Lessons from .CV: Making a gTLD Work Without a Registrar's Distribution Muscle

The typical route for growing a domain registry leans heavily on registrar distribution. But what happens when that channel isn’t enough - or isn’t working for your target audience?

.CV, originally the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Cape Verde, has undergone a quiet transformation. It now operates more like a generic top-level domain (gTLD) — repositioned and reimagined for global individual use, specifically for resumes and personal branding.

We’ve learned some tough but valuable lessons: registrars don’t always drive demand for niche-use gTLDs. Despite signing on with more than 20 registrars, .CV saw minimal movement in its audiences - curriculum vitae, cryptoverse. The product needed more than shelf space — it needed a purpose and direct distribution.

So we turned the model on its head: instead of waiting for users to find .CV through traditional channels, we built our own demand-side path. A product called Hello.CV now offers users theirname.cv — a complete, AI-powered resume site — bypassing the need to shop through registrars at all. Users sign up for a personal domain, generate a profile site, and link it to job applications or social bios in minutes. Think of it as Linktree meets LinkedIn, but with your own domain.

In doing so, we’re not just registering domains — we’re solving a problem. And that, more than anything, is what many new gTLD applicants should think about heading into Round 2: what job does your domain do? Who is it built for? And can you reach them directly?

We’re not anti-registrar — we’re just realistic. For gTLDs with a specific or emerging use case, assuming registrars will do the heavy lifting is optimistic at best. Building demand-side products, integrating into real-world workflows (like job applications), and going direct to users might be the only way to win in a cluttered namespace future.

.CV is our test case. It’s a ccTLD behaving like a gTLD, built to serve people — not just protect brands. The early signs are promising. We’ll keep sharing what we learn.

The gTLD Directory

A Directory for Applicants and Service Providers

With the next Round of the ICANN new gTLD program to launch in 2026, new gTLD applicants search for new gTLD Providers and Providers search for clients : one wants to discover that there is more than his Registrar to ask questions to and the other wants to acquire more visibility.

The gTLD Directory is Free

The Directory is free to register to and there is no need to be friend of a friend to be listed. I list all new gTLD providers wanting to register. I yet have not found a way to acquire even more visibility for subscribers but I will offer a way to advertise when I return in September. It is quite possible that I offer the first three positions on top of the list or...banners.

How it works

1. Go to https://www.gtld.directory/
2. Scroll down to "Submit Your Information:"
3. Fill-in the four empty fields and tick the services your offer
4. Click on "Submit"

Once this is done, I will receive your details, I will check and add you to the listing.

More new gTLD questions asked to the AI

These are the latest questions we asked an AI:

1. 2026 new gTLD applications: what is the name collision risk mitigation?
2. New gTLD applications: what are the PICS?
3. New gTLDs: when creating a new Registry, do you need sales roles?
4. Whose role is it to prospect, at a new gTLD Registry, to generate interest in Premium domain names?
5. What is the Escrow fee when submitted a new gTLD application to the ICANN?
6. Can you submit a new gTLD project to Google Registry?
7. Can you submit a new gTLD project to Amazon Registry?
8. What is the IBDNS?
9. What are IDNs generic Top-level domains?
10. Why new gTLD registry providers don't publish their offer(s) yet?
11. On LinkedIn, there is a group named "New gTLDs & .BRANDs" : what is it about?
12. New gTLDs: what about the FBI screening when submitting an application to the ICANN?
13. New gTLDs: why go to ICANN 83 in Prague?
14. Do I buy my new domain name extension at the ICANN?
15. What is a dotBrand new gTLD?

Follow our questions on www.gtld.blog.

.PARIS : can the Backend Registry help sales?

As published on the 06/24/2025, it is with no surprise that the AFNIC was renewed as the Backend-Registry provider of the .PARIS new generic Top-Level Domain.

The announcement

What caught my attention in the announcement is this paragraph :

"Afnic’s remit will also be expanded to include communication and promotion of the .paris TLD, as well as the development of initiatives designed to increase its adoption by businesses and private individuals."

The Backend Registry is also going to include communication to its role. My understanding of this paragraph is that the number of domain name created ("sold" ?) should evolve to...more domain names on the market.

An interesting test

If more communication to me means more domain name registrations, it is going to be easy to check if the Backend Registry does a good job : .PARIS domain name registrations have stagnated around 25,000 in 2023 and dropped to 19,500 in 2024 and 2025 (up to June 2025). These numbers should therefore ...increase.

The role of the Backend Registry provider

If such a communication role was not really the role of Backend Registries in the first Round of the ICANN new gTLD program in 2012, this trend could develop since :

• some Backed-Registry providers also own one or more Registrars which can greatly contribute to launching a new Registry (and help bringing more domain names to the market faster).
• there are more Backend Registries who want clients for the next Round of the ICANN new gTLD program : they come in competition with already existing providers.
• there are now lots of Backend Registry providers with experience from the first Round of ICANN new gTLDs : they need to add that little something more to their offer to generate interest. Contributing to a Registry's communication is a strong asset in an offer.
• some Backend-Registry providers already offer the "key-in-hand solution", adding the feasibility study to writing and submitting the new gTLD application to the ICANN. These are very competitive solutions but are they enough? They don't address the important question : how do you increase sales?

It is a good announcement by the AFNIC to take such role in contributing to the .PARIS communication. For those interested, we have asked the following question to an AI : "New gTLDs: when creating a new Registry, do you need sales roles?". It is answered here : www.gtld.blog.

This article was first published on CircleId.

What I think about .BRANDs

There is a lot of interest about .BRAND new gTLDs for the ICANN Round 2 of new gTLDs to take place in 2026 but to me...for the wrong reasons.

I won't list all reasons why it makes sense to create a .BRAND Top-Level Domain since all service providers already do that but here is what I think at the moment:

1. .BRAND new gTLDs interest Trademarks who want to exist but the level of knowledge is still very low about what one can do with a .BRAND and my fear today is that many are going to throw their money by the window submitting a new gTLD application because they don't have a project. Numbers never lie.
   A single domain name to operate en entire website can cost less than $10 a year : why would a Trademark pay $25,000.00 a year, just in ICANN taxes, to own a .BRAND if it has no project to develop its own portfolio of domain names? Just "brand protection"? Come on...
2. Owning a .BRAND makes sense for many reasons and an important one is the availability of generic keywords...geographic ones too. This availability also means that the number of domain names available is unlimited.
   Volume is key here: if creating a multitude of domain name redirection makes no sense to me (I don't see the real SEO advantage, I only see the zero branding one), using "dotBranded" domain names included to an online platform makes much more sense: such a service can be "sold and renewed" like domain names are, once a year. Owning a .BRAND can be very profitable is the domain name comes renewed with a service attached to it. When adding the domain name to a service, the domain name is marketed/promoted every time the service increases in value.
   The difference with a generic application is that a .BRAND Registry decides if his "client" can use his platform (also its domain name) or not. Therefore, the .BRAND Registry is in charge of marketing its service since it cannot use the network of accredited Registrars. Welcome to Domain Names As A Service.

To consider your upcoming new gTLD project with creativity (and not waste your time and money with Web3 domains), Jovenet Consulting can help you innovate for the next Round of the ICANN new gTLD program.

The “intentionally broken” DNS server

Extracted from the introduction to the AFNIC service: 

"Afnic, the association in charge of the .fr top-level domain and several other French overseas and generic TLDs, announced today the release as free software of its tool named IBDNS, standing for Intentionally Broken DNS."

More here. 

The .MUSIC OECD Program

New gTLDs : want to connect with the Middle East?

Talk to Mohammad Alammuri :