ICANN confirms 1,616 new top level domain applications

ICANN has finalized its new gTLD application round at 1,616 paid applications, collecting more than $350 million in fees.

ICANN received 1,663 applications for the round and confirmed 1,616 after removing unpaid ones. At $227,000 per application, fees exceeded $350 million, with discounts applied to some.

The tally sets the size of the next expansion of the domain name space. Every paid application is a potential new top-level domain, and each one will go through evaluation, contracting and delegation before it resolves.

For domain holders and buyers, a large application round means more namespace supply in coming years. Existing TLDs may face more competition for registrations; new strings may create fresh short-name opportunities and new brand protection obligations.

What is not yet known: which strings were applied for, which applicants are behind them, and how contention or objections will be resolved. Those details will determine the actual market impact.