The internet never really stands still, even when it feels familiar. Beneath the everyday routines of typing addresses, clicking links, and registering domains, its underlying structure keeps shifting—quietly, methodically—responding to how people actually use it. That deeper layer is about to open up again. With the publication of the official Applicant Guidebook for the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has formally set the stage for one of the rare moments when the architecture of the web itself expands. Starting 30 April 2026, businesses, cities, communities, and organizations will once again be able to apply for their own generic top-level domains, the part of an internet address that lives quietly after the final dot yet carries enormous symbolic and practical weight.
The guidebook, released today, is not light reading—and it isn’t meant to be. It functions as the authoritative manual for anyone considering an application, laying out the questions, requirements, timelines, and evaluation stages that define the process. Brands thinking about a .brand, cities imagining a .city, or communities seeking an identity rooted directly in the DNS will find the entire journey mapped out in detail, from initial submission through technical, financial, and operational assessments. It’s procedural, yes, but also revealing: the document makes clear how seriously ICANN treats the stability and trustworthiness of the global Domain Name System, and how high the bar is for becoming a registry operator rather than just another domain buyer.
What makes the 2026 Round particularly notable is how it aligns with the way the internet has diversified culturally and linguistically. This round will significantly expand the availability of Internationalized Domain Names, enabling new gTLDs across more than two dozen scripts and over 300 languages. For regions and communities long constrained by Latin-only conventions, that matters. A domain extension written in Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, or another script isn’t just cosmetic; it lowers barriers, signals inclusion, and reflects how the internet is actually spoken and written in daily life. It’s one of those changes that seems subtle until you imagine the alternative—an internet where entire languages remain second-class citizens.
Behind the scenes, the responsibility for running these new extensions rests with registry operators, a role that comes with real obligations. ICANN’s evaluation process probes not just the string being applied for, but also the applicant’s ability to operate securely, reliably, and sustainably over time. As ICANN President and CEO Kurtis Lindqvist has emphasized, preparation is essential. Financial resilience, operational maturity, and technical competence aren’t optional boxes to tick; they’re central to protecting the integrity of the DNS as new names are added. The Applicant Guidebook spells this out plainly, acting less like a marketing brochure and more like a contract with the internet itself.
To help potential applicants navigate that complexity, ICANN is rolling out a broad set of preparatory resources—webinars, topic briefings, FAQs, and supporting materials—available through the program’s website in the lead-up to April 2026. While the guidebook is currently available in English, an HTML version will follow by the end of January 2026, with official translations into Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish promised no later than two months before the application window opens. It’s a reminder that this process is global by design, shaped by community policy and meant to serve a worldwide internet, not just a narrow slice of it.
For organizations willing to think beyond traditional domains, the 2026 New gTLD Round represents more than another application cycle. It’s a chance to anchor identity, trust, and innovation directly into the fabric of the web—rare, regulated, and consequential. Opportunities like this don’t appear often, and when they do, they tend to quietly reshape what the internet looks like for decades afterward.