23 APRIL 2026
ICANN is opening the application for new and brand TLDs on April 30th, 2026
Next round new gTLDs
About the Program
The New Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLD) Program is a community-driven initiative that’s enabling the continued expansion of the Domain Name System. Through the introduction of new gTLDs, including domain names in a variety of scripts and languages, the program aims to encourage innovation, competition, and consumer choice.
Navigating the Internet
Every computer on the Internet has a unique numerical address called an Internet Protocol (IP) address. The Domain Name System (DNS) makes the Internet more ‚user-friendly‘ by allowing users to enter names, rather than having to remember a long string of numbers for the website they wish to visit.
Top-level domains form the last part of a domain name, appearing after the dot. For example, in the domain name icann.org, the characters ‚org‘ identifies the TLD.
Through the 2012 New gTLD Program, more than 1,200 new unique names like .futbol and .pizza, and names in other alphabets and languages, called Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs), were added to the Internet. The addition of new gTLDs has helped to encourage innovation, competition, and consumer choice in the domain name industry.
Opportunities in Next Round
The New gTLD Program: Next Round gives businesses, communities, governments and other organizations the chance to apply for new top-level domains tailored to fit their organization, community, culture, language, and customer interests. (For some examples of how these groups have used gTLDs, please review some case studies from the 2012 round).
The next round of new gTLDs will offer even more domain names in longer lengths and different scripts. These are an important part of the expansion of the DNS because they allow speakers of non-Latin-based languages to access the Internet using their own language or writing system.
In this way, new gTLDs provide global consumers with broader access – in their own languages – and more online identity choices, helping to promote competition and innovation.
The New gTLD Program: Next Round is being implemented by ICANN in line with community-developed policy recommendations contained in the Generic Names Supporting Organization’s New gTLD Subsequent Procedures (Subpro) Policy Development Process Final Report.
Next Round
The New gTLD Program: Next Round is opening on April 30th, 2026 and will remain open until August 12th, 2026 (105 days). The Applicant Guidebook (AGB) serves as the essential rule book for the program.The next round of the program seeks to foster diversity, encourage competition, and enhance the utility of the DNS.
This can be a new opportunity for some brand owners, if it is thought through thoroughly and good planning is put in place for “re-branding” marketing effort.
A business case for .BRAND
A Brand TLD (a custom top-level domain such as .BRAND is a domain extension owned and operated by a BRAND rather than a generic one like .com.
A branded root domain means that BRAND owns the complete namespace and will be able to establish its own policies and act as a Registry. BRAND will be able to manage their brand more effectively as no one else, unless BRAND allows it. It can register domain within this TLD space.
.BRAND would be the only digital identifier for all stakeholders. It would give flexibility to new domains, instead of buying them from domainers, if registered. A digital place where you can implement your own security protocols and standards increasing safety of your stakeholders.
Swisscom would control the second level part of the domain and could separate each business segment like for example:
customer.BRAND
supplier.BRAND
it.BRAND
intranet.BRAND
jobs.BRAND
product.BRAND
…
and what else one can think of. The examples would be the registered main domain (second level), but on the third level you can fine tune it even more like giving languages their own space like:
de.kunden.BRAND
it.clinti.BRAND
fr.clients.BRAND
UrI’s are still easier to remember than vanity or marketing UrI’s, even when the majority of internet users use search engines, even when giving them Url’s directly.
Why apply for a Brand TLD .BRAND:
1. Stronger Brand Control and Trust
- Only the brand owner can register domains under its TLD, eliminating cybersquatting and reducing phishing risk.
- Customers can more easily trust domains such as product.BRAND because they know all sites under that extension are official.
2. Clearer Digital Identity
- Shorter, more intuitive URLs can be created (support.BRAND, shop.BRAND, careers.BRAND).
- No need to search for available names in crowded spaces like .com.
3. Marketing and Innovation Potential
- Campaign-specific domains can be created quickly.
- Enables creative storytelling and structured navigation across products or regions.
Examples often cited include:
- Google operating.google
- BMW operating.bmw
- Barclays operating.barclays
These companies have used Brand TLDs for dedicated services, secure logins, or marketing campaigns.
4. Security and Infrastructure Advantages
- Full control over DNS policies and security standards.
- Easier implementation of HTTPS, authentication rules, and internal naming structures.
5. Long-Term Strategic Asset
- Acts as a permanent digital property like owning prime real estate online.
- Futureproofing: as new digital services, apps, or IoT ecosystems grow, a proprietary namespace can be valuable.
6. Capitalization of the application/implementation cost
- In the balance sheet, all costs for the brand TLD project might be activated and depreciated over 5-10 years.
A cost overview:
The costs can vary as there are multiple fees and costs involved.
1. One-time application cost:
– Application fee: USD 227’000 per TLD, (plus USD 500 for the .brand), and is a one time and non-refundable fee.
– Preparation, consulting, legal, and technical set-up fees: USD 80-100k for the application also vary on complexity.
– Set-up a reserve for potential legal objection*: USD 20k
*A contention set occurs when more than one application is competing for the same string, or when strings are determined to be confusingly similar. Since only one gTLD can exist for a given string, ICANN requires a mechanism for deciding which applicant wins. In practice, contention can be resolved in several ways. Applicants may reach private agreements. Community applicants may pursue Community Priority Evaluation where applicable. If contention cannot be resolved, it may proceed to an ICANN auction. Auctions played a significant role in the 2012 round, and ICANN has introduced new mechanisms in 2026, including replacement strings, intended to improve outcomes and reduce the disruption caused by contention. For applicants, the lesson is clear: contention planning is not optional. Even when a string appears “obviously yours”, it is still a round-based process, and applicants need to think through fallback plans, evidence strength and response strategies.
Typical minimum fee to get approved and launched at about USD 300-400k and is a onetime cost.
It is important that those fees are budgeted from the corporate budget, not from the IT, Marketing, or Legal budget.
Till the application has been approved, no further fees should come up as the approval process can take around 12-15 months.
- Annual recurring cost:
The most important fees are the yearly recurring running costs and fees.
– ICANN yearly: USD 25’800 / year
– ICANN second level registration fee: USD 0.25 / second level domain(ex: ch.BRAND)
– Registry Backend and DNS can vary quite a bit from: USD 25-40k
– Compliance, legal, and operational costs: USD 15-35k
There are many suppliers for backend solutions which sometimes also cover the data escrow fees as the domain data has to be exported once a week and be stored at an accredited data escrow service like DENIC Data Escrow for example.
Typical yearly operating cost are about USD 50-80k per year for a .brand.
For a .brand user marketing and rebranding fees need to be kept in mind too, which can be
spread over multiple years. Users must be made aware of the fact that the domain is changing. This is something more related to the company and brand.
Der Link für das „Applicant Guide Book»::
Overall, the minimum ICANN contract time is 5 years and this has to be considered too.
