Domain Applicants Get a Head Start: New Tool Flags Conflicts Before ICANN’s Reveal Day
Why contention sets remain the biggest headache
In ICANN’s last major gTLD expansion, many hopeful applicants discovered too late that others had applied for the same string. Those overlaps—called “contention sets”—sparked private negotiations and auctions that cost millions across the industry. The process also created a gray market where some applied for strings purely to cash out.
This time, ICANN has changed the playbook. Once reveal day arrives, when all applied-for strings become public, applicants are barred from private settlements. If two or more companies chase the same extension, their only choices are to withdraw, go to ICANN’s official auction, or accept a total loss on their investment. For most, that means walking away from over $200,000 in application fees, legal costs, and consulting hours.
Introducing the Early Warning Report
To give applicants a fighting chance, a new platform called Early Warning Report offers early intelligence on possible string conflicts before ICANN reveals them. It’s a simple idea with big potential: participants share the strings they plan to apply for, and the platform alerts them if someone else in the system is eyeing the same one.
The system doesn’t reveal identities upfront. Instead, it uses an anonymized message tool, letting participants decide whether to connect and coordinate. It’s a quiet heads-up before the high-stakes auction season starts.
How the two phases work
Phase 1: Pre-Application Insight
- Applicants can pay $1,000 per string before the application window closes.
- Four weeks ahead of the deadline, participants receive a confidential notice if another participant has filed the same or a similar string.
- Participants can message the other party anonymously, much like using a Whois contact form—private unless the recipient chooses to reply.
Phase 2: Post-Application Snapshot
- Once the application window closes, but before reveal day, participants can submit the strings they actually applied for.
- This round costs $3,000 per string—or $2,000 if the string was part of the first phase.
- The system again alerts users about any overlapping strings among other participants.
The two-phase setup gives participants two chances to react: once before applying, and once after submitting but before everything goes public.
The founders and the fine print
The service comes from Ray King, CEO of Porkbun and founder of Top Level Design, and Marc Trachtenberg, a veteran internet attorney deeply involved in ICANN policy for over two decades. Both know how messy contention sets can get. They’ve structured the platform to comply with ICANN’s rules—it ends before reveal day and keeps all data under neutral third-party management to ensure confidentiality.
It’s not a silver bullet. If a company outside the platform applies for the same string, you might still end up in a dispute. But it does offer something new—advance visibility. Participants can detect conflicts early enough to change course or collaborate, long before ICANN locks them in.
The math behind the motivation
Skipping this tool could be expensive. Withdraw your application after reveal day and you lose 35% of the $227,000 fee, plus whatever you spent on legal and technical prep. Lose the auction? That number climbs to 80% or more. And the winner still pays the final bid—directly to ICANN.
That risk has many applicants asking the same question: “What are my chances of ending up in contention?” Until now, the answer was guesswork. With Early Warning Report, they at least get a data point—one that might save them six figures.
Participation threshold and timing
For the platform to launch, the team needs at least 200 string submissions. If they don’t hit that mark, all fees are refunded.
Here’s how the timeline unfolds:
- Now through spring 2026: participants submit planned strings for $1,000 each.
- April 2026: ICANN opens the gTLD application window.
- Four weeks before close: early reports delivered, allowing applicants to adjust.
- August 2026: application window closes.
- One week later: post-application submissions accepted ($3,000 per string or $2,000 if previously listed).
- Six weeks before reveal day: final reports issued.
- Reveal day (TBD): ICANN publishes all strings—private coordination ends.
Why this matters
This idea feels overdue. For years, applicants have rolled the dice, paying huge sums with no visibility into who else is applying. Now, Early Warning Report gives them a peek behind the curtain—at least for the portion of the industry that opts in.
Those who skip it take on more risk. Those who participate gain time, context, and maybe a partner before reveal day closes the door on private talks.
If it gains traction, the platform could reshape how serious applicants plan their bids. If not, it may become a footnote in the long story of domain expansion—an interesting experiment that warned everyone in advance.
In a business where a single string can make or break a million-dollar plan, a small early warning might be worth every penny.