# Dot-com: what it is and how it works · Zorraquino
> A dot-com is a company that operates mainly online, a term linked to the companies of the late 1990s.
URL: https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/internet/dot-com.html

# Dot-com

A dot-com is a company whose business is mainly conducted online, a term associated above all with the companies that emerged in the late 1990s

What it means, how it is used and where it comes up, with its related concepts.

[The whole glossary](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary)

## What it is and how it works

The name comes from the .com domain many of them used. At the time, heavily funded start-ups with unproven business models multiplied, focusing on rapid growth over profitability. Many disappeared when the dot-com bubble burst between 2000 and 2001, which is why the term sometimes carries a pejorative tone.

It is less common today: companies that operate only online are more often called pure players or digital natives, and click-and-mortar when they combine physical and online channels.

Also known as

dotcom, dot-com company

Topics

[Technology and data](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/category/tecnologia-y-datos)

## Related concepts

- [Dot-com bubble](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/internet/dot-com-bubble.html)
- [Pure play](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/internet/pure-play.html)
- [Start-up](https://www.zorraquino.com/en/dictionary/internet/startup.html)