Create your own personalized Internet extension (.MARQUE, “Brand TLD”)

ICANN reopens the possibility of creating a personalized Internet extension, particularly for brands. Solidnames can help you create your .MARQUE, also known as a “Brand TLD” or “dot Brand”.

The next round of the New gTLD program is an ICANN initiative. As such, it is intended to enable the expansion of the Internet’s Domain Name System (DNS) through the introduction of new extensions.

Under these conditions, it seeks to promote diversity, encourage competition and reinforce the usefulness of DNS.

This is a rare opportunity. Indeed, the previous opening dates back to 2012. It will reappear in 2025/2026 to obtain its personalized internet extension.

In fact, ICANN has set up a site dedicated to the subject of “NewgTLDs”, available at the following address: https: //newgtldprogram.icann.org.

Why create your own personalized web extension?

There are many advantages to using .MARQUE domain names: identification, trust, security, control and exclusivity.

With a Brand TLD, you can develop your own digital territory.

A dot Brand enables you to offer all your company’s online services in an authentic, secure and controlled way.

In this context, a custom Internet extension provides :

• Security. By exclusively controlling your .TRADEMARK, the organization better protects its users against fraud, phishing, counterfeiting or cybersquatting.
• A unified naming policy. Users access services via domain names ending in .MARQUE.
• Reinforcing brand identity. A “Brand TLD” enables an organization to reinforce its online identity by using a unique extension specific to its brand. It gives the brand worldwide notoriety, setting it apart from the competition. A “dot Brand” thus brings a real competitive advantage to the company that uses it.
• Flexibility and innovation with total control. A .TRADEMARK offers a blank digital territory. It belongs to the company, enabling it to create as many domain names as it wishes, without worrying about their availability. This makes it possible to create ephemeral domain names (e.g. for a specific communication or marketing operation) and then not renew them, without the risk of a third party reclaiming them. Only the brand can register domain names in its Brand TLD.

Hundreds of .TRADEMARKS created since the first round of nTLD opening

The first and previous round of new Internet extensions in 2012 resulted in the delegation of over 1,200 “New gTLDs”.

Among these “nTLDs”, there have been totally generic extensions open to all (e.g. .ONLINE, .SHOP, .TOP…). There are also geographical extensions (“geoTLDs”) such as .BZH Breton, .ALSACE or .PARIS.

Finally, there were between four and five hundred “Brand TLDs”; the figures vary according to abandonment and the categorization of certain extensions.

Several personalized Internet extensions are used on a massive scale by companies with over a thousand dot brand domain names. These include .DVAG, owned by a German asset management company, as well as Audi, Leclerc and MMA in France.

However, you don’t need to have hundreds of domain names to use your personalized Internet extension. For example, SCHMIDT GROUPE has switched two of its sites to .MARQUES, such as home-design.schmidt and ma.cuisinella.

Making real use of .MARQUE domain names

Nevertheless, a study available on the Solidnames Blog has been carried out on the use of “Brand TLDs” 10 years after their launch. While the use of dot Brands is increasing, 62% of .MARQUES have fewer than 10 registered domain names, including 36% with just one.

This feedback demonstrates that the launch of a personalized Internet extension must be thought through and built to offer a secure digital foundation common to the brand. The defensive and costly approach of just having a .TRADEMARK to call your own is not one of Solidnames’ recommendations.

The previous opening round of the tour was not without its difficulties. Companies bidding for the next 2026 round can learn from the past.

In particular, Internet extensions have been requested by several of the same entities. ICANN has resolved these conflicts either by private agreement or by auction. Solidnames supports companies by carrying out in-depth searches to avoid applying for a name that could trigger a dispute.

Timetable for the launch of new Internet extensions

According to ICANN, the next round is scheduled to start in April 2026. This date has been set taking into account policy implementation work, which is estimated to end in May 2025 with the completion of the Applicant Guidebook.

The Applicant Guidebook is often referred to as the “AGB”. It is often referred to by the acronym “AGB”. The AGB contains the essential rules of the program. Once the Applicant Guidebook has been completed, ICANN estimates that it will take one year to make the process operational and launch the application period. See the official timetable below:

Source : https://newgtldprogram.icann.org/fr/application-rounds/round2

Once the application has been received, it will be made public by ICANN in late 2026, early 2027. It will then be submitted to the Internet community. During ICANN’s review of the application, the .TRADEMARK applicant will be able to answer any additional questions ICANN may have.

Once the technical tests have been successfully completed, the “Brand TLD” will be integrated into the Internet root in 2027. The “dot Brand” can then be launched and used in late 2027, early 2028.

Applicant Guidebook (AGB) questions

The new Applicant Guide Book (AGB) will be submitted for public comment in spring 2025.

ICANN expects basic elements such as proof of the company’s legal establishment and contact details. Trademark certificates for the requested custom Internet extension are also required to establish the credibility of the application.

It is also important to align the application with ICANN’s mission to strengthen competition and innovation in the DNS space.

Under these conditions, security mechanisms such as customer protection against phishing and other abuses are particularly important.

It’s also advisable to check that the requested extension is unique and should not lead to confusion with existing extensions.

How much does a personalized .MARQUE Internet extension cost?

When an organization applies to create a dot brand, it must distinguish between two types of costs. These are the “set-up” fee and the annual management fee.

The largest part of the initial fee is the application fee charged by ICANN.

These initial ICANN fees are expected to reach $227,000 in 2026. As a reminder, these fees were $185,000 in 2012 during the previous round.

Once .MARQUE has been obtained, ICANN charges $25,800 per year in annual Brand TLD management fees.

Fees other than ICANN fees: “OTR”, consultant, domain name registrar…

Another important item in the budget is the cost of the technical registry operator (“OTR” in French). Operating an Internet extension is a profession. The dot Brand must partner with an OTR to technically operate its domain names in its personalized Internet extension.

To this end, ICANN has begun an evaluation of Registry Service Providers (RSPs). The aim of this phase is to reinforce the security and stability of the DNS, while streamlining the technical delegation process for future Internet extensions. See the AFNIC publication on this subject.

In this respect, the French domain name registry is one of the “OTRs” validated in the first round. Solidnames recommends that the French brands it supports select AFNIC as their “RSP”.

There are dozens of backend registry solutions, including CentralNic, GoDaddy Registry, Identity Digital, Nominet, Tucows Registry Services…

Registry Service Provider prices vary according to the associated services. As a general rule, they also cost several tens of thousands of euros.

Other costs to budget for include third-party data escrow (a few thousand euros).

It is also advisable to enlist the help of a service provider when creating a customized web extension. Solidnames offers this consulting service, the financial terms of which vary according to the level of support required(see below).

Finally, there are the costs of the registrar(s) where the.TRADEMARK domain names will be registered. This can be a fixed annual fee and/or a unit cost per domain name (e.g.: from €10 to €50 ex. tax per year per domain name, depending on the associated services).

Helping Solidnames obtain a customized Internet extension (“Brand TLD”)

Preparing a file, submitting an application, having it validated by ICANN, obtaining delegation of your .MARQUE, operating it technically, using the domain names in your dot BRAND…

There are many stages involved in obtaining and operating a personalized Internet extension. It’s a long-term project, carried out over several years.

Solidnames accompanies Brand TLD applicants through these various stages, or during specific phases depending on the organization’s needs.

At the outset, there is a preliminary approach phase. This feasibility and opportunity study includes a presentation of the “New gTLD” program, and project management between IT, marketing communications and legal departments. The financial aspects of the project are also addressed, with validation from the technical partners.

A draft naming charter is also proposed.

Consulting services from feasibility study to actual use of dot Brand domain names

Next comessupport in preparing the application. The .MARQUE application is then submitted via the interfaces provided by ICANN. Solidnames also follows up answers to questions of clarification.

The contractualization phase with ICANN is also important. There is also the stage of launching and operating the “Brand TLD” in agreement with the OTR selected for technical management.

During this period, the registrars selected for the dot Brand must be accredited. Finally, the official registry site built around the domain name nic.tld (“NIC” for “Network Information Center”) must be developed and hosted.

Solidnames benefits in particular from the experience of its founders, acquired during the previous round, in assisting with the creation of a .MARQUE In addition, Jean-François POUSSARD is a member of Afnic’s Cercle des .Marque. He took part as a brand representative in the last edition on November 21, 2024.