A Defining Year for the New gTLD Program: What ICANN’s 2025 Progress Means for the 2026 Round
- Venkatesh Venkatasubramanian
- Jan 8
- 4 min read
In December 2025, ICANN published a milestone update titled “A Year of Progress on the Path to Opening the 2026 Round of New gTLDs”, authored by Kurtis Lindqvist. The blog serves not merely as a year-end reflection, but as a confirmation that the next New gTLD application round has moved decisively from planning into execution.
“We have come a long way in the last 12 months, and I am incredibly proud of the collaborative work that's gone into these accomplishments.”
This sentiment captures the core theme of 2025: steady, methodical progress across policy, operations, and readiness—after more than a decade since the last application round.
The Applicant Guidebook: The Cornerstone Achievement
The most consequential development highlighted by ICANN is the publication of the 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook (AGB) on 16 December 2025, following its adoption by the ICANN Board at ICANN84.
“The Board's adoption of the AGB at ICANN84 and its publication were key to being able to open the application window in April 2026.”
With this, uncertainty around timelines has effectively ended. ICANN has formally committed to opening the New gTLD application window on 30 April 2026, aligning with community expectations and long-standing program planning milestones. For prospective applicants, this transforms the New gTLD round from a conceptual opportunity into a fixed, time-bound project.
A Clear Push Toward Broader Participation
A defining objective of the 2026 round is expanding participation beyond the traditional applicant base seen in 2012. ICANN explicitly reiterates its intent to attract applications from:
New sectors
New geographic regions
Historically underrepresented communities within the DNS
“This has been a long-term goal for us… including significant efforts to raise awareness around opportunities presented by the Applicant Support Program (ASP).”
This strategic emphasis marks a notable evolution in ICANN’s approach—placing outreach, education, and accessibility on equal footing with technical and policy readiness.
Applicant Support Program: A Quantifiable Shift
The results of this outreach are already visible. ICANN reports that the Applicant Support Program (ASP) closed on 19 December 2025 with 75 applications spanning 27 countries and all five ICANN regions.
“This is a step-level increase from the 2012 round, when the ASP received a total of three applications.”
The regional distribution is particularly telling:
Asia Pacific: 38 applications
Africa: 10 applications
North America: 20 applications
Europe: 6 applications
Latin America & Caribbean: 1 application
These figures underscore a material shift in global participation patterns and signal that the 2026 round is likely to look very different—both geographically and structurally—from its predecessor.
Preparing Applicants: Tools, Webinars, and Engagement
ICANN has also moved to reduce informational asymmetry for applicants. As noted in the blog, new preparatory resources have been released, including:
FAQs aligned directly with AGB sections
Topic overviews covering common applicant challenges
Scheduled webinars in January focused on application and evaluation mechanics
In addition, ICANN leadership plans extensive engagement at ICANN85 in Mumbai, offering another important touchpoint for applicants seeking clarity before April.
“Another great chance to learn more about the program and what you can do to prepare to apply.”
From Program Design to Program Delivery
Importantly, ICANN acknowledges that while foundational work is largely complete, operational execution now takes center stage.
“In some ways, the real work still lies ahead of us, as we move from ‘standing up’ the program to actually running it.”
This includes continued testing of the TLD Application Management System, internal end-to-end simulations, and scaling human and vendor resources to handle live application processing and onboarding of new registries. The message is clear: ICANN is transitioning from readiness validation to delivery mode.
Why the Role of Experienced New gTLD Consultants Matters More in 2026
While ICANN’s update highlights strong institutional readiness, it also implicitly underscores a reality many first-time applicants underestimate: the 2026 New gTLD round is procedurally mature, structurally detailed, and unforgiving of late or incomplete preparation. The publication of the Applicant Guidebook, expanded evaluation criteria, and the scale of global participation mean that applicants are no longer navigating an experimental program, but a fully operational one.
As Venkatesh Venkatasubramanian, founder of DotUp and an independent advisor to new gTLD applicants, observes:
“The biggest difference between 2012 and 2026 is not just the rules—it’s the expectations. ICANN has moved from designing the program to executing it at scale. Applicants who treat this like a documentation exercise will struggle; those who approach it as a multi-year business and operational commitment will succeed.”
This shift places greater importance on early strategic decisions—string selection, risk analysis, contention preparedness, registry service provider alignment, and evaluation readiness—well before the application window opens. ICANN’s own emphasis on FAQs, webinars, and engagement sessions reinforces this point: preparation is no longer optional, and clarity must be achieved upfront.
Venkatesh further notes that the surge in Applicant Support Program submissions is a leading indicator of broader competition:
“The ASP numbers tell us something important. Interest is deeper and more global than ever before. That means stronger applications, more contention scenarios, and less room for trial and error. Independent guidance helps applicants translate intent into execution.”
In this context, consultants are not intermediaries but risk-management partners—helping applicants interpret the Applicant Guidebook, anticipate evaluation questions, and align business, technical, and policy narratives into a single, coherent application. As ICANN transitions from standing up systems to processing real applications, the margin for improvisation narrows significantly.
The message from ICANN’s 2025 progress update is ultimately optimistic—but also precise. The door to the 2026 New gTLD round is open, the pathway is defined, and the timeline is fixed. For applicants, the question is no longer whether to prepare, but how well.
Why This Matters Now - ICANN 2026 new gTLD round
Taken together, ICANN’s 2025 update confirms that the 2026 New gTLD round is no longer speculative. The policy framework is finalized, timelines are locked, applicant interest—particularly from emerging regions—is demonstrably higher, and operational systems are being actively tested.
“I have every confidence that together, we will accomplish all of this and make the program a true success.”
For brands, communities, entrepreneurs, and ecosystem participants, the signal is unambiguous: preparation time is finite, and execution readiness will be a decisive differentiator in the months ahead.
The long wait since 2012 is effectively over. The next chapter of the New gTLD Program has begun—not with an announcement, but with sustained, measurable progress.
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