In early June, the first Applicant Auction resolved contention for 6 contested gTLDs. The successful outcome of that auction has generated a great deal of interest from other applicants, and Innovative Auctions is expecting a big turnout in our next auction, to be held on August 13th. For more than half of the contested applications, at least one applicant is ready to resolve contention via our auction.

Our auctions are voluntary and an auction for a contention set is held only when all applicants in that contention set agree to participate. We expect that with the new enrollments in the Applicant Auction, the August 13th auction will include about 25 new gTLDs, and applicants still interested in enrolling have a good chance that with their participation, their contention set is ready for auction.

The June auction resulted in an average of $1.5 million per string, and all of the participants were pleased with the outcome. The August 13 auction will follow the same format and be based on the same contract, fine tuned based on feedback from bidders. Reflecting our commitment to transparency and fairness, we have selected Deloitte to serve as the Neutral Party that independently verifies our compliance with the auction agreement.

Part of our team will be in Durban for ICANN 47 and is holding two workshops for both potential and committed participants to familiarize themselves with the format, rules, and procedures for the Applicant Auction. There will be ample time for questions, and attendees will see a demo of the auction software.

If you would like to participate in one of our workshops, please sign up here. If you would like to sign up for a private meeting with our team, please sign up here or email [email protected].