What is the ICANN new gTLD round?

An ICANN new gTLD round is a periodic window during which organisations can apply to create and operate new generic top-level domains — to be delegated a branch of the DNS root zone and take on the obligation to run it.

Rounds are rare. There was a proof-of-concept round in 2000 and a small sponsored round in 2003. The 2012 round was the one that changed the shape of the namespace: it drew close to 1,930 applications and introduced hundreds of extensions over the following years, .best among them.

What applying involves

An application is not a purchase. ICANN evaluates whether the applicant can operate critical infrastructure — technically, financially and operationally — and whether the string itself is acceptable, which covers confusing similarity to an existing TLD, geographic names, and objections from governments or established institutions.

Where more than one applicant wants the same string, the applications go into a contention set and are resolved between the parties or, failing that, by auction. Applicants that clear evaluation sign a registry agreement with ICANN, complete pre-delegation testing, and are then delegated into the root zone — after which the TLD is live and names can be sold through registrars.

The 2026 round

The next round opened in 2026, the first in fourteen years. Its application window closed on 12 August 2026 with more than 1,600 primary applications — a figure ICANN describes as provisional until the full set is published on Reveal Day, when every applicant and string becomes public and contention sets become visible for the first time.

The gap between rounds is why they matter so much. A string not applied for in a round is not available again for years, so the 2026 window effectively fixed which categories get a namespace this decade.

What internet.Best applied for

internet.Best applied for ten strings in two clusters. The AI cluster — .prompt, .chatbot, .answer, .ask and .skills — names the components of an AI-mediated web. The creator cluster — .creator, .socialmedia, .influencer, .content and .streamer — names the people and businesses that publish on it, most of whom do not own the name they publish under.

The application is backed by an operating registry rather than a plan: domains.Best has run the ICANN-accredited .best top-level domain since 2018.