ICANN Confirms 1,616 Applications for 2026 New gTLD Round as Fees Top $350 Million

The period between Reveal Day and the Bali meeting is expected to be a time of intense internal strategy for many applicants. Once the strings are revealed, the existence of "contention sets"—instances where multiple parties have applied for the exact same TLD—will become clear. In the previous 2012 round, contention sets for highly desirable strings like .app, .web, and .blog led to protracted legal battles and multi-million dollar private and ICANN-hosted auctions. Industry experts anticipate that many applicants will choose to skip the Bali meeting, opting instead to stay at their headquarters to work through their bidding strategies, negotiate potential settlements with competitors, or prepare for the rigorous evaluation phases that follow the reveal.

Amidst the excitement and strategic maneuvering, ICANN has issued a stern warning regarding the flow of information. In recent weeks, several prospective applicants have moved to publicly disclose the strings they have applied for, seeking to build early momentum or perhaps deter competitors. However, ICANN has urged the public and interested stakeholders to remain extremely cautious regarding any information that does not originate directly from the organization itself. ICANN emphasized that it remains the only authoritative and verified source for the 2026 Round application data. Until the official list is published on Reveal Day, any claims made by individual companies regarding their applications remain unverified and potentially incomplete.

This call for caution is particularly relevant given the emergence of several "fishy" or mysterious entities within the application pool. One such case that has caught the attention of industry veterans is an entity known as "Journey to the West." This particular applicant has raised eyebrows due to several glaring inconsistencies in its public profile. While the organization’s website claims it is backed by a group of domain investors, its official contact information lists the address for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People’s Republic of China (MIIT).

The confusion surrounding "Journey to the West" deepens when examining the strings it has reportedly targeted. The entity has named several domain extensions that were actually released or dealt with during the previous 2012 round, leading to questions about the legitimacy of its strategy or its understanding of the current regulatory environment. The juxtaposition of a private investment claim with a high-level Chinese government address has led to significant skepticism within the domain community. Whether this is a sophisticated front for a larger strategic play or simply a poorly constructed application remains to be seen, but it highlights the complexities and the potential for misinformation that ICANN is currently trying to manage.