ICANN, the non-profit organization responsible for coordinating the Internet domain name system, completed the latest round of top-level domain name (gTLD) registration applications on August 12. In total, more than 1,600 applications were submitted, covering everything from uncommon terms to words related to artificial intelligence.
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Not all 1,600 domain names will be approved, and their list has not yet been disclosed. ICANN won’t announce it until nine weeks after the call – administrative review takes time to complete. Some applicants spoke of their own projects. Link Freedom Group, which participated in this round of financing, applied to register 316 top-level domain names, including .slop, .token, .agentic and .agi. Other applicants filed for .hype, .therapy, .tea and .itiswhatitis.
This is a significant shift from the early days of the web, which was dominated by the now classic .com, .org, and .net. In 2012, the number increased significantly: out of 1,900 applications, about 1,200 were approved, including enterprise applications, such as Microsoft; geographical ones, such as Africa; industry-specific ones, such as bank, etc. Such rounds are rarely held. After 2012, applications were closed and only opened this year.
Apps aren’t cheap. The fee is $227,000 each – fees may increase in high-risk or particularly complex cases. The deadline for applications is 15 weeks, but most applications arrive in the last few days. In addition to the new top-level domains, ICANN announced in early 2024 that it would introduce a new .internal zone to prevent network equipment manufacturers and enterprises from specifying local addresses such as 192.168.xx, a domain name that operates outside the public network. Other newcomers will have to wait another two months or so.
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