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I was sorta hoping with the announcement of Google.ai that they would add the .ai extension to Google Domains. Right now there are so few, and very terrible, re

I was sorta hoping with the announcement of Google.ai that they would add the .ai extension to Google Domains. Right now there are so few, and very terrible, registers that handle .ai. Like 101domain.com who can only make nameserver changes for you during their 9am to 5pm business hours on weekdays.

gaadd33 9y ago
You can just register directly with the .ai registry. Not sure how easy it is to use though: https://whois.ai/ https://whois.ai/
- willyyr 9y ago
  It's easy to use, though you need to pay $100 just to get an account and then $100/per domain / per 2 years. The interface is bare bones and you can't do much more then set name server records but it does the job. //Edited the fee.
  - BinaryIdiot 9y ago
    Interesting; 101domain.com charges $160 for 2 years (2 year is required through them). I'm assuming they're getting some sort of discount? That is an interesting avenue to go however, so thanks!
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
    - CydeWeys 9y ago
      Anguilla charges $100 for a two year registration (I'm not sure you can register a domain name for any other period of time). The extra $60 is 101domain's markup.
      - willyyr 9y ago
        Sorry, you are right it's $100 for two years. //Edited above.
      - BinaryIdiot 9y ago
        Thanks for the clarification!
CydeWeys 9y ago
.ai is a ccTLD that is run by, I believe, a single person in Anguilla. I do not think it is run on a platform that supports EPP, the standard protocol that is used by registries and registrars to handle automated purchasing of domain names. Given that, it would not be possible to handle .ai domain names on Google Domains. 101domain.com is likely doing a manual process for registering .ai domain names that goes through https://whois.ai/ https://whois.ai/ (Source: I am the eng lead of Google Registry, which run's Google's TLDs.)
- fps 9y ago
  in the late 90's, I knew the guy that had somehow secured and was running the .so ccTLD single-handedly. In the age of $70/year register.com bills, it seemed insane that a single person could be responsible for an entire TLD. I'm glad to hear that some things on the internet are still run by people.
  - CydeWeys 9y ago
    A large number of ccTLDs are still run by a single random person deep in the bowels of an IT department at some university. I was just at an ICANN meeting in Madrid last week and met some of them. Also, we (Charleston Road Registry) are definitely not a small company, but we run ~45 TLDs with a team of engineers much smaller than 45, so we have a ratio of TLDs to engineers significantly higher than 1:1.
- jsmthrowaway 9y ago
  > 101domain.com is likely doing a manual process for registering .ai domain names that goes through https://whois.ai/ https://whois.ai/ Gandi seems to do this as well. I recently tried to buy one through them and they quoted $600, and required a corporate subscription. 101domains had the same one for a little over $100, which implied to me that there's a paper process with people somewhere and each registrar is pricing accordingly (since all .ai are $100/2yr flat). Good timing on your comment, too, since buying-then-transferring seemed like a good strategy until I read it. Didn't realize .ai was so fundamentally manual. Although[0]: > We expect that about mid 2017 we will support EPP and other registrars. [0]: https://whois.ai/faq.html https://whois.ai/faq.html

gaadd33 9y ago

You can just register directly with the .ai registry. Not sure how easy it is to use though: https://whois.ai/ https://whois.ai/

willyyr 9y ago
It's easy to use, though you need to pay $100 just to get an account and then $100/per domain / per 2 years. The interface is bare bones and you can't do much more then set name server records but it does the job. //Edited the fee.
- BinaryIdiot 9y ago
  Interesting; 101domain.com charges $160 for 2 years (2 year is required through them). I'm assuming they're getting some sort of discount? That is an interesting avenue to go however, so thanks!
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - CydeWeys 9y ago
    Anguilla charges $100 for a two year registration (I'm not sure you can register a domain name for any other period of time). The extra $60 is 101domain's markup.
    - willyyr 9y ago
      Sorry, you are right it's $100 for two years. //Edited above.
    - BinaryIdiot 9y ago
      Thanks for the clarification!

CydeWeys 9y ago

.ai is a ccTLD that is run by, I believe, a single person in Anguilla. I do not think it is run on a platform that supports EPP, the standard protocol that is used by registries and registrars to handle automated purchasing of domain names. Given that, it would not be possible to handle .ai domain names on Google Domains. 101domain.com is likely doing a manual process for registering .ai domain names that goes through https://whois.ai/ https://whois.ai/ (Source: I am the eng lead of Google Registry, which run's Google's TLDs.)

fps 9y ago
in the late 90's, I knew the guy that had somehow secured and was running the .so ccTLD single-handedly. In the age of $70/year register.com bills, it seemed insane that a single person could be responsible for an entire TLD. I'm glad to hear that some things on the internet are still run by people.
- CydeWeys 9y ago
  A large number of ccTLDs are still run by a single random person deep in the bowels of an IT department at some university. I was just at an ICANN meeting in Madrid last week and met some of them. Also, we (Charleston Road Registry) are definitely not a small company, but we run ~45 TLDs with a team of engineers much smaller than 45, so we have a ratio of TLDs to engineers significantly higher than 1:1.
jsmthrowaway 9y ago
> 101domain.com is likely doing a manual process for registering .ai domain names that goes through https://whois.ai/ https://whois.ai/ Gandi seems to do this as well. I recently tried to buy one through them and they quoted $600, and required a corporate subscription. 101domains had the same one for a little over $100, which implied to me that there's a paper process with people somewhere and each registrar is pricing accordingly (since all .ai are $100/2yr flat). Good timing on your comment, too, since buying-then-transferring seemed like a good strategy until I read it. Didn't realize .ai was so fundamentally manual. Although[0]: > We expect that about mid 2017 we will support EPP and other registrars. [0]: https://whois.ai/faq.html https://whois.ai/faq.html