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Google now lets you register sites ending in .app

Google now lets you register sites ending in .app

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Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Google is now letting people make sites ending in .app, releasing its monopoly on the top-level domain after three years. Google acquired the top-level domain .app in 2015, after shelling out just $25 million for the honor. Top-level domains are the last part of a domain name, like .com or .org.

.app was a highly desired name by website makers, given the association with apps. As Google puts it in its press release, “Even if you spend your days working in the world of mobile apps, you can still benefit from a home on the web.”

Google claims .app is the first top-level domain to require HTTPS encryption. Most sites already use HTTPS encryption, so while it’s not exactly new, it could help tackle the 32 percent of the internet that’s still not encrypted with HTTPS, according to numbers from Mozilla.

Beginning today at 12PM ET through May 7th, users can register .app domains through Google’s Early Access Program, and they can pay more to secure other domains before the general public can get to them. After May 7th, .app domain availability is open to the public through sites like GoDaddy, Google Domains, or name.com. You can currently check what domain names are available through get.app.