> [!NOTE]
> **Note:** On September 7, 2023 Squarespace acquired all domain registrations and related customer accounts from Google Domains. For more information about how this change affects Cloud Domains, see [Cloud Domains feature deprecations](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/deprecations/feature-deprecations), [Renew an expired domain registration](https://support.google.com/a/answer/6152355), and [Squarespace purchase of Google Domains FAQ](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/faq).

<br />

This page provides important terminology that applies to Cloud Domains.
Review these terms to better understand how Cloud Domains works
and the concepts on which it is built.

For more information, see the
[Cloud Domains overview](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/overview).

Cloud DNS
:   Cloud DNS is a high-performance and resilient DNS hosting provider
    that you can use with Cloud Domains to
    publish your domain names to the global DNS namespace. For
    detailed information about Cloud DNS concepts and important
    terminology, see the [Cloud DNS overview](https://docs.cloud.google.com/dns/docs/overview).

DNS hosting provider

:   A DNS hosting provider is a company that maintains DNS name servers.


    > [!CAUTION]
    > **Caution:** Google Domains as your Domain Name System (DNS) provider for your domains in Cloud Domains is retired, and some DNS functionality from Cloud Domains is no longer supported. For more information, see [Cloud Domains feature deprecation](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/deprecations/feature-deprecations).

    <br />

    If you choose Cloud DNS as your DNS provider,
    then Google is your DNS hosting provider. If you are using custom name
    servers, then the company responsible for those name servers acts as your
    DNS hosting provider.

domain ending or top-level domain (TLD)

:   A domain ending is the last label in a domain name, like `.com`.
    Thousands of endings exist, and each ending is controlled by a
    [registry](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-registry). Customers of a [registrar](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-registrar)
    purchase domain names that are a single label plus the domain ending,
    such as `google.com`.

    Often, the domain ending is just a single label like `.com`, in which case
    the domain ending is also the top-level domain (TLD). In some cases, a
    registry controls a multi-label domain ending like `.co.uk`, and customers
    purchase domain names one level below that, like `google.co.uk`.
    While not always technically accurate, it is common to refer to all
    registry-controlled domain endings as TLDs.

    For a detailed explanation of TLDs, see [Top-level
    domain](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Top-level_domain).

domain name

:   A domain name is a character string comprised of several parts called
    labels that are separated by dots to represent the domain hierarchy.
    Domain names have a [domain ending](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-tld) corresponding to their
    [registry](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-registry) operator. Domain names can be equivalently
    written in either [Unicode or Punycode](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-unicode-punycode).

Domain Name System (DNS)

:   The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical distributed database
    that stores IP addresses and other data and allows queries by name.
    To learn more about DNS, see the
    [DNS overview page](https://docs.cloud.google.com/dns/docs/dns-overview).

name servers

:   Name servers identify the location of your domain on the internet. A DNS name
    server stores DNS records for a domain name and responds with answers to
    queries against its database. For a detailed explanation of name servers,
    see [Name server](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_server).

premium domains

:   Premium domains are domains offered for sale or resale at a premium price.
    There are two kinds of premium domains:

    - **Aftermarket premium domains:** Domains offered for resale by owners for a premium price. After the initial premium price, you can renew your domains at the regular annual renewal price.
    - **Registry premium domains:** Domains offered by the registry for a premium price. Usually, when you transfer, renew, restore, or add more years of registration to a domain, you're charged the initial premium price.

registrant

:   A registrant is the registered name holder of a DNS domain. A registrant
    holds the *rights* to the domain for the duration of the registration period.
    Because a domain's registration can be renewed indefinitely (up to 10 years
    at a time), a registrant is often considered the *owner* of the domain.

registrar

:   A registrar is an organization that manages the
    [registration](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-registration)
    of domain names for one or more of the DNS [registries](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-registry).
    A registrar acts as an interface between a
    [registrant](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-registrant) (owner) and a registry (database of domains).
    Registrars sell domain names, provide registration services, and offer other
    value-added services applicable to domains. For details about registrars,
    see [Domain name registrars](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_name_registrar).

    For Cloud Domains, domain registrations are provided by
    Squarespace. The registrar of record is often Squarespace but might vary based
    on the TLD. To determine the registrar of record for your domain, search
    the [WHOIS database](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-whois).

registration

:   Registration is the process through which a registrant registers a domain
    with a DNS registrar. A registrant can register a domain for a period from
    one to ten years. When the registration period expires, the registrant can
    renew or extend the registration. The registrant must provide contact
    information to the registrar for inclusion in the
    [WHOIS database](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-whois).

    To register a domain by using Cloud Domains, see [Register a
    domain](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/register-domain).
    To edit your domain registration settings, see [Edit
    registrations](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/edit-registration-settings).

registry

:   A registry is a database that contains [registrant](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-registrant)
    information for second-level DNS domains (`google.com`, `example.com`)
    beneath a given domain ending or TLD (`.com`). A registry can
    control any domain ending and can allow you to register domains under that
    domain ending---for example, `.co.uk` and `google.co.uk`.

    A registry operator is an organization that maintains the administrative
    data for one or more top-level or lower-level DNS domains. For example,
    VeriSign is responsible for several top-level domains, including the `.com`,
    `.net`, and `.name` domains. A registry operator is given authority for a
    domain through [ICANN](https://www.icann.org/),
    a corporation responsible for managing functions that maintain the core
    infrastructure of the internet. For more details, see
    [ICANN](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/ICANN).

resource records

:   Resource records provide DNS-based information about the hardware and
    software components that point to and support your domain (such as hosts,
    name servers, web servers, and email servers). For detailed information
    about resource records, see [Records](https://docs.cloud.google.com/dns/docs/dns-overview#records).

    For a list of record types supported by Cloud DNS, see
    [Supported record types](https://docs.cloud.google.com/dns/docs/records-overview#supported_dns_record_types).

Unicode and Punycode

:   Within the [Domain Name System](https://docs.cloud.google.com/domains/docs/key-terms#terms-dns), for historical reasons,
    domain names are stored in
    [ASCII](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/ASCII).
    Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) that are normally written in
    [Unicode](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode)
    are compressed into ASCII with a scheme called
    [Punycode](https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Punycode).

    Domain names expressed in Punycode start with the characters `xn--`. For
    example, an IDN representation of the Unicode `example.ελ` is
    `example.xn--qxam` in Punycode.

    The Punycode and Unicode versions of a domain name are equivalent and used
    in different contexts. For example, the name of each `Registration` resource
    ends in the Punycode version of the corresponding domain name. On the other
    hand, in user-facing contexts, the domain name is generally displayed in
    Unicode for ease of use.

WHOIS database

:   The WHOIS database stores information about DNS domains, such as the
    following:

    - Registration contact information for registrant, administrator, and technical contacts
    - The domain's registrar
    - Creation, update, and expiry dates

    The WHOIS protocol, which is a query and response protocol used for querying
    databases that store details about registered domain users, is documented
    in [RFC 3912](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3912).

    For details about WHOIS, see the
    [ICANN WHOIS](https://whois.icann.org/about-whois)
    page. You can look up registered domain names and associated details on the
    [ICANN WHOIS database](https://lookup.icann.org/).