Overview
- ICANN, the body that oversees internet addresses, is now taking applications for new generic top‑level domains in its first round since 2012, with the window set to close on August 12, 2026.
- The round accepts strings in 27 writing systems to expand Internationalized Domain Names, bringing support for languages that use scripts such as Arabic, Chinese, Devanagari, and Thai.
- Applying requires use of ICANN’s TLD Application Management System and close adherence to the Applicant Guidebook, which lays out questions, technical checks, and policy rules.
- The application fee is $227,000, and the multi‑year process includes a public “Reveal Day” of applied‑for strings, rights‑based objections, and auctions to resolve conflicts, with outcomes expected to stretch toward 2030.
- Top‑level domains are the part of a web address after the last dot, and past rounds created spaces like .microsoft, .africa, .bank, and .eco, which offered branding control and local identity but also raised concerns about squatting and uneven commercial success.