What Are New gTLDs?

## The Domain Name System Before 2012 For most of the internet's commercial life, the top-level domain landscape was almost entirely frozen. Launched in the 1980s, the original generic TLDs — .com, .net, .org, .edu, .gov, .mil — served every conceivable purpose. ICANN added a handful of sponsored TLDs in the early 2000s: .info, .biz, .mobi, .museum, .aero, .coop. But .com remained utterly dominant. By 2010, roughly 90 million .com names were registered. The internet's naming system had a clear center of gravity, and that center was a single extension. This dominance created real problems. Desirable .com names were exhausted, commanding prices ranging from thousands to millions of dollars on the secondary market. Businesses building brand identity had to compete with cybersquatters, typo domains, and speculative portfolios. Startups resorted to hacks — vowel-dropping, extra letters, country-code workarounds — just to secure a domain that reflected their brand. ICANN recognized that expanding the namespace was both technically feasible and economically desirable. After years of study, debate, and public comment, the organization launched its New gTLD Program. ## The 2012 Application Window ICANN opened the application window for new generic TLDs from January to May 2012. The application fee was $185,000 per proposed extension — deliberately high to filter out frivolous submissions while remaining accessible to serious operators. When the window closed, ICANN had received 1,930 applications from entities in 60 countries. The sheer volume surprised many observers. Applications spanned every imaginable category: - **Generic descriptors**: .app, .web, .shop, .blog, .online, .site - **Industry verticals**: .bank, .insurance, .pharmacy, .lawyer - **Geographic identifiers**: .nyc, .london, .paris, .berlin, .tokyo - **Brand extensions**: .google, .apple, .bmw, .barclays - **Community identifiers**: .gay, .catholic, .islam, .sport - **Internationalized strings**: .中文 (Chinese), .عرب (Arabic), .भारत (Hindi) After evaluation, string contention resolution, and legal review, IANA began delegating new extensions into the root zone starting in 2013. By 2016, over 1,000 new gTLDs were live. Today the count exceeds 1,200 active extensions. ## What Makes a TLD "New" The term new gTLD specifically refers to extensions created through ICANN's New gTLD Program — distinct from both the legacy gTLDs (.com, .net, .org) and sponsored TLDs introduced in 2001–2004. All new gTLDs share several characteristics: **Registry Agreements**: Every new gTLD registry operator signed a Registry Agreement with ICANN. This contract governs technical requirements, pricing transparency, abuse handling, WHOIS accuracy, and dozens of other obligations. Unlike legacy TLDs that operate under older, looser arrangements, new gTLD operators face standardized contractual requirements. **IANA Delegation**: The extension appears in the DNS root zone maintained by IANA, meaning resolvers worldwide can look up domains within it. **Registry-Registrar-Registrant Model**: Like all modern TLDs, new gTLDs follow the three-tier structure. The registry maintains the authoritative database. Accredited registrars sell names to end users. This structure separates wholesale from retail operations. **Sunrise Rights Protection**: Every new gTLD launched with a Sunrise Period giving trademark holders the first opportunity to register their marks before the general public. ## Why New gTLDs Exist The program's stated rationale covered several goals: **Namespace Expansion**: More available names mean less pressure on .com, lower aftermarket prices for common words, and fewer conflicts between legitimate businesses sharing names. **Competition**: New gTLD registries compete with each other and with legacy operators, potentially driving down registration prices and improving service quality. **Community and Identity**: A .nyc or .london domain communicates geographic identity more clearly than a generic .com. A .bank domain carries regulatory weight — ICANN approved strict financial-institution verification requirements for .bank registrations. **Internationalization**: IDN TLDs (Internationalized Domain Names) allow addresses in scripts other than Latin — Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Devanagari. For hundreds of millions of internet users, a domain in their native script is far more intuitive than a romanized equivalent. ## The New gTLD Ecosystem Today More than a decade after the program launched, the new gTLD landscape has sorted itself into clear tiers. Use TLD Finder to explore which extensions are currently available. **Breakout successes**: .app, .dev, .io (technically a ccTLD but used globally), .co, .online, .shop, .cloud, .blog, .store have each accumulated hundreds of thousands or millions of registrations. They now appear routinely in well-funded startup URLs. **Steady performers**: Hundreds of extensions maintain registration bases in the tens of thousands — sufficient to sustain their operators while serving niche audiences effectively. **Struggling extensions**: Many new gTLDs never gained traction. Some launched with pricing models the market rejected. Others targeted industries that never embraced domain differentiation. A subset have been sold, transferred, or allowed to expire. **Brand TLDs**: Over 500 brand TLDs were delegated to major corporations — Google (.google), Amazon (.amazon), BMW (.bmw), and hundreds of others. Most operate exclusively for internal company use. **Geographic TLDs**: GeoTLDs like .nyc, .london, .berlin, .tokyo serve city-identity purposes with mixed commercial success. ## Reading the Cross-Links Throughout this series you will encounter frequent references to ICANN, registry operators, Registry Agreements, and market dynamics. Use TLD Comparison Tool to compare extensions side by side, and TLD Knowledge Quiz to identify the right TLD for your specific project. The following guides cover every aspect of the new gTLD landscape in depth: from Top 20 Most Popular New gTLDs to The Future of New gTLDs. Whether you are a domain buyer evaluating your options, an investor assessing the market, or a business considering an application in the 2026 round, this series has what you need.