---
id: "abf2f9a1-b09c-4aa0-9f83-8fe2f5c6f174"
kind: "link"
title: "ICANN ban on private settlements may push more new gTLD disputes to auction"
language: "en"
section: "gtld"
date: "2026-10-09T10:43:09Z"
updated: "2026-10-09T10:43:09Z"
canonical: "https://tldlog.com/l/icann-ban-private-settlements-may-push-more-new-gtld/"
origin: "master"
translations:
  es: "https://tldlog.com/es/l/prohibicion-acuerdos-privados-icann-podria-llevar-mas/"
source:
  name: "domainbrief.de"
  url: "https://domainbrief.de/artikel/ohne-private-einigungen-duerften-mehr-konkurrenzen-der-neuen-runde-bei-icann-ver"
  language: "de-DE"
  date: "2026-10-09T10:00:00Z"
---

# ICANN ban on private settlements may push more new gTLD disputes to auction

## in plain words

Lots of companies applied for the same new website endings in ICANN’s 2026 application round. This time, companies are not allowed to quietly settle disputes privately like they did in 2012, so more fights over names may end up going to public auction. Big portfolio applicants like Identity Digital and Namecheap face the most competition, while companies applying for their own brand names mostly have no rivals.

Reveal day data from ICANN’s new gTLD application round show a split pattern. Of 333 brand applications, 315 face no competitors, while portfolio applicants pursuing generic terms face widespread overlap across 263 contention groups.

Identity Digital, filing through 28 affiliated companies including Hair Apparent and Toddler Logic and ultimately owned by an Ethos Capital entity, submitted 216 applications, 157 of which are contested, making it the largest applicant group. Namecheap filed 40 applications through 20 star-themed entities such as Polaris Exploration.

Other major contested applicants include the Link Freedom Group (118 of 158 contested), XYZ.com (100 of 139), GoDaddy Registry Services (66 of 77), Intercap (54 of 71), Radix (41 of 46) and ShortDot (32 of 40). Domain Brief’s analysis found at least one of these seven applicants present in 236 of the 263 contention groups, with Identity Digital overlapping XYZ.com in 77 groups and the Link Freedom Group in 68.

By contrast, Google faces competition on only 13 of 39 applications and Meta on just one of 18, suggesting applicants pursuing their own trademarks mostly avoid rivals, while generic-term applicants must budget for contention.

Under the Applicant Guidebook, private auctions, joint ventures and other private settlement arrangements are prohibited this round, a change from 2012, when private deals resolved most of 234 contention sets and only 16 reached ICANN auction. Applicants now have until October 21 to switch to an alternate string, one of the program’s permitted resolution routes. Domain Brief found 287 of 891 contested applications still have a usable alternate string available, and in 87 groups all but one applicant could switch, though coordination between applicants remains barred.

Source: [domainbrief.de](https://domainbrief.de/artikel/ohne-private-einigungen-duerften-mehr-konkurrenzen-der-neuen-runde-bei-icann-ver)