After an intense year of writing and submitting applications, yesterday was Reveal Day for ICANN’s New gTLD Program: 2026 Round, giving us the full list of applied-for top-level domains (TLDs) for the very first time.
The headlines
- Overall, there were 1,663 applications submitted, with 1,615 of those confirmed to proceed.
- Of those proceeding, there are 986 unique strings, with 263 contention sets.1
- The most popular string is .agent, with 13 applications, closely followed by .bit, with 11.
Most applications
The top three companies by number of TLD applications are:
.BRAND TLDs
Organizations remain keen to own their own piece of the internet, with 20% of all applications being for .BRANDs. The remaining 80% are for open TLDs, including geographical and community TLDs. In the 2012 round, a third of all applications were for .BRANDs.
Categories to watch
In 2012, 35% of applied-for TLDs fell into the technology and IT category. These industries were naturally early adopters of new gTLDs.
This time around, crypto, AI, and quantum emerged as popular categories for TLDs, with .crypto (five applications), .llm (two applications), and .quantum (four applications) appearing. Their increase in popularity and relevance since the first round supports this prevalence in the applications.
Updated timeline
The application list is now public. But between now and mid-November, there will be movement in this list as contention sets are identified, replacement strings are chosen, or applications are withdrawn altogether.
String Confirmation Day on November 17, 2026, will provide us with an updated list of strings and contention sets going forward. Other key dates are:
- From November 17, 2026—community input and objection period
- Est. first half of 2027—prioritization draw and evaluation results
- March 16, 2027—objection period ends
- Est. June 2027—contention resolution complete
Get ready
The new TLDs will officially launch in 2028. In the meantime, some preparatory work can be done:
- Spend time auditing your domain portfolio to understand your current domain landscape. This will help you create your organization’s strategy for the new domains (e.g., active or defensive registration or blocking).
- Make sure your Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH) records are up to date for all trademarks for which you’d like to register domains under the new TLDs.
- If you’ve applied for a .BRAND and haven’t chosen a registry provider, consider CSC—the largest provider of .BRAND services and an ICANN-accredited registrar. Complete our contact form to speak with us.
1 Number based on current information, official numbers still to be confirmed by ICANN.
