What about ideas of new gTLD applications?

I know many don't want these to be displayed as examples but hey...this is a subject for the next Round of new gTLDs: what type of generic and community projects could be successful ones? To me, they rely on two things:

1. Comparable numbers from the past 10 years of similar projects: www.gtld.report (numbers don't lie)
2. How the potential buyers of these domain names are connected to the Internet? Is it part of their activity, or not.

We also asked the AI other questions but, we will probably continue to dig for numbers in the future and show them here. Here are the last questions we asked an Artificial Intelligence:

1. Canva just launched Canva Code: which use could they have of a .CANVA new gTLD?
2. The .MALL new gTLD: how many malls exist worldwide?
3. The .GARAGE new gTLD: how many garages exist worldwide?
4. The .SEO new gTLD: how many SEO specialists exist worldwide?
5. The .MARINA new gTLD: how many marinas are there worldwide?
6. What would it cost to acquire the existing .CEO new gTLD Registry if it was for sale?
7. How much does it cost to acquire an existing new gTLD Registry?
8. How do you value a new gTLD Registry?
9. What are the extra costs for reviews in the 2026 ICANN new gTLD application round?

Answers are on The gTLD Blog.

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.

How old should your Trademark be for Round2 ?

It is a question we've asked the AI :

How old must a Trademark be to be submitted as a dotBrand type of application in the 2026 round of the ICANN new gTLD program?

Read its answer.

New gTLDs and naive thinking

It is naive thinking that one will create millions of new domain names with another new generic Top-Level Domain in 2026 : I don't believe in this since numbers prove the opposite (see https://www.gtld.report).

What I think about the next Round of the ICANN new gTLD program is that to earn money in 2026, the direction to take is to fully control a niche market using a dotBrand, not a generic, a geographic or a community TLD.

The network of accredited Registrar "does not sell", Registrars are a vitrine in which all new applicants think they will show up. Thinking Registrars will do the job of "selling" is naive : numbers don't lie.

The one to develop his business on his dotBrand (.brand), create domains added to a service, and control which domains to allow comes with something new...that sells.

Ask Jovenet Consulting for more.

New gTLDs : LOCAL = city names

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.

New gTLD providers : more visibility for Round 2 ?

Round 2 of new gTLDs is an important moment for new gTLD service providers to increase sales and reach out to new customers. The objective here is to develop visibility and "sell".

The offer :

This offer is to develop visibility prior to the launching of the next ICANN new gTLD Round to begin in 2026. This offer is to promote service providers' contents related to new generic Top-Level Domains.

Learn more.

Meeting : Next Round of New gTLDs (South Africa)

South Africa: Cape Town Stakeholders breakfast meeting co - hosted with Girl Hype regarding ICANN's upcoming Next Round of New Generic Top-Level Domains (ngTLDs) and the associated Applicant Support Program (ASP). This session aims to create awareness and provide visibility into these exciting initiatives that will shape the future of the Domain Name System.

Learn more here.

EURALO Round2 Table: some questions answered

A few things caught my attention :

1. 30 applications received from the Applicant Support Program,
2. 40 applications received from the Registry Service Provider Program,
3. Round Two is more expensive than Round One,
4. Bring new gTLD to operation = $2 million,
5. A lot of bad actors,
6. The "Infermal" study : a must read to understand better bad actors and how to unwelcome them to registering your TLD's domains.
7. Funding, Market Research and Security are essential,
8. Read new gTLD studies !
9. By 2026, new domain names my surpass 50 million registrations.
10. In terms of DNS abuse there are things you must do and things you can't do.
11. Becoming a Registry, important things to consider :
1. The purpose of the TLD,
2. How do you distribute your domains,
3. Policy development and pricing,
4. Registry launch,
5. Keep it private until you sign NDA.
12. At 34mn : GoDaddy provides feedback on differences between Round 1 and Round 2.
13. EURALO stands for European Regional At-Large Organization,
14. Undeserved regions and communities are not included in this program according to a participant.
15. Many French speakers in this presentation ;-)

Jovenet Consulting is here to help you with your questions. We are based in Paris - France and operate worldwide.

Round 2 is coming : compare your new gTLD project's figures

Interested in learning if your upcoming new gTLD application "will sell" in 2026 ? Compare your project with real figures ! One year in review from January 2024 to December 2024 : www.gtld.report

Learn more at Jovenet Consulting.

Project "John Wolley" : the pitch is available for Round 2 of new gTLDs.

Jovenet Consulting is focusing on innovation for Round 2 of new gTLDs and if lots of projects are advertised at the moment, all about the upcoming and awaited "Web3 revolution" and crypto wallets connecting to a domain name, one deals with something completely different.

Project John Wolley offers a new way to search for local content, thanks to city names operated under one single domain name extension.

We are offering to read the full pitch about the project so one can understand about details and read between the lines. You can download the pitch here.

Round 2 of ICANN new gTLDs will start no later than 1 August 2023

This is an official publication from the ICANN dated 16 March 2023:

"As part of the resolution, the Board directed ICANN organization (org) to deliver a comprehensive implementation plan, including a work plan, information for the infrastructure design, timelines, and anticipated resource requirements to achieve the necessary work to open the next round of gTLDs no later than 1 August 2023".

What does it mean?

Well, first, it certainly does not mean that this date will let new gTLD service providers submit their client's application(s). One would even be tempted to think that this is the publication's date of the awaited Applicant Guidebook so service providers clearly know what to tell their clients; but wait...nope...this is not what it means since deliverable 4 says something which ends with : "...that will impact the next Applicant Guidebook".

Still unclear

If only the person to have written this publication understands what it means, what matters is that this date is given by the ICANN and no other organization. Let's no forget that official dates provided by the ICANN were a real problem in the first Round of new gTLDs: many published "possible timelines" extracted from ICANN work groups and other participants to the program. This was a real problem since no one was then able to provide official dates to interested parties: lesson learnt from Round 1 of new gTLDs: "don't tell or write a date until it was first written by the ICANN".

Let's make it simple: after more than 10 years, we now have a date but let's make it clear: what potential new gTLD applicants need to proceed is:

1. a methodology: the next new gTLD Applicant Guidebook (also called "AGB"),
2. an official date to submit their application.

Read ICANN's official announcement here and contact Jovenet Consulting to prepare your project.

Is 2025 the year for new gTLDs ?

The ICA Business Intelligence Briefing on the Second Round of New gTLDs is a webinar with questions and estimates from ICANN insiders. You will hear about:

• The possible number of applications;
• Date when your budget should be organized for the next round;
• The famous "when" question;
• Pre-launch questions;
• Questions on the difference between the first AGB (remember that word, it stands for "Applicant GuideBook") and the next one;
• Should you discuss your project around ? ;-)
• A .CRYPTO new gTLD?
• The application fees;
• Global budget to consider;
• The end of private Auctions?
• A peace of advice for future applicants.

Listen to this Podcast

If you have the time to listen this long video, you will learn many questions that one should have prior to submitting an application. Some answers from ICANN insiders I agree with, some I think are complete dreamers, and some I understand that no one has ANY idea about the answer but the questions are very good ones.
You will also hear about things you absolutely can't understand because the vocabulary used is for people from the new gTLD industry. 

This is the typical exchange from service providers who definitely WANT the next round to happen tomorrow but who are now much more cautious with their answers because we all remember what happened in the first round with a launch date that came very late.

Frankly speaking, this one hour video is a compete summary of all the boring ICANN working group meetings that very few can attend and follow up with. I recommend.

A good video to watch.

  

Keep an eye on GoDaddy Registry for the next Round of the ICANN new gTLD program. Here is why.

The next round of the ICANN new gTLD program is coming and applicants will need to select a backend registry provider. This publication is not a paid one and I am not pointing to one specific provider. This is just "what I would do" if I needed to select a service provider in the two cases below:

1. A backend Registry for a .BRAND new gTLD application;
2. A backend Registry for a new gTLD project dedicated to selling domain names, whatever type of application: community, generic or geographic.

Which .BRAND new gTLD Backend registry provider?

I often wonder why Trademarks have to pay more for the exact same service as other standard users. In this example, I am referring to registries who sell domain names. My explanation here is that the second type of applicants usually has a team in place with knowledge and it is not necessary to pay for a certain number os services a .BRAND applicant would pay for. This is why the first type of applicant should pay more: the new gTLD procedure - whatever type of application - is one that requires knowledge in the long run. When the knowledge is not there...someone should pay for it. I guess it is why .BRAND applicant types should pay...more.

When it comes to the price, technically speaking, it is the exact same at the backend registry level. If you have one paid created domain name or 1 million, the process is the same so the price should be to me per domain name: it is the type of pricing I would look for as an applicant. Price can actually be below $1 per domain name created.

I would personally hunt for the cheapest offer at any provider with references. I am familiar with providers' blabla and as long as mine can help me reach out to the interface where I can press the button and create my personalized domain names, OK with me. I would also be careful with things such as ICANN reporting, compliance, monitoring, and escrow: my provider should be able to deal with these questions (note that some have a cost). Also, most backends can help you connect directly at your existing registrar so the technique should not be a problem.

Which new gTLD Backend Registry provider to sell domain names?

What I am going to write should probably not please everyone but this would be my way of thinking if I had to select a backend registry. There is one thing that I noticed about the first round of the ICANN new program: none of the applicants projections were there in terms of sales volumes. A new gTLD applicant who wants to "sell" domain names should select a backend registry that has the capacity to help him sell; and selling is very hard to achieve when creating a new registry. No, you will not sell one million domain names per year in the next round.

There are already many known names in the industry: many ccTLD providers offer such service, Core, Centralnic...but there is one that I am really following closely for this one very specific reason: selling should be the number one objective.

In the first round of new gTLDs and even today, all registries wanted to have their domain names on the number one selling platform worldwide: a Registrar. A Registrar is where domain names are sold to final end users (Registrants).

Yes, there is one major Registrar and it is the number one in terms of volumes. When a registry sells domain names, his domains need lots of visibility and the best visibility to receive is to be present on that number one selling platform worldwide. The problem here is that there are lots of registries, some with niche extensions of no interest, and ALL want to exist at THIS Registrar and at the same time. This Registrar is GoDaddy, it has a small frontpage but it serves the world: it is there where you want to be to sell your domain names fast.

Good news, following the acquisition of another provider, this Registrar is now a Backend Registry too and this is recent.

If a Registry (which includes the choice of a backend registry provider) is not allowed to differentiate Registrars in terms of pricing or whatever other service, it does not mean that it cannot instantly allow his client to appear at his Registrar and it is precisely this that I would negotiate with GoDaddy Registry if I were to become their client: "sign me in but have me at your Registrar in the long run, and on front page for at least a few months".

Remember that not all domain names extensions are available at GoDaddy and there is a reason for this:

• There are too many extensions with low volumes (which also means that they are not profitable enough for GoDaddy),
• Be on front page of GoDaddy is probably not a free service so why would GoDaddy bother about an extension...which is hosted at another backend registry provider? Wouldn't you focus on your client's success instead of those of another provider? Of course you would.
• Also and that is very important, GoDaddy can generate an income thank to its famous Registrar but also now, thank to its backend registry service so again: why bother about adding an extension to its Registrar platform where it would earn on the Registrar service only (selling domain names)?
• Adding a new extension requires time and effort.

What Backend Registry offer I would consider:

1. A full offer where the backend registry also submits and follows the submission of my application at the ICANN: not a third party nor a lawyer with no ICANN knowledge.
2. Knowledge of my provider about a possible objection and how to face it.
3. A capacity to accredit my extension at the backend registry's Registrar(s) if it has any. Note that many backend registries are not public Registrars and Registrars are the mandatory network to sell domain names.
4. A provider who has passed the ICANN technical accreditation: if there are more than 1,000 applications in the next round, no one knows if all applications will be submit and validated. What about those new backend registry providers who are not yet accredited by the ICANN: wouldn't it be less risky to select one that is already accredited?

Note that this is a personal thought on how I would think to select a backend registry provider. Since it is yet too early to submit an application, most offers are not available online and even when they will be, not everything will be written so there will be space to negotiate. I also hope this publication will help backend registries to build their offers. Note that some backend registries sold their business...but there are new comers approaching.

How exciting :-)

New gTLD Project John Wolley WANTS YOU !

2023 is not so far away and to be set up before the next round of new gTLD starts, I look for (a) partner(s) interested in financing new gTLD innovation. 

What is project John Wolley?

The project is a combination of local directories operated behind a single domain name extension: "domain names as a service". In more simple words, project John Wolley is a Universal Directory with plenty of great ideas inside to make this project both a "solidaire" and a lucrative one.

Are welcome:

• Accredited Registrars,
• Existing Registries,
• Backend Registry providers,
• Financial Institutions,
• Experienced Entrepreneurs willing to invent something new.

For a detailed explanation of the project (under NDA), contact Jean Guillon.

Countries interested (as of today):

• United States of America
• Bulgaria
• France
• Luxembourg
• Belgium
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• Mexico

Want to learn more about "the next Round"?

I keep having that question: "when is the next round?" and "what's your estimation?". Well, I like to give my opinion but ICANN history has clearly demonstrated that no date should ever be given unless it was published by the ICANN itself on its website somewhere. So no, I don't think it will be in 2022.

The next Applicant Guidebook

The applicant guidebook (also called the "AGB") is your next Bible and believe me, reading it is a total nightmare when you have no knowledge of the new gTLD application procedure: don't let this 338 pages PDF block you from submitting your application. By the way, the document I am referring to is dated 2012: it is the official documentation from the previous round of new gTLDs, the existing one is still being discussed and written.

I want to learn more

So you want to learn more? There is a way. Again, don't think that you will understand all of it but the positive thing about this is that there is documentation at the moment, a lot of it. The next official guidebook is being drafted and you can even contribute. Note that you will need to select the right group(s) to follow and learn to work in the distance doing meetings in the middle of the night and receive documentation that only the person who wrote it understands it. That is how it works but if you succeed in following the work group (which is a very big deal for me), you will start to understand what's coming upfront for the next round of new gTLDs. You will also understand how tortured are the participants ;-)

Where do I go?

I am only interested about "new gTLDs" so the path that I would suggest to follow is this one:

1. Visit the "New gTLD Subsequent Procedures PDP Home" (see here);
   
2. In the left column, there is blabla but point 2 tells you when the next meetings are (you will have to scroll down the list for the latest meetings). Note that these pages are then updated with the content of the meeting and an agenda is proposed prior to each meeting. It is this content you want to follow-up with to have an idea of what the actual discussions are for the next round of new gTLDs, and this is what you will probably read in the next Applicant Guidebook.
3. To receive plenty of email with updates about ICANN new gTLDs, you can subscribe here: all reminders and publications related to active projects are emailed there (if you would like to join an active working group, you will need to email your request).
4. Point 3 is king of disorganized and some subjects are outdated, I stick to point 2 personally.

My opinion on this process

I think it is a long one but I am the only one to think that, or am I? Also, you have to perfectly read English...but everyone speaks English right? I would love to be able to contribute more but the ICANN vocabulary is dictated by those exact same service providers you will have to talk to, to submit your new gTLD application so it is hardly understandable for new comers. For this exact same reason some will select the wrong service provider and pay an haw-full price for the submission of their application and its maintenance.

When it is time

At some point, the ICANN will give us a date. At that moment, you will have decided to apply because your project will also have been prepared upfront: this is important, don't get there with your first questions. A few things to consider:

1. Talk to more than one service provider AND DON'T LISTEN TO THE ONE THAT TELLS YOU ABOUT HIS FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE BECAUSE EXISTING FIGURES CLEARLY SHOW THAT MANY PROJECTS HAVE FAILED ;-) Remember that there has been one ICANN new gTLD round only in the history of Internet. 
2. Don't tell about your string but at the last moment and be very careful about NDAs: meeting with more than one service provider in competition in the same room is the number one mistake.
3. Don't sign a stupid contract with an exit fee or a minimum number of domains to create: try to get a price per domain created below the $1.
4. Don't forget about the annual 10,000 ICANN tax: if your plan is to create a .BRAND new gTLD, it WILL cost you a lot to use you personalized domain names.
5. Consider innovation and not just selling domain names.

The .RIHANNA new gTLD

I investigated a little bit and I found that no super star operates his or her own Name or Trademark as a new domain name extension. As a fan, I believe that the Rihanna string is a good case figure to take a look at...in terms of online innovation.

The first thing that I did was to enter Rihanna on a search engine: not only I made a mistake in writing the name (mixing the “i” and the “h”) but I also forgot an “n”. I found plenty of content on the first page about my superstar. In the order: some “top stories” from various sources of information, then the Wikipedia page, the link to her twitter account, a rihannanow.com website with an old kind of title, her Instagram account, then a YouTube channel, etc…

There is a “.com”
I notice the RihannaNow.com domain name is listed but I didn’t see the Rihanna.com, even if it does exist. It seems that someone chose to communicate on the RihannaNow.com rather than the Rihanna.com domain name. I sincerely hope that this same person noticed that there is a “.now” domain name extension coming anytime soon: something like Rihanna.now could be an idea but hey...this is not the subject here.
All superstars tend to do the same

Beyoncé displays the exact same content in Google, in the exact same order. Madonna does almost the same too. I quite like Sting too and guess what: they all have their name ending in “.com” and the exact same communication channels (Yes Wikipedia is a channel, Twitter, Facebook, a website… but none uses his or her name as a new domain name extension: there is are no domain names ending in “.rihanna”, “.beyoncé” (with an accent), “.madonna” or “.sting”.

Rihanna is not just a singer
Rihann is a singer but she also “is” lingerie with Savagex and “cosmetics” like perfume trademarks and names, etc: dozens of generic strings like “perfume”, “fashion”, “bio”, “shop”, or “fragrance” that any communication specialist would want to use on the Internet to increase visibility for the super star’s products: doesn’t something like www.perfume.rihanna looks descriptive? What about www.fragrance.rihanna : not nicer than www.rihannanow.com/fragrance/?

What about www.charity.rihanna : wouldn’t it be instantly recognizable when searching for her involvement into the Clara Lionel Foundation?

Music.rihanna makes sense too and there are many more to suggest when digging on her main website.

Branding but not only
There are many other advantages when focusing on one single branding for Internet (security, brand protection, positioning, U-N-I-C-I-T-Y, etc…) instead of several different domains names but if many, like Jovenet Consulting, have already discussed this, there is one thing for sure: there are no superstars to have considered taking advantage of the new gTLD tool as a Brand...yet.

ICANN Round 2: What You Should Know

This article was first published on CircleID.

There are 2 things to know and 1 thing to do "first".

What you should know

1. We need a date. Even the ICANN has no clue when the next round will start and if it does, you should know that the first round has to be finished prior for the next one to start. This is what the previous applicant guidebook says. Read it if you feel like entering our strange world. No exact definition of "first round has to be finished prior for the next one starts" so clearly...it is really up to the ICANN to give us a date but according to what I read, some cases are not yet ended and the .AMAZON new gTLD is a good example to give. I read that the ICANN would announce a date in the Marrakesh meeting...great. Note that without an official announcement from the ICANN with a firm date of the next round...nothing happens.
2. We need the latest applicant guidebook. This one is a long story and a long document to write. Many groups are working on it for the ICANN but...you have to participate to them and "attend webinars" to follow-up with this. Note that once the applicant guidebook has been revealed, it is the same for all and there is no "passe droit" at the ICANN to have your application submitted first before your competitor. I would even suggest not to deal with ICANN insiders (who can also be new gTLD service providers) too much because no one knows if conflict of interests could be revealed, putting the submission of your application in danger. Without the official - and final - applicant guidebook announced and published by the ICANN...nothing happens. ICANN decides.

What you should do "first"

There is one obvious thing to do FIRST: what do you want to do with your domain name extension?

• If you want to sell domain names becoming a registry, you have to know if there is a market and you should study numbers too: if neither a market nor numbers are there, you will waste your money and fail your project. Think that Premium domain names will save your project? Good luck to you then but it is a risky decision. Note that if your TLD is any good (.DRONE - .SEO - .TRANSLATE - .WHATEVER...)...but not so good in the end, there could be someone (a backend-registry service providers, entrepreneur, etc...) to buy it from you to help you get rid of it...or not. But is that what you want to achieve? There are failed projects and some keep failing still because...demand is not there.
  Before you take the decision to invest in a new gTLD, put some imagination in your business model and don't focus on selling domain names only, there are other things to do with a new gTLD...unless you have the right market.
• If you want to apply for your .BRAND domain name extension, you should watch what's being done and wonder if it is worth it to do the same financially because operating your .BRAND means that you have access to all domain names in your TLD: ALL OF THEM. Isn't it interesting to be able to operate a generic domain name such as www.yourservice.brand or www.yourproduct.brand? What about www.pizza.brand when you sell pizzas? It is and that is what .BRAND new gTLDs are for. But at what price?
  A good question to have is: how much is it going to cost me to register one single domain name in my extension when any domain name from another public domain name extension would cost you $10 to 20$ per year to renew?
  Is it worth it for my image, or project, to pay a high price per personalized domain name? Many existing .BRANDs never had these questions and just secured their extension at an extremely high price...to do nothing with it (note that securing a .BRAND TLD for no purpose can be a project).
  I personally believe that it is worth it to pay a higher price per domain name per year for a .BRAND but this calculation should be done on the global price per year to maintain your TLD at the backend registry level (and other service providers); and ensure that you understood this pricing: you don't want to find out that it cost you an average of $800 per year (and sometimes much more) for one single domain name registered, do you?

What you should do first is simple and very basic actually: don't repeat failures from the first round of the ICANN new gTLD program. Want to ask the right person on what works and what does not work? Don't hire a new gTLD service provider, talk to the operator of a registry ;-)

Follow-up with new gTLDs
Now you read "what you should know", you'll probably want to know where to go to be informed and I created a place just for this. Also, be sure that such announcements will be made on CircleId by most service providers.

New gTLDs: City vs Family name

When applying for a new gTLD, what happens if two applications for the extension are a city and a family name?

Which one wins?

Let's imagine that a person whose family name is "Marseille" applied for the .MARSEILLE new gTLD in the next round of the ICANN new gTLD program. What if there was a .MARSEILLE new gTLD too but as the name of the French city?

When the Family name is the name of a city
Even if the ICANN new gTLD applicant guidebook did not allow persons to submit an application in the first round, anyone could create a company using his or her family name and submit his application: this was perfectly legal and will probably remain like this in future rounds of the program.

Note that there is an existing case: it is known that one applicant applied for his first name and family name as a new domain name extension in the first round of the ICANN new gTLD program: it is the .RICHARDLI new gTLD.

Now: what happens when your family name is the name of a city?

"Marseille" is a famous French family name
A friend of mine's family name is "Marseille" and I wondered what would happen if he created a company named "Marseille" - or if he trademarked his family name like I did - and decided to submit a new gTLD application in the next round of the ICANN new gTLD program. Such an application could receive an objection from the French city of Marseille or he could object to the city's application too but - precisely - what could happen in such case of a conflicting geo/family application?

Some experts answered the question:

1. John McCormac from HosterStats.com (the biggest domain and webhosting statistics site):
   "That's a legal question but I would think that the rights of the city could take precedence unless there is a lot of strong IP/TM rights supporting the family name application. The city may be able to object but there may be multiple cities sharing the same name with families. And then it may come down to which city is oldest. Think Paris, France versus Paris, Texas".
2. Dirk Krischenowski from dotBERLIN GmbH & Co. KG (the .BERLIN registry):
   "If you apply the rules of the 2012 AGB (we don’t know to which extend the 2020 AGB may have changed in this respect) the answer for family names that match capital city names is clear: you need a letter of support or no-objection from the relevant city authority.
   If the applied-for family name is a city name but no one, even not ICANN’s geographic names panel, objects the application may go through smoothly. If you search at www.geonames.org for instance for Monash, Norton, Lancaster and many other .brand applications you will find names of municipalities with the same name. But all the applications were going through, the same of many generic term gTLD.
   And then there is a large grey zone where there had been not many cases (like .spa) where the city objected but was not found by ICANN to fall into the geographic names category.
   I hope I could give you guidance to you question."
3. Roland LaPlante, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer Afilias (multiple registry for 20 new gTLDs):
   "The issue of geo-names such as city names is currently under active discussion in the Government Advisory Committee and other stakeholders in the ICANN community. I expect that, in the event of a conflict between an individual and a city, the city would win. This is because the city will usually have become the official owner of the name in some manner (e.g. in the ISO3166 list), and the official list trumps other claims. Further, if the city does not apply and the individual does, the individual must get permission from the city to proceed with the name."

I will add more answers when they come.

Project John Wolley for new gTLDs

The concept of a universal directory does not exist on Internet. There are thousands of directories of all kinds and online Yellow Pages in many countries. All of these websites are different, accessed differently and operated differently: for example, Yellow Pages in France are different from their equivalent in Spain and Italy. There is no standard directory operated behind a same name worldwide.

This is what project John Wolley offers: a universal directory operated behind a single domain name extension.

Read my complete article on CircleID.