ICANN Draws More Than 1,600 Applications in New gTLD Round

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ICANN Draws More Than 1,600 Applications in New gTLD Round

By CircleID Reporter
August 15, 2026, 10:42 am PDT Views: 154 Add Comment

ICANN closed the application window for its 2026 round of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs) on August 12, attracting more than 1,600 primary applications in a fresh push to expand the internet’s naming system.

Late surge: The 15-week submission period ended with a late rush: most applications arrived during its final days. More than 1,100 primary applications also included requests for replacement strings, which can be provided under circumstances specified by the program.

The numbers remain provisional. Applications will count towards the final total only after ICANN, the organization that oversees the internet’s domain-name system, receives the required evaluation fees. Payments are generally due by August 19 or seven days after an invoice is issued, whichever is later.

Reveal Day: Attention will now turn from filing applications to determining what, precisely, applicants want to put to the right of the dot. ICANN will conduct administrative checks before publishing the public portions of qualifying applications on “Reveal Day”. This will expose both the proposed gTLDs and potential clashes where several applicants have sought the same or competing strings.

Barring exceptional circumstances, ICANN expects Reveal Day to occur within nine weeks of the application window’s closure. A date and timetable for subsequent stages are due to be announced in mid-September.

Application review: Applications will then face community input, possible objections, contention-resolution procedures and formal evaluation. Where applicants collide, ICANN’s rules include auctions while prohibiting private resolutions.

The volume of submissions suggests considerable appetite for new internet namespaces. But the more consequential phase is only beginning: deciding which proposed domains survive scrutiny and, where demand overlaps, who ultimately gets control of them.

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By CircleID Reporter — CircleID’s internal staff reporting on news tips and developing stories. Do you have information the professional Internet community should be aware of? Contact us.
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