Update: The .HUMAN & .AGENT Community

Many new gTLD applicants published their list of strings recently:

1. The .HUMAN new gTLD application:
   https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/09/09/3358977/0/en/human-centered-holdings-applies-to-steward-human.html
2. The .AGENT Community submitted an application for .AGENT:
   https://agentcommunity.org/blog/we-filed-the-agent-application
3. ShortDot submits 80 new gTLD applications. Most are 3 letter strings:
   https://shortdot.bond/80
4. Vant Nexus Technologies LLC applies for .PORTAL - .ISLAND and .TRUCK new gTLDs:
   Vant Nexus – Reshaping the Digital Landscape 
5. The .CHESS domain extension:
   https://www.fide.com/chess-is-getting-its-own-home-on-the-internet-fide-and-world-chess-apply-for-the-chess-domain-extension/ 
6. Astronym Registry applied for 6 TLDs:
   https://www.astronym.com/press/releases/2026-09-01-registered-agents-registry-game/
7. Radix Registry announce 46 strings:
   https://deux.radix.website/
8. Starlight Registry (Namecheap - the Registrar), announces 40 new gTLD applications: from .AID to .WAVE (website coming soon)
9. Twitter announcement, Telegram applied for .GRAM:
   https://www.gtld.club/2026/08/telegram-applies-for-gram.html 
10. The .EASY new gTLD:
    https://easy.com/easygroup-applies-to-icann-for-the-easy-top-level-domain-as-part-of-the-new-gtld-program-2026-round/
11. Name Space LLC applied for 10 strings: (website coming): .MARS - .SOUND - .HELLO - .FEST - .AURA - .YAM - .IFY - .III - .YYY - .BRAIN
    
12. Xiyou Ji (西游记) submits 323 new gTLD applications (including IDNs):
    https://xiyou.domains/
13. Twitter announcement for the .SUI new gTLD (website coming soon).
14. 2 applications spotted: .BIT and .ION new gTLDs (website coming soon).
15. Suffix Inc submits 89 new gTLD applications:
    Suffix Domains (but shows 13 only).
16. Link Freedom Group published a list of more than 300 strings. These are Primary and secondary strings:
    https://lfg.link/
17. Internet.BEST announced its application for .SOCIALMEDIA:
    https://internet.best/socialmedia/
18. A tool published 3 new gTLD applications for .MEOW - .STATUS and .UWU:
    https://discovery.newtld.tools/
19. Previous applicant for .CLUB submitted an application for the .FACTORY new gTLD:
    https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/08/14/3345503/0/en/usa-made-in-america-announces-application-for-factory-generic-top-level-domain.html
20. Endpoint Domains published their first 8 applications (Primary strings) only for: .BIG - .FAB - .FART - .FTW - .HAPPY - .NSFW - .PRIVATE and .TRUE:
    https://endpointdomains.com/
21. Oinkadot submitted 25 new gTLD applications for: .anime - .bit - .bug - .cancel - .dine - .dragon - .ghost - .glitch - .hack - .heart - .king - .loop - .manga - .moon - .panda - .puff - .queen - .sign - .spice - .stack - .stay - .super - .weed - .wire and .zzz (website coming soon).
22. Wiz announced it has 50+ letters of endorsement (On Twitter) for the .BITCOIN new gTLD:
    https://www.gtld.club/2026/08/50-letters-of-endorsement-for-bitcoin.html

Applicant for .BIT and .ION new gTLDs

We have applied for .bit and .ion.
We will be excited to operate these TLDs 🔥 https://t.co/nqLIkRAFIk pic.twitter.com/fF4ylAH3US

— Youness KASMI (@kasmiyouness1) August 17, 2026

50+ letters of endorsement for .BITCOIN community application

We successfully submitted the ICANN .bitcoin TLD application for Community Priority Evaluation with over 50+ letters of endorsement from within the community, together with several high-level letters of recognition. ICANN will reveal our full application sometime in November 2026 pic.twitter.com/hlQaNEev4Q

— wiz 🇸🇻 (@wiz) August 12, 2026

Round 2 and Blocked Names: Page 191 of the new gTLD Applicant Guidebook

I didn't pay attention to this in the first place because I saw no reason for a change about the .LOCAL new gTLD.

The .LOCAL new gTLD...

...is definitely one of the best strings to submit an application for anyone wanting to promote local content with domain names ending in ".local" (instead of ".com").

Can you submit an application for .LOCAL ?

I read it twice and compared both versions of the two applicant guidebook: version 2012 (page 60 & 61) and version 2026 (page 191 & 192) to understand why the .LOCAL new gTLD (and a few others) had disappeared from the list of Blocked Names from the 2026 Applicant Guidebook.

I noticed a few strings were missing form the list of Blocked Names and wondered: "How is it possible that I did not notice this?"

Reality came back knocking at my door when I read that paragraph about Special-Use Domain Names :

"Special-Use Domain Names: These are specific strings reserved by technical standards for purposes inconsistent with delegation, as explicitly noted on IANA’s Special-Use Domain Names Registry.245,246,247".

Special-Use Domain Names are specific strings reserved by technical standards for purposes inconsistent with delegation and when you click on the 245 hyperlink, it shows a few more strings that you cannot submit an application for. "Local" (and a few others) is in that list.

List of Blocked Names from 2012 Round 1:

List of Blocked Names from 2026 Round 2:

Don't submit an application for .LOCAL : this string is a blocked name. 

Round 2 Projected Timeline based on 2,000 applications received

The ICANN Round 2 new gTLD Application Window just opened and I noticed an update on the Timeline. See below.

Official info from ICANN is available here.

 

From 12 of August to Reveal Day = 9 weeks

When the window closes to submit new gTLD applications close(s) in August the 12, this can be a good moment to start your communication on your project.

Isn't it the perfect moment to announce the rest of the world that you are submitting an application to operate the .FLAMINGO Top-Level Domain?

August 12, 2026 is probably going to be one of these marvelous and exciting moment to watch all new gTLD initiatives website pop-up online.

A good place to inform the entire industry and other potential applicants will be the "ICANN New gTLDs & .BRANDs" group on LinkedIn.

You are welcome to join the 3,000 subscribers and post about your project mid-august.

The Applicant Guidebook: questions for the AI

Some questions asked to multiple AIs sometimes return answers from the first Applicant Guidebook dated 2012. Some answers also return with lots of precision.

• New gTLD Program: Replacement Strings?
• Applications Not Included in the Prioritization Draw in the next Round of new gTLDs
• What are the Fundamental Obligations of Registry Operators in relation to Registrars?
• ICANN new gTLDs: What are the Clarifying Questions?
• ICANN new gTLDs: What is the Prioritization Draw?
• How do I learn if someone plans to submit the same new gTLD application as me in April 2026?
• Should I own a registered trademark to submit a dotBrand new gTLD application to the ICANN in 2026?
• Which strings cannot be submitted as new gTLD applications in the 2026 ICANN round?
• How many new gTLD applications will be submitted to the ICANN in April 2026?
• Brand and Trademark Protections in the new gTLD program: what should an applicant know?
• What are the Different gTLD Application Types in the next ICANN new gTLD Round?
• Round 2 of new gTLDs: what are Replacement String and the Replacement Period?
• What are GAC Member Early Warnings and GAC Consensus Advice in the next ICANN new gTLD Round?

Answer here.

The gTLD Report for "Round 2" in 2026

The gTLD Report offers monthly snapshots of new gTLD registration volumes and we just updated the report for January 2026.

For the next round of the ICANN new gTLD program to start in April 2026, we have added another column entitled "Round".

According to each new gTLD launching starting 2026, we will add corresponding strings to the right report and indicate if the string counts for the first round of the ICANN new gTLD program from 2012 or the new one from 2026.

We will announce each new Registry on LinkedIn and Bluesky.

2 more new gTLDs identified for Round 2?

 More new gTLD projects are announced. Two more were identified:

1. The .MEOW new gTLD: "A domain for the Queer Community, by the Queer Community".
2. The .AGENT new gTLD: "Its purpose is to explore how AI agents can be given recognizable, accountable, and globally interoperable identities on the open Internet, aligned with existing Internet governance principles and the global public interest".

We announce all upcoming new gTLD projects on the LinkedIn new gTLD group.

New gTLD Innovation in 2026, a €4M annual income in 5 years

Project "John Wolley"

The Universal Directory

Project John Wolley is a concept of universal yellow pages based on the use of a single .BRAND domain name extension where each domain name is a city or a village's name.

White and Yellow Pages exist in most countries but no directory exists

for the entire world. Project “John Wolley” offers to use one single

domain name extension to operate one global directory. Each city

name becomes a domain name and each domain name is one

local directory.

Download the pitch

Data Escrow for your new gTLD?

As a key component of the global domain ecosystem, DENIC Services ensures the secure registration and operation of generic (gTLD) and country-code (ccTLD) top-level domains. DENIC Services provides essential Data Escrow services, relied upon by more than 2,800 domain registries and registrars internationally.

Its robust and highly secure IT infrastructure stores the data for over 180 million domains, representing more than 50% of all domains globally. Operating a gTLD necessitates the deposit of registry data with an accredited escrow agent. DENIC Services meets this requirement as the only designated escrow service in the ICANN RDE programme, and is fully approved under the ICANN Registry Data Escrow programme.

Become part of the DENIC network now.

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.