Private second-price ascending clock auctions that avoid gTLD contention sets before ICANN’s process begins. The same format. Faster certainty. Funds stay with applicants.
See how it worksIn the 2012 New gTLD round, we resolved far more contention sets than ICANN and all other private facilitators combined.
The Applicant Auction window opens when applications close and ends at Reveal Day. This is when contention can be avoided on your terms.
ICANN begins accepting gTLD applications. Applicants submit their applications and begin identifying potential contention.
Applicants register with Applicant Auction, complete verification, and identify which strings they've applied for. Contention sets begin forming as applicants self-identify.
Final deadline for all ICANN gTLD applications. The Applicant Auction window opens.
Private auctions run for each contention set. Deposits collected, auctions conducted, results settled. Losing bidders withdraw their applications before Reveal Day.
All applications are published. Contention sets are formally created. The prohibition on private resolution of contention begins. Strings addressed through Applicant Auction are no longer in contention.
Any contention sets not addressed privately proceed to ICANN's official auction process. If your string was addressed through Applicant Auction, you're already done.
All escrow funds are disbursed based on pre-agreed settlement rules. Winners receive their TLD delegation. Process complete.
A clear, step-by-step process from registration to settlement. All rules are pre-agreed — no surprises.
Submit proof of your ICANN gTLD application. Complete identity verification (KYC). Identify which string(s) you've applied for.
Place a deposit one week before your auction. Standard deposit is 20% of your declared maximum bid. Alternatively, a $2,000,000 deposit enables unlimited bidding.
Participate in a second-price ascending clock auction. The price rises in rounds — bidders drop out when the price exceeds their valuation. The last bidder standing wins at the second-highest price.
If you win: top up your deposit to the winning price. Funds held in escrow until final settlement. If you lose: withdraw your ICANN application and receive your share of the winning bid.
All bidders' deposits held in escrow
~1 weekWinner tops up to full winning price
~1 weekOnly winner's payment remains in escrow
~1 weekFunds held through Reveal Day and final outcome
Weeks to monthsAll funds are held in escrow by Applicant Auction until the final outcome is known. No funds move until the post-Reveal Day process is complete.
The Applicant Auction winner must bid at least the Applicant Auction winning price in any subsequent ICANN auction. This protects losers’ expectation that the string was valued at that amount.
If the ICANN auction clears below the Applicant Auction price, the surplus goes to the losers who withdrew. Without their withdrawal, they would have driven the ICANN auction to the same price — the external bidder simply wasn’t as strong.
All settlement rules are defined in the contract before the auction. No new communications or negotiations happen after Reveal Day. Settlement is purely mechanical.
Our second-price ascending clock format is the same mechanism used in ICANN’s official auction — originally developed by the same teams. The only difference is how fast you get certainty.
Participation is entirely voluntary. No applicant is required to join the Applicant Auction. You always retain the option to proceed to ICANN’s official process.
A contention set occurs when two or more parties apply for the same gTLD string (e.g., multiple applicants for ".example"). ICANN formally announces these sets on Reveal Day. Applicants may take any actions privately before Reveal Day.
The price starts low and rises in rounds. Each round, bidders decide whether to stay in or drop out. When only one bidder remains, they win at the price where the second-to-last bidder dropped out. This format incentivizes honest bidding — your best strategy is to bid your true valuation. It is the same format used in ICANN's official auction.
Contention sets do not formally exist until Reveal Day. Before that, there is no contention to address — only applicants who may have applied for the same string. The Applicant Guidebook's prohibition on private resolution begins "from Reveal Day" (Section 5.2.3.1), and the Guidebook explicitly states that it does not prohibit applicants from communicating information related to applications or application strategies for strings that are not in contention, or outside of the defined periods where communication is prohibited. Applicant Auction operates exclusively in that pre-Reveal Day window.
If one or more applicants for the same string did not participate in the Applicant Auction, the string proceeds to Scenario B. The Applicant Auction winner enters ICANN's official auction against the external applicant(s). Settlement follows the pre-agreed rules for Scenarios B1, B2, or B3 depending on the ICANN auction outcome.
The standard deposit is 20% of your declared maximum bidding amount. If you want to bid without a cap, a flat $2,000,000 deposit enables unlimited bidding. Deposits are held in escrow and returned to losing bidders after the auction.
No. If you lose the Applicant Auction, your deposit is returned (typically within one week). In Scenario A, you also receive your share of the winning bid. In Scenario B, your payout depends on the ICANN auction outcome — see the Scenarios section above for details.
Yes. Our second-price ascending clock auction uses the same mechanism as ICANN's official auction — both were originally developed by the same auction design teams. The difference is timing and efficiency: for most outcomes, our process avoids contention by Reveal Day, while ICANN's auction doesn't begin until months later.
The 2026 round uses the same proven auction methodology and second-price ascending clock format. Key improvements include streamlined onboarding and updated settlement mechanics to handle the compressed timeline of the 2026 round. Payout mechanics and timing of auctions were adjusted for compliance with ICANN's rules for the 2026 round.
If you’re applying for a gTLD in the 2026 round, contact us to learn more about avoiding contention before Reveal Day.
Applicant Auction operates under strict confidentiality. Your participation and bidding information are never disclosed to other applicants or third parties.