.hangout Domain

18.a. Mission/Purpose of the Proposed gTLD

Charleston Road Registry is an American company, wholly owned by Google, which was established to provide registry operator services to the Internet public. Google is an American multinational public corporation and global technology leader focused on improving the ways its hundreds of millions of users connect with information. Since its formation, Google has been developing technology that can improve upon existing ways of doing business on the Internet. Google provides a variety of services and tools for Internet users and advertisers of all sizes, from simple search features and local ads to enterprise-scale business applications and global advertising solutions. These tools make it easier for people to make use of the world's information and enable entrepreneurs and publishers around the world to grow their businesses.

In line with Google's general mission, Charleston Road Registry's mission is to help make information universally accessible and useful by extending the utility of the DNS while enhancing the performance, security and stability of the Internet for users worldwide. Charleston Road Registry aspires to create unique web spaces where users can learn about Google products, services and information in a targeted manner and in ways never before seen on the Internet. Its business objective is to manage Google's gTLD portfolio and Google's registry operator business. As discussed further in the responses to questions 23 and 31, Charleston Road Registry intends to outsource all critical registry functions to Google Registry Services.

The sole purpose of the proposed gTLD, .hangout, is to host select Google+ Hangouts content. The proposed gTLD will introduce a dedicated Internet space in which select Google+ Hangouts users can link to the content hosted on their respective Google+ Hangouts pages. Second-level domains in the proposed gTLD, .hangout, will automatically be delegated to Googleʹs DNS servers, which will in turn provide authoritative DNS responses pointing the userʹs web browsers to Google+ Hangouts. The mission of the proposed gTLD is to strengthen the brand relationship between Google+ Hangouts and select Hangouts users and to simplify the Google+ Hangouts user experience. Select Google+ Hangouts users will be able to manage a unique .hangout domain (e.g., brand name.hangout), which will be used to host short and simple URLs that point to the userʹs Google+ Hangouts page or specific offering. This mission will enhance consumer choice by providing new availability in the second-level domain space for select users on Google+ Hangouts, creating new layers of organization on the Internet, improving the Google+ Hangouts user experience, and signaling that only select Google+ Hangouts content is available in the domain. Charleston Road Registry believes that registrants will find value in associating with this gTLD, which will be limited to premium members that meet Google+ Hangouts' selection criteria.

The proposed gTLD will also provide Charleston Road Registry with the means to meet its business objectives.×