Occasionally, folks reach out to us and ask us if we’re based in American Samoa, as our domain name ends in “.as”.

“.as” is the domain extension for the country American Samoa – knows as a Country Code Top-Level domain (or ccTLD). Every country in the world has been assigned a ccTLD. For example, “.fr” is the ccTLD belonging to France, “.au” is the ccTLD assigned to Australia, and so forth.

Typically, ccTLDs are used for individuals, organizations, and businesses based in that country. For instance, a UK-based business may choose to have a “.uk” domain name.

If MIDAS isn’t based in American Samoa, why use an “.as” domain?

We’re using a .as domain as a “domain hack“.

What is a ‘domain hack’?

Firstly, don’t worry when you see the work ‘hack’ in this context. This does not relate to computer ‘hacking’ or other such illegal activities.

A “domain hack” is simply a domain name that suggests a word, phrase or brand by combining two or more adjacent parts of the domain, which usually ends by incorporating the letters from a ccTLD to complete the word.

Here are some common Domain Hack examples:

• goo.gl (using the .gl ccTLD of Greenland)
• instagr.am (using the .am ccTLD of Armenia)
• youtu.be (using the .be ccTLD of Belgium)

Because our room booking software is called “MIDAS”, we chose the domain name “mid.as”.

So where is MIDAS based?

We’re actually a British based business located in the United Kingdom.

So whenever you see a domain name ending with a ccTLD, don’t assume that the website or business is specific to the country indicated by the ccTLD.

It may well be that the business is global or located elsewhere in the world and is just using a ccTLD as a “domain hack” to form part of a word.