Domain Name Criteria

Per the Institute Brand Identity Standards policy at policylibrary.gatech.edu:

The internet domain name assigned to the Georgia Institute of Technology is gatech.edu. The Institute recognizes gatech.edu as its official domain name. The name gatech.edu is legally registered to the Institute and, like other marks of the institution, is subject to the Institute’s use, policies, and guidelines.

Institute Communications has established the following criteria to ensure third-level domain names (*****.gatech.edu) are aligned with the Georgia Tech brand.

1. Third-level domains must be specific to a campus unit, program, initiative, or group/entity.
2. Any request that includes a Georgia Tech trademark in a third-level domain name must also be approved by Licensing.
3. Third-level domains may not include the names of trademarks, products, services, organizations, or entities not affiliated with Georgia Tech.
4. Certain terms may be reserved for broader Institute digital initiatives. Institute Communications will recommend alternate solutions in such cases.
5. Abbreviations, acronyms and initialisms are not preferred for third-level domain names. Such requests will be evaluated case-by-case, based on alignment with the brand.
6. Third-level domain name requests may be denied if the proposed name conflicts with the identity for an existing campus unit, program, initiative, or group/entity; and/or creates potential for confusion among key audiences.
7. Legacy third-level domain names may be scheduled for deprecation to better serve audiences, emphasize the brand, and evolve with technology changes. Institute Communications will work closely with unit personnel to strategically identify such domain names and determine appropriate timelines for necessary changes.
8. Requests for third-level domain names should be submitted for consideration during the planning stage of a new website project. The status of site development will not dictate whether a third-level domain name is approved.