ICANN Reveals 2026 Round Applications for New Generic Top-Level Domains

ICANN announced the complete list of applications submitted for the 2026 round of new generic top-level domains (gTLDs), publishing applied-for strings, variants, contention sets, and public portions of each application. The submission window ran from 30 April to 12 August 2026 and produced 1,615 applications, including 333 branded gTLDs, 16 community-based applications, 15 self-identified geographic-name bids, 51 from Applicant Support Program recipients, 21 Internationalized Domain Name (IDN) strings and 9 variant requests. Regional origins are detailed: 864 applications from North America, 506 from Europe, 218 from Asia/Australia/Pacific, 21 from Africa, and 11 from Latin America and the Caribbean. ICANN’s CEO framed the filings as evidence of global innovation in online identity and emphasized administration of a fair, transparent evaluation process.

Key next steps and deadlines are set: a Replacement Period runs 8-21 October 2026, allowing eligible applicants to swap to alternate strings; String Confirmation Day on 17 November 2026 will publish the final string list and start the Community Input and Objections Period; applicants can withdraw for a 65% refund through 27 November 2026. The Community Input and Objections window runs 17 November 2026-16 March 2027 and accepts comments, Governmental Advisory Committee early warnings, singular/plural notifications, and formal objections. ICANN will pause operations for year-end closure 19 December 2026-4 January 2027 and will hold a Prioritization Draw in the first half of 2027 to set processing order after a roughly 180-day String Evaluation Stage.