tower prints in some corner of the Quartier Latin or along the Champs Élysées?

Well, what better time than now to make that dream a reality, at least online. There are a whole bunch of premium domains for generic terms in .paris like café.paris, brunch.paris or antiquites.paris that, starting 10 March will become available at the registrar of your choice.

These, like your dreams, are pure gold, and being premium domains can come at a steep price—between €475.00 and €4,210.00 before tax—but they are truly precious. So pre-register them now.

Remember that you do need to have some connection to the city of Paris, be that residence within Paris, a commercial interest there or a cultural or familial connection.

What's your .paris dream?

Just like tomorrow is always a day away for little orphan Annie, for a gambler, that big jackpot is just a hand, a pull of the lever, a roll of the dice or a spin of the wheel away. That’s what’s so great about gambling: it always gives you hope that you get lifted out of your meager existence by a benevolent millionaire and win big.

Which is why it’s great that as of March 3, 2016, .bet is in the GoLive phase. Now you can bet on a quality domain name for only $20.79 a pop (per year at A rates). You could be a big winner! (in that you’ll have registered a cool domain name). It's only a click away.

So are you feeling lucky?

Can we take your .bet?

Better send the kids to bed for this one. We’ll give you a minute.

...

…

Everyone all tucked in? Okay. Let’s get freaky.

Spring is in the air. Buds are forming on the trees, birds are building their nests, the bunnies are frolicking in the clover, and we all know what those things symbolize.

So this spring, from March 1 through midnight UTC on May 31, our 18+ extensions are all on sale: .adult, .porn, .sex, and .xxx for just $12.00 per year on all four extensions.

As a public service announcement, we would like to remind you that as with all Gandi domains, your domain registration entitles you to one free, single-address, standard-validation SSL certificate, and while we encourage you to have fun with these domains, also be safe and use protection.

Feeling frisky?:

In March we have our best bouncers working the doors as we throw them open for our half-off .club deal.

From March 1 through 11:59 PM UTC on March 31, 2016, our DJs are mixing fresh beats, our bar is fully-stocked, our sound system is turned up and all new .club domains will be $6.72 instead of $13.43 per year at A rates.

Join the .club?

Four years on and ICANN is still adding the TLDs from the applications they announced they’d received back in 2012. This month the gTLDs being added tell the story of the race between Google and Amazon to buy up as many extensions as they can.

On February 19, for example, Amazon’s application beat out Google’s for .spot (the coveted .spot spot, as no one calls it). It also beat out one from DotSpot Inc., a corporation apparently organized specifically to act as registry for these domains.

Amazon was also awarded that day with .coupon. After a “private deal in June 2014,” Amazon’s application became the sole application for this extension.

On February 22, ICANN added .食品 (/shokuhin/, Japanese for “food”, .xn--jvr189m in punycode), honoring again Amazon’s application, as well as .store, a TLD which both Amazon and Google (among many) tried to snag. DotStore, Inc. ultimately won out.

Most recently, on February 24, Amazon also scored a valuable TLD for the music industry, .song, despite various objections, similar to those raised for .book (also added recently) that allowing Amazon to act as registry would be anti-competitive.

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).

Maybe you’ve had your eye on a .co domain or the .com domain you’ve always wanted is already registered through 2050. Why not try a .co.com? From now through May 31, 2016 at midnight UTC, we’ve got these domains for just $19.99 per year (normally $40.34 per year at A rates).

Try a .co.com?

This year, from March 1 through December 31, 2016 at midnight UTC, you can register your cloud with a  .cloud domain for just $9.00 (normally $31.15)

What shape will it be? A giraffe? A cuddly teddy bear? Chemtrails? You decide.

Register your .cloud?

There’s a beast inside us all that goes by the name “Ego,” and it’s a hungry beast. Some say it’s best to starve the poor creature but we think it’s perfectly okay to throw it a little scrap now and then. Use that shop window as a mirror to see how good you look. Take a selfie. Google yourself. Plant a recording device in your office so you know what your coworkers are saying about you behind your back.

And, from March 1 through March 14, 2016 at 11:59 PM UTC, you can nourish that hungry animal inside you with a  .me domain for only $4.00 per year (normally $14.40 per year at A rates). Because you’re worth it.

Feed .me?

From March 1 through March 31, 2016 at 11:59 PM UTC, .online domains will be available for just $4.99 per year.

We made our first steps online almost fifty years ago now with the birth of Arpanet, and since then, we have steadily increased our online activity. Now you can shop online, buy online, bank online and pay taxes online.

We each have online profiles, an online presence, those of us who are single date online, we find our homes online and the furniture to furnish them and then sit in them streaming movies online, gaming online and gambling online.

The Internet of Things will bring our refrigerators and bookshelves and pets online and one glorious day in the near future a USB-to-IV-drip device will be invented to inject nutrients into our bloodstreams at a rate of 480 megabits per second.

We have come so far online but there so much further to advance into that bright online future.

Normally, .online domains go for $12.00 per year at A rates, so this is the perfect chance to get on line with .online before that bright future comes ... well, online.

Are you .online?