I am probably sure that many noticed...that the first new gTLD applicant guidebook (and probably the upcoming one for the 2026 ICANN new gTLD Round) blocked interested applicants for submitting an application for the .LOCAL new generic Top-Level Domain.
It is the chosen one for innovative project "John Wolley" which focuses on city names but we have to take a different approach since this TLD is blocked.
Generic Names
We all know that one advantage to create a new domain name extension, a generic one, a dotBrand (or any other), is to benefit from the availability of "to be created" generic second level domains : domain names such as shoes.tld (".tld" is an example here), product.tld , mobile.tld or paris.tld
A real benefit
If the real SEO (Search Engine Optimization) benefit of using a generic name relies on what Google says, one think remains certain : the benefit of using a generic name is clear on a leaflet, a visit card, in the paper or online press. Reading a generic domain name is nicer and easier to comprehend than reading a descriptive domain name, and by the way : the shorter, the better.
City names and local visibility
Can generic city names such as "boston.tld" benefit for local content in search engine optimization? if - again - "Google decides", the benefit remains in the title : a word is a word and "boston" alone as the second level domain name says it all : a website with this generic domain name is probably going to be about the city of Boston. I asked that exact same question to an AI and this is the answer received :
"...notably Google, explicitly state that geoTLDs are treated like other generic TLDs (.com, .org) and do not provide any direct algorithmic ranking advantage for local searches based on the TLD itself. Keywords within the TLD also offer no direct SEO benefit. In contrast, country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) like .uk or .ca do serve as strong geographic signals for country-level targeting."
Scary, isn't?
Now, it also says this:
"Potential benefits of city TLDs like .boston are primarily indirect, stemming from branding and user perception. They can strongly signal local relevance, potentially enhancing user trust, reinforcing community connection, and possibly improving click-through rates (CTR) from local searchers who recognize the geographic identifier."Much nicer.
Conclusion
Using city names as second level domains for local content makes sense in the next round of the ICANN new gTLD program. Industrializing such domain name creations using a .BRAND Top-Level Domain makes the project a cash machine if the minimum annual income per domain is $40. To learn more about this project : talk to us.
