.gq

.gq is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Equatorial Guinea. Freenom relaunched the TLD on October 1, 2014, and domains became available for free on January 1, 2015.[1][2]

.gq

Introduced	1997
TLD type	Country code top-level domain
Status	Active
Registry	GETESA
Sponsor	GETESA
Intended use	Entities connected with  Equatorial Guinea
Actual use	Many uses, most not in Equatorial Guinea. Free domains available or paid registrations for legal ownership with no activity requirement
Registry website	Freenom dominio.gq

The .gq registry allows the creation of emoji domain names.

History

The .gq domain was launched in July 1997 by GETESA, the nation's prominent internet service provider.[3]

In October 2014, domain company Freenom partnered with GETESA to try a business model which involved giving away .gq domain names for free. Before the public launch, there was a sunrise period to allow trademark holders to register their names. Public domain registration commenced on January 1, 2015.[4]

Second-level domains

Registrations are taken directly at the second level, or at the third level beneath the following second level names:

• .org.gq for organizations
• .gov.gq for Government entities
• .edu.gq for Educational institutions
• .mil.gq for Military entities
• .com.gq for Commercial

Abuse

Due to the lack of cost required to obtain a .gq domain, the TLD has been prone to usage for spam, phishing and other malicious purposes. A study conducted by internet security company Symantec found that 92% of the top 50 .gq websites were being used for "shady" purposes. Out of all of the websites on a .gq domain that were surveyed by Symantec, a whole 98.94% were being used for malicious purposes. [5]

References

1. "FREENOM RELAUNCHES THE NATIONAL TOP LEVEL DOMAIN OF EQUATORIAL GUINEA" (PDF). October 1, 2014.
2. "REGISTRATION OF A DOMAIN". December 11, 2014.
3. "IANA — .gq Domain Delegation Data". www.iana.org. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
4. Freenom. "Freenom Relaunches The National Top Level Domain Of Equatorial Guinea". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2018-11-15.
5. "Shady TLDs: .GQ Not Looking So Dapper". Symantec Security Response. Retrieved 2018-11-15.

External links

• IANA .gq whois information
• Dominio.gq, the .gq registry website