I remember when I worked for a registry (not a registrar) before the first launch of gTLD's. Bizarrely one of the products they were excited to promote was not to register domains under a TLD, but rather, to _block_ them. The idea being that if you wanted to make sure someone else didn't register <company_name>.[sucks, stupid, whatever] you had to pay them (Donuts) to make sure it didn't happen. It felt extortionate.
I worked on the .name application, and it was a key thing we were basically required to demonstrate we could do even back in 2000. ICANN was obsessed with protecting trademark holders.
CalRobert 18 hours ago [-]
They certainly charged a pretty penny for this protection!
thayne 1 days ago [-]
> It felt extortionate.
Because it is.
whalesalad 1 days ago [-]
the domain industry is completely insane
macintux 1 days ago [-]
In fairness, the problem they're trying to solve is insanely complex. Not surprising that the solution went off the rails.
zokier 1 days ago [-]
gTLDs include .com, .org, .info etc, so they have been around pretty much since the beginning of public dns
I'll never cease to be amazed at what large companies will throw hundreds of thousands of dollars at just to _apply_ for a new gTLD. I mean what's the demand for whatever.superintelligence? Nobody is going to type that or notice it in a URL bar and think anything but "damn, that's a long TLD" while the dozens of other shorter AI focused TLDs sit there too.
socializer 24 hours ago [-]
It is not an exaggeration that tech companies have far, far more money than they know what to do with. Not all spending looks good to investors, so layoffs must happen, but this is nothing compared to the amounts of money Google, Meta, etc, blow on completely inexplicable / SVP vanity projects every year.
bwblabs 1 days ago [-]
Checked all primary strings for length, the 3 longest (excluding punycode notations):
.superintelligence (17)
.registeredagent (15)
.meditativemind (14)
.intelligence (12) is also in the top 10 longest primary strings.
duskwuff 1 days ago [-]
Non-tech companies are getting sucked in, too - see, for example, the applications for .airliquide, .capitalgroup, .dinebrands, .massimodutti, .newbalance, .stubhub, .warhammer, .zarahome, and so on.
From what I've seen thus far, most brand TLDs never get used. (The only significant exception that comes to mind is .google, and even they never really committed to using it.) Who's been going around convincing these companies to apply for this round?
bwblabs 1 days ago [-]
Google mainly uses .goog for infrastructure (from cloud, gclb, gke, pki, to printer.in) while .google is more of the about page of services.
reaperducer 24 hours ago [-]
The pharmaceutical company Hisamitsu uses its TLD:
Some of these keywords are so valuable that I see them all forming a consortium of sorts to share access amongst themselves.
DANmode 1 days ago [-]
Or they’ll give it to the highest bidder =\
It should be available to the public and businesses without a(nother) company in between: if we had our act together.
colemannugent 1 days ago [-]
I think .cos and .con should probably be rejected for typosquatting concerns.
MomsAVoxell 24 hours ago [-]
I'm pretty sure I'd be very happy reading something on just.cos every day, and as well copy.con too, might be very topical .. but sin.cos and contra.con and bin.con are gonna get bumpy ..
If my counting is correct (the results wrap across multiple pages), 13 companies applied for the .agent TLD.
zamadatix 1 days ago [-]
The CSV download button gives the full table.
layer8 1 days ago [-]
Amusingly, .scam is being applied for.
Georgelemental 1 days ago [-]
A real scam would never use that TLD, it would be too obvious. Therefore, you know any .scam website must be legit
thayne 1 days ago [-]
The real scam is getting companies to pay to make sure someone else doesn't register companyname.scam.
jmm5 1 days ago [-]
...or that's just what they want you to think.
stenchlak 1 days ago [-]
“SCAM means a dishonest scheme designed to deceive. .SCAM gives people a place to
exercise free speech, share warnings and help others spot trouble before it spreads.
Turn the word against deception.”
XYZ.COM LLC as applying entity
suhaybh 16 hours ago [-]
I put together a quick website to explore the 2026 new gTLD applications, including the applicants and the strings they've applied for.
That is a pretty cool website. Thank you for making it.
cute_boi 1 days ago [-]
"ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet."
No, ICANN mission is to make more money and maintain strong monopoly. Maybe they can be honest about it.
mapontosevenths 22 hours ago [-]
".exe" here I come.
PowerElectronix 1 days ago [-]
Someone applied for .slop, I hope they make it.
swozey 1 days ago [-]
I was so proud of myname.dev maybe 5-10 years ago, migrating it to .slop will really bring in 2027, I hope they let me
nubinetwork 1 days ago [-]
Please, no more... don't we already have enough junk tlds?
an0malous 1 days ago [-]
No because domain squatters take 99% of the good ones.
Although it seems better for .ai where the price has been increased so that you have to pay $180 for the first 2 years. There are still a lot of squatters but not as many as the cheap TLDs, and $180 is still within range for a startup or hobbyist so I hope more TLDs do this.
mitxela 11 hours ago [-]
No because ICANN needs money again.
These events have nothing to do with domains. They are funding rounds for the corrupt organisation known as ICANN.
steele 1 days ago [-]
Thanks for all the phish
slartibardfast0 1 days ago [-]
can't believe their going to get away with stealing & re-allocating third level .name addresses while simultaneously enshittifying the domain name system with any of these unworthy and over-long addresses.
Apparently it's still a thing. https://kb.centralnicreseller.com/services/brand-protection/...
Because it is.
Charleston Road Registry Inc. (doing business as Google Registry): agent, alphabet, api, ask, beam, browser, cast, chromebook, chromium, classroom, deepmind, find, fitbit, gem, gemini, gemma, genie, gke, intelligence, keep, lens, lesson, lyria, maps, mcp, nest, pixel, share, sheets, shorts, slides, teach, ultra, veo, vids, waymo, waze, wear, workspace
.superintelligence (17)
.registeredagent (15)
.meditativemind (14)
.intelligence (12) is also in the top 10 longest primary strings.
From what I've seen thus far, most brand TLDs never get used. (The only significant exception that comes to mind is .google, and even they never really committed to using it.) Who's been going around convincing these companies to apply for this round?
https://us.hisamitsu
It should be available to the public and businesses without a(nother) company in between: if we had our act together.
Apparently .agent the most requested with 13 orgs applying for it.
Followed by .bit with 11, and .api, .brand, .hub with 10 each.
And apparently "Link Freedom Group Ltd" has 213 active applications, and "XYZ.COM LLC" has 182 active applications.
If my counting is correct (the results wrap across multiple pages), 13 companies applied for the .agent TLD.
XYZ.COM LLC as applying entity
https://sohib.github.io/icann-2026-gtld-explorer/
No, ICANN mission is to make more money and maintain strong monopoly. Maybe they can be honest about it.
Although it seems better for .ai where the price has been increased so that you have to pay $180 for the first 2 years. There are still a lot of squatters but not as many as the cheap TLDs, and $180 is still within range for a startup or hobbyist so I hope more TLDs do this.
These events have nothing to do with domains. They are funding rounds for the corrupt organisation known as ICANN.
abion, acc, account, accounting, ace, acg, act, action, active, ada, add, adeka, adidas, adk, admin, admiral, adobe, adventhealth, adventure, advice, advisor, advisors, advisory, aeon, agc, age, agent, agentic, agentid, agentur, agi, agile, agnt, agt, aiagent, aid, aiglasses, aio, aiq, air, airbnb, airliquide, airo, ais, akamai, album, alexa, algo, alicloud, all, alliance, allianz, allin, aloha, alpha, alphabet, alsac, alsok, alum, alumni, ami, amor, amp, analog, anime, anon, ans, ansid, antel, anthropic, any, ape, apex, api, apparel, applebees, arabbank, arc, archive, arena, argenx, article, artisan, artisanal, artist, arzt, asap, asdf, asi, ask, ass, asset, association, astro, asus, ate, atelier, athletics, atkinsrealis, atl, atlas, atom, atos, att, attbusiness, atto, audit, aura, auth, automation, avax, ave, avocat, axis, axon, backup, bad, bag, bakery, bali, ball, bang, bankofamerica, bao, base, bau, bay, bazaar, bbq, bca, bci, bdo, beach, beam, beijing, ber, bershka, beta, betr, bewell, bff, big, bili, bilibili, bill, bin, biontech, biotech, bistro, bit, bitcoin, bland, bldg, blend, bln, block, blvd, bmo, bnb, board, body, bold, bolt, boom, boost, borg, borrow, boss, bpce, brain, branch, brand, bremen, brew, bro, browse, browser, bsky, btc, btgpactual, btr, btw, bud, budapest, buddy, bug, bun, butterfly, cake, campania, cams, cancel, cannabis, canuck, canva, canvas, cap, capcut, capitalgroup, cardano, carecredit, cart, cartoon, cas, cashpro, cast, catalog, cater, cause, ccc, cdn, cell, cencora, central, century, cert, certified, chain, change, charge, chatgpt, check, chef, chess, chevron, chi, chic, chip, christian, chromebook, chromium, ciao, cibc, civic, class, classroom, claude, claw, clean, cleaners, clear, cli, cloak, clone, cloudflare, cmo, cms, cna, cnp, cnpassurances, coaching, codex, coin, collection, collective, come, comedy, comics, commerce, commercial, compute, con, concierge, conex, conf, config, connect, consult, consultants, contest, control, converse, copilot, core, corp, corporation, cos, cosmetics, cosplay, cot, counseling, couture, craft, craps, create, creations, creative, creator, crew, crm, crypto, csc, cscglobal, csr, ctrl, culture, cupshe, cyb, cyber, cygames, daihatsu, daily, daiwa, dao, dapp, dash, datadog, daybreak, ddd, decor, deep, deepmind, deeptech, defense, defi, demo, den, dentistry, deploy, depot, develop, developer, development, device, dia, dian, did, dine, dinebrands, dmgmori, dna, dns, docomo, dola, donate, donor, door, doubao, douyin, dpp, dragon, dream, drink, droid, drone, drop, dub, dunlop, duo, dyna, earn, easy, ebay, echo, echostar, edge, edible, edit, eero, ego, elect, electric, elite, engine, english, ens, ent, enter, entity, epic, eqt, equs, era, erica, esg, esports, etc, ether, ethereum, ethers, etsy, euro, evals, exfy, exness, exp, expedia, explore, expo, ext, extra, extravaganza, eye, fab, facebook, fact, factory, fafo, fair, fam, fanatics, fandom, fantasy, fanuc, faq, fart, fastly, fav, feed, fest, festival, fight, file, files, find, finder, fintech, firm, fitbit, fix, flagscape, flipkart, flow, flux, focus, folder, folio, follow, for, force, forge, form, format, forms, founder, foundry, frame, frankfurt, frax, freedom, freelance, fresh, frhc, frommeta, ftw, fuel, fujitv, fundraise, funny, furry, fusion, future, gamecocks, gamer, gaming, gas, gate, gateway, gear, geek, gehealthcare, gem, gemini, gemma, gen, general, generalinc, genesys, genie, get, getaway, ghost, gig, gilead, girl, gis, git, gke, glam, glasses, gleif, glitch, globe, glow, gmi, goat, god, goldmansachs, good, goods, gossip, goto, gpt, gram, graph, great, grid, grit, grow, growth, gtld, guard, guild, gym, hack, haier, haierbros, hakuhodo, halara, hall, ham, han, hao, happy, hard, hash, hat, haute, heart, hello, her, hero, hers, hey, hid, hike, hill, hilton, hims, hip, hire, hisense, hit, hive, hodl, hola, homecare, honey, hongguo, hop, hope, hospitality, howto, huawei, hub, hubid, hug, huge, human, humanity, hund, hunt, huo, hvac, hype, iam, icon, icp, ics, idea, identity, idk, ify, ihop, iii, image, immersive, impact, indeed, index, indie, indigenous, inditex, industrial, industry, inf, infinite, inn, ins, insights, insta, instagram, intel, intelligence, inter, interiors, internet, inv, invest, invite, ion, ipr, ish, ishere, island, item, itis, itiswhatitis, ity, ivf, jackpot, jackson, jazz, jbs, jelly, jera, jet, jia, jin, jjj, join, joinus, journal, journey, jtg, jtgroup, jti, juliusmeinl, kai, kaneka, kao, kart, kawaii, kawasaki, keep, kek, kernel, key, kgs, kick, king, kit, know, koala, konicaminolta, kord, krafton, kuiper, lab, label, labs, laden, lake, lan, landcros, lane, larus, leads, league, learn, learning, ledger, lefties, legacy, legami, lei, lend, lens, leo, lesson, let, level, lfg, liebherr, lifetime, lift, light, line, links, linz, lipovitan, list, listing, lit, livescore, lkab, llama, llm, lmao, lmax, lmk, lms, loc, lock, lodge, log, logic, login, logistics, look, loop, lore, lot, lounge, lovable, lowes, luck, luckin, luckincoffee, lugano, lvs, lyria, machine, mad, mag, maga, magavip, mai, mail, make, maker, mall, manga, maps, mark, mars, mart, mask, massage, massimodutti, master, mate, math, matrix, matt, max, mazda, mbda, mcp, mech, meditative, meditativemind, medley, meeting, mei, meinl, meli, mem, member, memo, memory, mempool, mentor, meow, merch, merlin, merrill, mesh, messenger, met, meta, metaai, metaglasses, metaverse, michelin, min, mind, mine, mission, mitsui, mix, mizuho, mkt, mmm, mod, mode, model, module, mono, montecarlo, mood, moon, more, motion, motors, move, msft, msig, muenchen, mufg, muse, mvp, mychart, myntra, nas, nation, national, nav, near, need, neko, neo, nerd, nest, neumann, neural, newbalance, nft, nhl, nice, nightlife, nil, nissin, nlp, node, noe, nomura, nonprofit, north, not, note, notes, notion, nova, novartis, novo, novocare, npc, nrs, nsfw, ntv, null, nusa, nut, nutrition, oai, official, oid, oil, okay, okta, okx, ola, ole, olympic, omg, only, onn, opc, openai, opensource, operator, opinion, oppo, ops, orb, order, organization, organize, original, oss, otaku, oto, out, outlet, owl, own, oysho, pack, pai, painting, pal, palantir, panda, park, pass, passion, passkey, passport, path, paws, pax, pch, pdf, peach, pec, peptides, person, personal, pflege, pharma, phi, php, pia, pickleball, pico, pill, pinet, pit, pix, pixel, pki, plan, planet, planner, platform, playlist, plaza, plc, plex, pltr, pod, podcast, point, pool, pop, port, portal, portfolio, pos, pot, pov, pow, power, ppp, praxis, predict, premium, present, presto, pride, print, private, product, products, profile, program, project, prompt, proto, protocol, proton, prototype, proxy, pubg, public, publishing, puff, pullandbear, pump, punk, purpose, push, qai, qqq, quant, quantum, queen, query, quince, quiz, quote, qwe, qwen, qwer, race, radar, railway, ralphlauren, ramp, ranch, rank, rankings, rap, rare, rating, raw, rblx, real, realm, records, recovery, rednote, reels, registeredagent, rem, remax, renewable, reno, rep, reply, repo, res, research, reservation, resona, resort, resources, resume, retail, rev, rewards, ring, ripple, risk, ritres, road, roblox, robot, robotaxi, robotics, roku, roland, roma, roof, roofing, round, rrr, saas, sabre, safari, sage, saison, salesforce, salzburg, san, sands, sat, say, scale, scam, scan, scania, sci, screen, sdk, sea, sec, secom, securitas, see, seiko, seite, self, sell, send, seniors, sennheiser, sense, seo, server, set, share, sheets, shield, shift, shimano, shinoken, shionogi, ship, shiro, shopify, shorts, sicredi, sign, sim, simplii, sito, skill, skills, slack, slay, sleep, slides, sloan, slop, slot, smb, smbc, smith, smtb, snow, snowflake, sns, soc, socialmedia, society, sodexo, soft, sokagakkai, sol, solana, solo, sompo, soon, sos, sou, soul, sound, source, sov, spark, special, speed, spice, spirit, spring, squad, src, sss, stack, stake, start, stats, status, stay, steel, stem, stiftung, stjude, stock, stone, story, stradivarius, strategy, street, stripe, stubhub, stupid, substrate, sugar, sui, summit, super, superintelligence, sure, survey, sus, sushi, sushiro, sview, swap, swedbank, swi, swift, sync, synchrony, syndicate, synth, sys, tableau, taco, tada, tag, taisho, takamiya, tanaka, tap, taser, task, taylorswift, tbd, tbs, tea, teach, telegram, telus, temple, ten, tether, tex, text, the, therapist, therapy, thing, this, threads, tiger, tiktok, time, tiny, tisi, tkns, tldr, tnl, token, tokiomarine, tom, tone, toppan, toy, track, trademark, traffic, trail, train, trainer, transcend, transit, translate, transport, tree, trek, trending, trends, trimble, trip, triumph, tron, tropic, truck, true, trump, truth, trx, try, ttt, tumblr, tutorial, tvasahi, twente, twin, twitch, twosigma, twt, uber, ufo, uid, ulm, ultra, ultraview, uni, union, unit, united, universe, unlimited, update, upload, upsa, url, usc, usdt, use, user, uvw, uwu, valid, valley, value, van, vault, vegan, vend, venue, veo, ver, vercel, verein, verified, versant, vert, via, vibe, vid, vids, vienna, view, village, vintage, viral, virtual, visit, viv, voice, volunteer, vpn, vps, vrbo, vrs, vvv, wager, wallet, wan, want, war, warhammer, water, wave, waw, way, waymo, waze, wealth, wear, wearables, weed, weird, welcome, well, wellness, west, wew, what, whatsapp, whatsnew, why, wifi, wild, will, wire, wise, wit, wix, wiz, wizard, wonder, woo, wood, wordpress, workflow, workshop, workspace, wynn, xbt, xiaomi, xio, xmr, xn--04q76x2mcuuv / 海尔兄弟, xn--3ds443g / 在线, xn--3et971b / 海尔, xn--6oqv20b1zgzxr / 株式会社, xn--bur6r91txtx / 瑞幸咖啡, xn--ces6a / 地址, xn--czr694b / 商标, xn--eqr661e / 名片, xn--fiq228c5hs / 中文网, xn--fpy230a / 番茄, xn--g2xx48c / 购物, xn--gmq502atzh / 数字人, xn--gmqr38alogxt2a / 人工智能, xn--gmqz0qc7o / 机器人, xn--gtv852c / 红果, xn--hxt324i / 酒店, xn--imr513n / 餐厅, xn--io0a7i / 网络, xn--jvr800e / 品牌, xn--kbt444f / 官网, xn--lwt700c / 瑞幸, xn--npqq54o / 防伪, xn--pruv10j / 抖音, xn--qubec-csa / québec, xn--tqq477c0xs / 智能体, xn--uir314m / 钱包, xn--vuq143e / 海信, xoxo, xpi, xserver, xxl, yam, yay, yea, yeah, yes, ygeia, yoyo, yuasa, yueyang, yum, yyy, zan, zap, zarahome, zec, zen, zia, zillow, zoho, zoo, zoom, zzz
Not the worst outcome, but…it’s going to be a mess.