Markmonitor Group Launches Service to Help Enterprises Cope with Risks Brought by New Domain Names
London, October 8, 2026 / PRNewswire / -- The world's largest company for managing corporate domain names, Markmonitor Group, welcomes a news announcement made last night: hundreds of companies are applying for their own “top-level domains ( Top - Level Domain )” to protect their online identities; however, the company also issues a cautious warning, stating that the widespread use of these new domain suffixes may be exploited for online fraud.
In addition to new domain name extensions such as .alphabet, .claude, .ethereum, .mitsui, .roblox, and .tiktok which will soon be used by these companies for their official websites, the internet domain name regulatory agency ICANN also announced last night that hundreds of other terms – such as .brain, .bro, .geek, .mars, .moon, .nerd, .nsfw, .omg, and .stupid – as well as geographical names like .beijing, .roma, and .bali – may also soon become part of the internet infrastructure after going through an objection process.
Markmonitor Group CEO Ben Crawford stated: "We congratulate ICANN for allowing companies to register their brands at the top level of the internet. This level was previously reserved only for country codes such as .uk and .fr. Among our clients are many of the world's most renowned brands, as well as some visionary early-stage companies that recognize the value of owning dotBrand top-level domain names – which is the only type of global and permanent intellectual property."
He also stated, "However, if hundreds of new non-brand domain name extensions emerge in the future, it could also bring potential risks, including increased costs for businesses and the possibility of fraud targeting their customers."
Markmonitor Group Senior Vice President Stuart Fuller added, "We have established an emergency service for companies that have missed this opportunity, are concerned about potential infringement of their trademarks, or simply need to understand the new risks and opportunities brought about by these significant changes in the internet structure."
Background Brief
The international organization responsible for regulating internet domain names, ICANN, announced detailed information on 1,615 new top-level domain name (TLD) applications (new gTLD) during an event on Wednesday evening (British time) as part of a "Reveal Day" initiative. These applications came from 56 countries.
Anyone can submit a new gTLD application during the application period from April to August this year, by paying a fee of $227,000 to ICANN. The subsequent annual management cost is approximately $100,000. After the preliminary review in ICANN is completed, the detailed information of these applications is now available to the public.
The top-level domain name ( TLD ) is the last part of a domain name after the period, such as . com , . org , and . net . After obtaining a new gTLD , the applicant can start operations, providing sub-domain names to the public, or they can be reserved for use exclusively by their own company or brand.
In the latest round of applications, 333 gTLD applications consisted of brand names, with 155 from North America, 64 from Europe, and 107 from the Asia-Pacific region. Including:
- adobe
- airbnb
- anthropic
- chatgpt
- ebay
- fitbit
- railway
- roblox
- waymo
- zoho
Several popular terms attracted multiple applications, including:
- agent
- agentic
- bit
- brand
- crypto
- gpt
- hub
- robot
It is worth noting that during this period, holders of existing legal rights (such as trademark owners) will be able to challenge any new gTLD applications that infringe upon their rights through relevant mechanisms.
Following the disclosure yesterday, as of October 21st, new gTLD applicants who wish to avoid potential conflicts can choose to replace their preferred strings with alternative strings.
Thereafter, ICANN will announce the final list of applicants for gTLD on November 17th. This will also mark the beginning of a 104-day official public comment and objection period.
The last gTLD expansion occurred in 2012, during which more than 1,200 new gTLD were added to the internet ecosystem. These included general terms such as . XYZ, . Shop, and . Club, geographical terms like . London and . NYC, as well as brands such as . Sky, . HSBC, and . Shell.
Markmonitor Group indicates that the company is a globally leading enterprise that supports the application and registration management of dotBrand. At the same time, it also provides domain name management and online brand protection services for thousands of companies around the world. Markmonitor signifies that the company has been deeply involved throughout the entire development process of the new gTLD application process, and therefore is able to offer unique insights into the opportunities and challenges brought about by the new gTLD.
Statistics and application details for the 2026 application round can be found at: https :// newgtldprogram-aps.icann.org / statistics
For more details, please visit: https :// markmonitorgroup.com
