ICANN opens new domain ending applications for 2026

ICANN has opened the application window for its New gTLD Program: 2026 Round, allowing organisations to apply to run new internet domain endings for the first time in more than a decade.

Generic top-level domains are the part of a web address that appears after the final dot. Under the programme, businesses, communities, governments and other organisations can seek to operate their own suffixes, including brand, geographic and sector-specific domains.

The application window runs until 12 August 2026. Applications must be submitted through ICANN's online TLD Application Management System, and applicants are being directed to a guidebook setting out the questions, requirements and evaluation process.

The previous round, in 2012, led to the launch of more than 1,200 new domain endings, including brand-led domains such as .microsoft and .sky, geographic domains such as .africa and .berlin, and broader terms including .bank and .eco.

Broader scope

This round also expands the language range for top-level domain applications. ICANN will accept applications in 27 scripts, covering hundreds of languages including Arabic, Chinese, Devanagari and Thai.

The change broadens the use of Internationalized Domain Names, which allow domain names to appear in scripts other than Latin characters. It is intended to make internet navigation more accessible for users who rely on non-Latin writing systems.

For companies, control over a top-level domain can allow tighter oversight of who is permitted to register web addresses within that namespace. ICANN says this can help organisations shape their online presence more directly and reduce the risk of misuse through lookalike or fraudulent domains.

The issue is particularly relevant for large consumer brands that face impersonation attempts online. Material accompanying the launch highlighted earlier adopters in Britain, including Barclays and Sky, which used custom domains after the 2012 round as part of efforts to tackle fraud and build trust with customers.

Interest in the commercial case for custom domain endings has also been supported by marketing departments. ICANN cited a recent study in which 92% of marketers recognised benefits from owning a gTLD, including differentiation, trust and search engine optimisation.

Security focus

ICANN has placed security alongside branding and community use as a main rationale for applications. A dedicated top-level domain, it says, can support stronger controls over online transactions and help organisations build defences against cyber threats affecting both brands and users.

That argument comes as online fraud remains a live concern for businesses operating consumer-facing websites and services. Brand impersonation and fake web addresses have become persistent tactics in phishing and scam campaigns, increasing pressure on companies to show customers that their digital channels are genuine.

Kurtis Lindqvist, ICANN's President and Chief Executive Officer, outlined the range of uses the organisation expects from applicants.

"gTLDs are unique digital tools that can be used in meaningful and innovative ways to help achieve long-term goals," Lindqvist said. "Whether building a brand for a company, spotlighting a geographic region or city, strengthening a community, or launching a business to offer domain names under a new registry, a new gTLD can be an innovative tool for commerce, security, and communication."

ICANN coordinates the internet's Domain Name System, which ensures that web addresses remain unique and can be matched to the correct online destination. Formed in 1998, it oversees a system that underpins how users and organisations reach websites and other internet services.

Running a top-level domain is more involved than registering a standard website address. Applicants must go through a formal review process and, if successful, take on responsibility for operating a registry that manages the domain ending and the addresses registered under it.

The latest round is likely to draw interest from a mix of large brands, public bodies, community organisations and specialist registry operators. Some applicants may seek a tightly controlled domain for internal or customer use, while others may aim to create a broader namespace tied to a sector, place or language community.

The reopening of applications revives a programme that has helped shape a more varied domain-name market since the last round. More than 1,200 new suffixes entered use after 2012, extending the internet's addressing system beyond long-established endings such as .com, .org and country-code domains.

The current process adds another stage to that expansion, with multilingual applications a central part of the latest round. ICANN says applications in 27 scripts would represent hundreds of languages used by billions of people around the world.