The Rise of New Generic TLDs (gTLDs)

For most of the internet’s history, choosing a domain meant choosing between a handful of generic extensions such as .com, .net and .org, or a country code. That changed after ICANN launched its New gTLD Program in 2012. Today there are well over a thousand generic top-level domains, from practical ones like .shop and .app to niche ones like .photography or .bike. This article explains where new gTLDs came from, how they differ from each other, what to watch out for on pricing and renewals, and how to decide whether one belongs in your domain strategy.

Where new gTLDs came from

ICANN, the organisation that coordinates the global domain name system, had added a few extensions in earlier rounds, such as .info, .biz and .mobi. The 2012 round was on a completely different scale. Companies, communities and cities could apply to run their own top-level domain, paying an evaluation fee of 185,000 US dollars per application. ICANN received around 1,930 applications, and the first new gTLDs were delegated to the root zone in 2013.

Applicants fell into several groups. Some were dedicated domain registry businesses that applied for many generic words. Large technology companies such as Google and Amazon applied for both generic terms and their own brands. Cities applied for extensions like .berlin, .london and .istanbul, and many brands obtained so-called dot-brand TLDs that they use only for their own sites. For background on how all these categories fit together, read understanding domain extensions.

Types of new gTLDs

The distinction matters because restricted extensions can carry a trust signal, while open extensions are cheaper and faster to register but can attract more low-quality registrations.

Why so many brands applied

A dot-brand gives a company complete control over every name under its extension. No one else can register a lookalike inside it, and the brand can create short, campaign-specific addresses whenever it needs them. In practice many brand TLDs remained lightly used, and a number were later terminated by their owners, which shows that holding an extension is a long-term operational commitment rather than a simple marketing purchase.

Security by default: .app and .dev

Google operates .app and .dev, among others, and added these whole extensions to the HSTS preload list built into major browsers. HSTS, or HTTP Strict Transport Security, tells a browser to connect only over HTTPS. Because the entire extension is preloaded, a browser will refuse to load a .app or .dev site over plain HTTP, even on the very first visit.

In practice this means:

• You must have a valid SSL/TLS certificate before the site works at all.
• An expired certificate does not just show a warning; visitors generally cannot click through to the site.
• Local development setups that use a .dev name without HTTPS break in modern browsers.

This makes .app and .dev attractive for security-conscious projects, but it also makes certificate renewal monitoring essential. Automatic certificate renewal can fail silently, and on these extensions a failure takes the site offline.

The same principle is spreading. Other registries have also chosen to preload their extensions, and many site owners add their own domains to the preload list. Whether or not your extension enforces it, treating HTTPS as mandatory and watching certificate expiry dates is now simply good practice.

The .xyz story and open extensions

.xyz launched in 2014 and became one of the most widely registered new gTLDs, helped by low entry prices and visible adoption, most famously when Google’s parent company Alphabet chose abc.xyz as its corporate address. Open extensions like .xyz, .online and .site have made it possible for almost anyone to find a short name, but low prices also attract spam and abuse. Some email filters and security tools treat traffic from certain cheap extensions with more suspicion, which is worth testing if you plan to send email from a new gTLD domain.

That does not mean open extensions are a bad choice. Plenty of legitimate startups, creators and projects use them successfully. It means you should configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC properly, warm up a new sending domain gradually, and build a reputation through consistent, legitimate use.

Pricing, premium tiers and renewal traps

New gTLD pricing is more varied than most people expect. A few points to understand before you buy:

• Promotional first-year prices: registrars often discount the first year heavily. The renewal price is what you pay every following year, so compare that figure.
• Premium names: registries can label short or valuable words as premium and charge much more. For some premium names, the higher price applies to every renewal, not just the registration.
• Registry price changes: gTLD registries can change wholesale prices, subject to notice rules in their ICANN agreements. Registering for several years can lock in current pricing with many registrars.
• Different tiers per registrar: retail prices vary between registrars for the same extension.

Always check the renewal price shown at checkout and record it alongside the expiry date. A cheap first year can turn into an unexpectedly large invoice if you did not notice the name was premium.

Do new gTLDs help or hurt SEO?

Google has stated that new gTLDs are treated like other generic extensions in search. A keyword in the extension, such as .shop or .photography, does not by itself give a ranking advantage. Geographic gTLDs such as .berlin are also treated as generic rather than as country signals. What matters is the same as on any domain: useful content, a fast and secure site, and genuine links. The bigger effects are on user perception, memorability and click-through, which depend on whether your audience recognises and trusts the extension.

If you move an established site from .com to a new gTLD, treat it like any other domain migration, with page-by-page 301 redirects and a long-term renewal of the old name.

Practical checklist before registering a new gTLD

1. Check whether your preferred name is available across several extensions with TLDix domain search.
2. Read the registry’s eligibility rules, especially for restricted or geographic extensions.
3. Compare the renewal price, not only the first-year price, and confirm whether the name is premium.
4. For .app, .dev and other HSTS-preloaded extensions, set up HTTPS and certificate monitoring before launch.
5. Test that contact forms, payment providers and email systems accept your extension. Older software sometimes rejects longer TLDs, an issue the industry calls universal acceptance.
6. Consider registering the matching .com or local ccTLD to protect your brand.

What is next: ICANN’s next round

ICANN has spent years reviewing the lessons of the 2012 round through its community policy process and plans to open a further round of applications for new gTLDs. The next round is expected to include improvements such as clearer rules, support for applicants from underserved regions and more attention to internationalised domain names in non-Latin scripts. Exact timelines depend on ICANN’s published schedule, so check ICANN’s official announcements for current dates. For businesses, the main takeaway is that the namespace will keep growing, including more dot-brand extensions, which makes brand monitoring across extensions increasingly important.

Keeping a growing portfolio under control

New gTLDs make it tempting to register a name in several extensions at once. Each extra domain adds another renewal date, possibly another registrar and another certificate. Use the WHOIS and RDAP lookup to confirm the registrar and expiry date for each name, then track domains and SSL certificates in one place so nothing lapses because it was registered on a whim two years ago.

New gTLDs are neither a gimmick nor a replacement for .com. Chosen carefully, with renewal costs and security requirements in mind, they can give a project a short, descriptive and memorable home.