- Joined
- Mar 29, 2014
- Messages
- 2,193
- Reaction score
- 825
ICANN’s Applicant Support Program has moved further forward, with more applicants now approved for reduced-fee access to the 2026 round of new gTLD applications. But one important point has become clear after checking ICANN’s own documentation: the approved support requests do not reveal the actual TLD strings.
DNForum noticed the update through a story published by Domain Incite, which reported that ICANN had approved 18 more requests for reduced-fee new gTLD applications under the Applicant Support Program. The natural question for domain investors, registrars, registry service providers and policy watchers is simple: which strings are these?
At this stage, the answer appears to be: we are not supposed to know yet.
According to ICANN’s Applicant Support Program FAQ, applicants are advised not to submit information about the new gTLD string they intend to apply for when applying to the ASP. ICANN says this is to protect the business confidentiality of applicants’ information before the opening of the New gTLD Program 2026 application submission period.
That means the ASP stage is not the same as the actual public new gTLD application stage. The ASP is an eligibility and support process. It decides whether an applicant qualifies for financial and non-financial support. It is not designed to reveal the applicant’s intended string to the market.
Why the confidentiality matters
There are several reasons why ICANN’s approach makes sense.
First, the Applicant Support Program is intended to help entities that might otherwise be unable to apply because of financial or resource constraints. ICANN describes the ASP as a program designed to make the new gTLD application and evaluation process more accessible to applicants that want to operate a registry but would otherwise be unable to apply.
Second, revealing the intended string too early could expose smaller or less-resourced applicants to unnecessary market pressure. If a small non-profit, public-benefit project, indigenous organization or micro business disclosed a valuable or strategically interesting string before the official application process, better-funded parties could react before the applicant has completed the formal gTLD application.
Third, the ASP evaluation is about the applicant’s eligibility for support, not about whether a specific string should be delegated. String-level questions are handled later in the full new gTLD application process, through ICANN’s normal checks, including technical validation, string similarity, contention handling, objections, geographic-name rules and other evaluation steps.
Fourth, ICANN has a defined transparency point later in the process. ICANN says it will not share ASP application information with third parties, including pro bono service providers or mentors, except vendors contracted by ICANN to support the ASP, until the New gTLD Program Reveal Day. Reveal Day is when the public parts of new gTLD applications will be published, including whether an applicant is supported through the ASP.
What ICANN will publish later
ICANN’s 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook explains that, after the application submission period closes, ICANN will perform administrative due diligence and verify whether evaluation fees have been received. ICANN will also review submitted applications and place applications for identical strings into contention sets in preparation for Reveal Day.
On Reveal Day, ICANN expects to publish the list of all applications that have passed the Administrative Check. This list is expected to include the relevant applied-for strings, any variant strings and any replacement strings, where applicable. The public portions of each application will also be published, together with a list of contention sets involving identical strings.
The 2026 new gTLD application submission period opened on 30 April 2026 and is scheduled to close on 12 August 2026. ICANN’s Applicant Guidebook says Reveal Day is expected no later than nine weeks after the close of the application submission period, absent extraordinary circumstances.
There is also another important step after Reveal Day. Once applicants have access to the full list of applied-for strings, ICANN provides a 14-day Replacement Period for eligible replacement strings. After that, on String Confirmation Day, ICANN will publish an updated list of applications and their chosen strings, whether original or replacement, along with an updated list of contention sets.
This means the domain industry may see initial public string information on Reveal Day, but the final applied-for string list may only be clear on String Confirmation Day.
Current Applicant Support Program numbers
According to ICANN’s Applicant Support Program statistics, last updated on 26 May 2026 and reflecting data as of the 19th day of the month, the program currently shows:
The 16 conditionally approved and 27 fully approved applications together represent 43 approved support applications. Including the one application marked not eligible, ICANN has completed evaluation on 44 ASP applications.
What support do approved applicants receive?
The ASP can significantly change the economics of applying for a new gTLD. ICANN says supported applicants may receive:
The standard gTLD evaluation fee for the 2026 round is USD 227,000. For qualified ASP applicants, ICANN says the discounted evaluation fee will range from USD 34,500 to USD 56,750, including the USD 2,500 deposit submitted to confirm ASP financial viability. The exact amount depends on the final number of qualified ASP applicants.
Supported applicants receive fee reductions for one gTLD application only. ICANN also states that there are no special restrictions on the strings supported applicants can apply for, although all applicants remain subject to the normal Applicant Guidebook restrictions and evaluation rules.
What this means for the market
For now, the key takeaway is that these are support approvals, not public TLD announcements.
The Domain Incite story correctly spotted the increase in approved reduced-fee applications, but the actual strings are not missing from the article because of an oversight. They are not publicly available at this stage because ICANN’s process deliberately keeps ASP applicant information confidential until the formal publication point.
For domain investors, this means speculation will continue. The approved ASP applicants could include public-benefit strings, community-oriented strings, regional or language-based projects, social-impact initiatives, micro-business ideas, or other registry proposals. But until ICANN publishes public application information, there is no confirmed list of the strings connected to these support approvals.
For registrars and registry service providers, the more practical point is that a supported applicant may still need partners, technical infrastructure, policy advice, launch planning, abuse-prevention processes, and commercial support. However, because ICANN is protecting ASP applicant confidentiality, those conversations may happen privately until the applications become public.
For brand owners and trademark teams, the watch point is Reveal Day and String Confirmation Day. Reveal Day should show the first public list of applications and strings that passed administrative checks. String Confirmation Day should clarify the final list after the replacement-string process.
Bottom line
The 18 additional approvals reported by Domain Incite should not be read as 18 publicly known new TLDs. They are additional Applicant Support Program approvals.
ICANN is keeping the strings confidential because the ASP stage is designed to assess support eligibility, not to reveal market-sensitive string plans. The public disclosure stage comes later, through Reveal Day and String Confirmation Day.
Until then, the confirmed story is not which TLDs are coming. The confirmed story is that more lower-cost new gTLD applicants are now moving through ICANN’s support pipeline.
References:
DNForum noticed the update through a story published by Domain Incite, which reported that ICANN had approved 18 more requests for reduced-fee new gTLD applications under the Applicant Support Program. The natural question for domain investors, registrars, registry service providers and policy watchers is simple: which strings are these?
At this stage, the answer appears to be: we are not supposed to know yet.
According to ICANN’s Applicant Support Program FAQ, applicants are advised not to submit information about the new gTLD string they intend to apply for when applying to the ASP. ICANN says this is to protect the business confidentiality of applicants’ information before the opening of the New gTLD Program 2026 application submission period.
That means the ASP stage is not the same as the actual public new gTLD application stage. The ASP is an eligibility and support process. It decides whether an applicant qualifies for financial and non-financial support. It is not designed to reveal the applicant’s intended string to the market.
Why the confidentiality matters
There are several reasons why ICANN’s approach makes sense.
First, the Applicant Support Program is intended to help entities that might otherwise be unable to apply because of financial or resource constraints. ICANN describes the ASP as a program designed to make the new gTLD application and evaluation process more accessible to applicants that want to operate a registry but would otherwise be unable to apply.
Second, revealing the intended string too early could expose smaller or less-resourced applicants to unnecessary market pressure. If a small non-profit, public-benefit project, indigenous organization or micro business disclosed a valuable or strategically interesting string before the official application process, better-funded parties could react before the applicant has completed the formal gTLD application.
Third, the ASP evaluation is about the applicant’s eligibility for support, not about whether a specific string should be delegated. String-level questions are handled later in the full new gTLD application process, through ICANN’s normal checks, including technical validation, string similarity, contention handling, objections, geographic-name rules and other evaluation steps.
Fourth, ICANN has a defined transparency point later in the process. ICANN says it will not share ASP application information with third parties, including pro bono service providers or mentors, except vendors contracted by ICANN to support the ASP, until the New gTLD Program Reveal Day. Reveal Day is when the public parts of new gTLD applications will be published, including whether an applicant is supported through the ASP.
What ICANN will publish later
ICANN’s 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook explains that, after the application submission period closes, ICANN will perform administrative due diligence and verify whether evaluation fees have been received. ICANN will also review submitted applications and place applications for identical strings into contention sets in preparation for Reveal Day.
On Reveal Day, ICANN expects to publish the list of all applications that have passed the Administrative Check. This list is expected to include the relevant applied-for strings, any variant strings and any replacement strings, where applicable. The public portions of each application will also be published, together with a list of contention sets involving identical strings.
The 2026 new gTLD application submission period opened on 30 April 2026 and is scheduled to close on 12 August 2026. ICANN’s Applicant Guidebook says Reveal Day is expected no later than nine weeks after the close of the application submission period, absent extraordinary circumstances.
There is also another important step after Reveal Day. Once applicants have access to the full list of applied-for strings, ICANN provides a 14-day Replacement Period for eligible replacement strings. After that, on String Confirmation Day, ICANN will publish an updated list of applications and their chosen strings, whether original or replacement, along with an updated list of contention sets.
This means the domain industry may see initial public string information on Reveal Day, but the final applied-for string list may only be clear on String Confirmation Day.
Current Applicant Support Program numbers
According to ICANN’s Applicant Support Program statistics, last updated on 26 May 2026 and reflecting data as of the 19th day of the month, the program currently shows:
- 52 ASP application processes started
- 47 ASP applications with organization information submitted
- 32 ASP applications submitted for evaluation
- 44 ASP application evaluations completed
- 16 applications conditionally approved, pending payment
- 27 applications fully approved, with payment received
- 1 application marked as not eligible for support
- 2 applications withdrawn
The 16 conditionally approved and 27 fully approved applications together represent 43 approved support applications. Including the one application marked not eligible, ICANN has completed evaluation on 44 ASP applications.
What support do approved applicants receive?
The ASP can significantly change the economics of applying for a new gTLD. ICANN says supported applicants may receive:
- Access to an ASP capacity-development program
- Access to pro bono professional service providers
- Resources explaining the New gTLD Program and what it means to operate a registry
- Access to applicant counsellors
- A 75% to 85% reduction in New gTLD Program evaluation fees
- A bid credit in contention resolution procedures
- Reduced base Registry Operator fees if the applicant succeeds and proceeds to contracting and delegation
The standard gTLD evaluation fee for the 2026 round is USD 227,000. For qualified ASP applicants, ICANN says the discounted evaluation fee will range from USD 34,500 to USD 56,750, including the USD 2,500 deposit submitted to confirm ASP financial viability. The exact amount depends on the final number of qualified ASP applicants.
Supported applicants receive fee reductions for one gTLD application only. ICANN also states that there are no special restrictions on the strings supported applicants can apply for, although all applicants remain subject to the normal Applicant Guidebook restrictions and evaluation rules.
What this means for the market
For now, the key takeaway is that these are support approvals, not public TLD announcements.
The Domain Incite story correctly spotted the increase in approved reduced-fee applications, but the actual strings are not missing from the article because of an oversight. They are not publicly available at this stage because ICANN’s process deliberately keeps ASP applicant information confidential until the formal publication point.
For domain investors, this means speculation will continue. The approved ASP applicants could include public-benefit strings, community-oriented strings, regional or language-based projects, social-impact initiatives, micro-business ideas, or other registry proposals. But until ICANN publishes public application information, there is no confirmed list of the strings connected to these support approvals.
For registrars and registry service providers, the more practical point is that a supported applicant may still need partners, technical infrastructure, policy advice, launch planning, abuse-prevention processes, and commercial support. However, because ICANN is protecting ASP applicant confidentiality, those conversations may happen privately until the applications become public.
For brand owners and trademark teams, the watch point is Reveal Day and String Confirmation Day. Reveal Day should show the first public list of applications and strings that passed administrative checks. String Confirmation Day should clarify the final list after the replacement-string process.
Bottom line
The 18 additional approvals reported by Domain Incite should not be read as 18 publicly known new TLDs. They are additional Applicant Support Program approvals.
ICANN is keeping the strings confidential because the ASP stage is designed to assess support eligibility, not to reveal market-sensitive string plans. The public disclosure stage comes later, through Reveal Day and String Confirmation Day.
Until then, the confirmed story is not which TLDs are coming. The confirmed story is that more lower-cost new gTLD applicants are now moving through ICANN’s support pipeline.
References:
- Domain Incite: More cheap new gTLD applications approved
- ICANN Applicant Support Program Statistics
- ICANN FAQ: Will applicants be required to reveal the TLD string in their ASP applications?
- ICANN FAQ: Can ICANN share my ASP application information with other parties?
- ICANN FAQ: What is the purpose of the Applicant Support Program?
- ICANN FAQ: What assistance does a qualified supported applicant receive?
- ICANN FAQ: Can an applicant apply for support for more than one TLD or application?
- ICANN FAQ: Are supported gTLD applicants restricted in what strings they can apply for?
- ICANN 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook, Module 3: Application Submission
- ICANN New gTLD Program: 2026 Round
