List of over 300 TLDs listed in the Fixedsys font in light-grey text on a black background.

Applications have now closed for the opportunity to introduce the first new gTLDs since 2014. The full list will not be revealed by ICANN until so-called Reveal Day in October but many organisations have already announced what they've applied for.

Though they haven't specified which are primary and which are replacement, the current operator of .link have rebranded from Nova Registry to LFG (which stands for Link Freedom Group and definitely not Let's Fucking Go!) and announced a whopping 300+ strings. The full list is available to browse at lfg.link but some that were of interest to me include:

  • .links is a plural of their existing .link TLD and so is potentially banned by the current guidelines.

  • .nil is close to .mil which already suffered issues with people inadvertently sending sensitive military information to .ml addresses.

  • .lfg which they want for obvious reasons but has also been applied for by Suffix Domains.

  • .con has obvious appeal for conventions (and maybe political conservatives?) but seems dangerously close in how it looks and sounds to .com (as well as m and n being next to each other on the keyboard). But Domain Name Wire pointed out .cam was previously successful so maybe it'll be okay.

  • .bad seems like it might suffer from some of the same criticisms as .fail and .sucks where brands feel they are forced to register their names just to prevent the potential of anyone making a negative site about them.

  • .bit is set to be hotly contested with three other groups also applying for it. Presumably it appeals to crypto bros but is also fun from a computing perspective.

  • .btc already exists as web3 TLD but based on the draft guidance released by ICANN around synchronising web3 TLD with an ICANN TLD I'm not sure anyone will really try it. Nobody else as announced they've applied for it.

  • .dian could have similar use to .ing for domain hacks.

  • .itiswhatitis is a TLD they have potentially paid $227k to apply for despite the fact that surely nobody would ever want to use it.

  • .nsfw seems a bit pointless considering we have .xxx and its troubled history.

  • .omg is fun and we already have .lol and .wtf so why not?

  • .organization seems pointless considering .org and potentially would be rejected on the basis they are too close.

  • .robot would be a nice but it seems a bit redundant considering .bot and might even be too close to it.

  • .stuff could be like a more fun version of .info

  • .url is not one I totally understand the point of. Maybe they see it like .link and .links.

  • .way I hope is successful because I have a domain hack in mind that uses it and I don't have any other options for.