gTLD update: Are ICANN and the gTLD program suffering from jetlag?

ICANN has given 34 gTLDs the green light to launch since our last gTLD update. Only 14 new gTLDs were launched in the month of October, and only 21 were delegated in total for the month of September. These numbers are strikingly low compared with the rapid-fire delegation the Internet community witnessed through the summer. The following list represents the small batch of gTLDs that have been delegated by ICANN since Sept. 15, 2014:

• .sydney
• .bloomberg
• .energy
• .delivery
• .taipei
• .emerck
• .band
• .yoga
• .crs
• .abogado
• .rip
• .wedding
• .poker
• .alspace
• .allfinanz
• .ibm
• .forsale
• .vermögensberatung (financial advice)
• .vermögensberater (financial advisor)
• .pyc (Russian)
• .tui
• .dvag
• .pohl
• .work
• .casa
• .budapest
• .world
• .fly
• .nexus
• .channel
• .prof
• .gle
• .zip
• .cal
• .chrome

This sluggish behavior also is demonstrated with the small number of gTLDs currently entering or in the sunrise phase this month.

These gTLDs are in the queue for launching:

And these are in the sunrise period now:

The following gTLDs have concluded sunrise this week and will begin the next phase on their journey to general availability.

• .hosting
• .help
• .click
• .property
• .diet
• .bzh
• .quebec

The top 10 gTLDs in terms of sales

Once a gTLD has completed the mandated sunrise period, it enters the landrush and early access phases before launching into general availability. General availability means that anyone in the general public can purchase a second-level domain within the new gTLD. But not every new gTLD is created equal; some are more popular than others. The following gTLDs comprise the top 10 in the gTLD leaderboard.

If any of these gTLDs could be of value to you or your brand, or are of concern — remember that as a registered agent of ICANN’s Trademark Clearinghouse, we can help develop and implement your gTLD strategy. For more information, read Porter Wright’s law alert about gTLDs.