What Are New gTLDs, and Are They Good for SEO?

For most of the internet's history, choosing a domain extension meant choosing between .com, .net, .org, a handful of others, and your country code. Then ICANN opened the doors, and hundreds of new extensions arrived: .app, .shop, .blog, .studio, .london, .bank, brand TLDs like .google, and many more. These are the new generic top-level domains, or new gTLDs. They make it much easier to find a short, meaningful name, but they also raise fair questions: will Google rank them, will people trust them, and will they work everywhere? This article explains what new gTLDs are, how the program works, what Google has said about them, and the practical pitfalls to check before you register one. For the classic alternatives, see .com vs .net vs .org.

What Is a gTLD?

A top-level domain (TLD) is the last label in a domain name: com in example.com, uk in example.co.uk, app in example.app. TLDs fall into a few categories, which IANA tracks in its Root Zone Database:

• Generic TLDs (gTLDs): not tied to a country, such as .com, .org, .info, and the new gTLDs.
• Country-code TLDs (ccTLDs): two-letter codes based on ISO 3166-1, such as .de, .ca, .jp. See what a country-code TLD is.
• Sponsored TLDs: gTLDs with a sponsoring community and eligibility rules, such as .edu and .gov.
• Infrastructure: .arpa, used for reverse DNS and other technical purposes.

"Legacy" gTLDs are the ones that existed before the expansion. "New" gTLDs are the ones delegated through ICANN's New gTLD Program.

Where New gTLDs Came From

ICANN added a few gTLDs in the early 2000s, such as .info, .biz, and .mobi. The big change came with the New gTLD Program: ICANN opened an application round in 2012, received around 1,900 applications, and began delegating the new extensions to the root zone from late 2013. More than 1,200 new gTLDs have been delegated since then, although some have later been retired, especially unused brand TLDs.

An application was a serious undertaking: a substantial evaluation fee, detailed technical and financial plans, and an obligation to run (or contract) a registry with backend services, DNSSEC, escrow, and abuse handling. That is why most new gTLDs are run by specialist registry companies, large brands, cities, or communities.

ICANN has been preparing a next application round, with the application window planned for 2026. Check ICANN's New gTLD Program pages for the current timeline, because dates in this process have historically moved.

Types of New gTLDs

Type	Examples	Who can register
Open generic	.online, .site, .xyz, .shop	Anyone
Descriptive	.studio, .photography, .law	Usually anyone; some have eligibility checks
Geographic	.london, .nyc, .berlin, .tokyo	Often anyone, sometimes with a local nexus rule
Brand (.brand)	.google, .bmw, .apple	Only the brand owner
Restricted/verified	.bank, .pharmacy	Only verified entities in that sector
Security-focused	.app, .dev, .page	Anyone, but HTTPS is required in browsers

You can download the complete, current list of TLDs from IANA and count them yourself:

curl -s https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt | grep -v '^#' | wc -l

And check that any TLD is live in the DNS by asking for its name servers:

dig +short NS studio.
dig +short NS london.

If dig returns name servers, the TLD is delegated in the root zone. For background on how this lookup works, read what TLD name servers are.

Are New gTLDs Good for SEO?

The short answer: a new gTLD neither helps nor hurts your rankings by itself.

Google addressed this directly in a 2015 Search Central blog post on handling new TLDs. The main points remain the position Google states today:

• New gTLDs are treated like other gTLDs, such as .com and .org. Keywords in the TLD do not give a ranking advantage or disadvantage.
• Generic new gTLDs are not geotargeted. Even TLDs that look regional, like .london or .berlin, are treated as generic, not as country signals.
• Country-code TLDs remain country signals, except for a set of ccTLDs Google treats as generic because they are widely used for non-country purposes, such as .io, .co, .me, and .tv.

So best-bakery.shop does not rank better for "bakery shop" because of the .shop, and example.london will not automatically rank better for London searches. Relevance, content quality, links, and on-page signals do the work.

Indirect SEO Effects

The extension can still matter indirectly:

• Memorability and links. A short, meaningful new gTLD name can be easier to remember than a long .com with modifiers. But if people habitually type .com instead, some links and visits go elsewhere.
• Click-through. Some searchers trust unfamiliar extensions less, which can reduce clicks from search results. This varies by audience and extension, and it tends to fade as an extension becomes familiar.
• Spam reputation. A few very cheap open TLDs have historically attracted a lot of abuse. Spam filters and security tools sometimes treat mail and links from such TLDs with extra suspicion. Google evaluates sites individually, but email deliverability and corporate firewall policies may not be so forgiving. Check the history of a specific domain before buying it; see how to check a domain's history.

What About Exact-Match New gTLDs?

Combining a keyword domain with a keyword TLD, like denver.plumbing, is tempting. It can be memorable, but it is not a ranking shortcut. Google reduced the influence of exact-match domains years ago, and the same logic applies when the keyword is split across the label and the TLD. Our article on exact-match domains covers this in more depth.

Practical Pitfalls to Check

HSTS Preloading on .app, .dev, and Others

Some new gTLDs are on the HSTS preload list at the TLD level. Google's .app, .dev, and .page are well-known examples. Every major browser ships with this list, so for these TLDs:

• Browsers will only connect over HTTPS. There is no plain HTTP fallback.
• You need a valid TLS certificate before the site works at all, even for a placeholder page.

This is a security benefit, but it catches people out when they point a new .dev domain at a server without a certificate and see a connection error. You can check whether a domain or TLD is preloaded via the public API at hstspreload.org:

curl -s "https://hstspreload.org/api/v2/status?domain=example.dev"

The JSON response includes a status field, which reads preloaded when the domain is covered.

Old Validation Code That Rejects Long TLDs

Some older forms and libraries assume TLDs are two to four letters long, so they reject valid addresses like hello@studio.photography. Fewer systems do this today, but you may still hit it with legacy CRMs, payment forms, or in-house code. If you maintain a validator, do not hard-code TLD length. A pragmatic JavaScript approach:

// Accepts any TLD of 2+ letters, including long and punycode (xn--) TLDs.
function looksLikeEmail(value) {
  const re =
    /^[^\s@]+@([a-z0-9](?:[a-z0-9-]{0,61}[a-z0-9])?\.)+(?:[a-z]{2,63}|xn--[a-z0-9-]{1,59})$/i;
  return re.test(value);
}

console.log(looksLikeEmail("hello@studio.photography")); // true
console.log(looksLikeEmail("team@example.app")); // true
console.log(looksLikeEmail("broken@example")); // false

The best validation is still sending a confirmation email. A regex only filters obvious typos.

Renewal and Premium Pricing

New gTLD registries set their own wholesale prices, and some charge much more than legacy extensions. Many also designate thousands of short or dictionary names as registry premium names, which can carry higher prices not only at registration but at every renewal. Always check the renewal price before buying, not just the first-year offer. See what a premium domain is.

Eligibility and Verification

Restricted TLDs like .bank require verification that you are a regulated institution. Some professional TLDs require proof of credentials. Geographic TLDs may require a local connection. Read the registry's eligibility policy before you invest in branding around a name you might not be allowed to keep.

Registry Stability

Registries can change ownership, adjust pricing, or, rarely, wind down a TLD. ICANN has continuity mechanisms, including data escrow and an emergency back-end operator program, designed to protect registrants if a gTLD registry fails. Still, a large, well-used TLD is a lower-risk bet than an obscure one.

When a New gTLD Is a Good Choice

New gTLDs work best when:

• The extension reinforces the brand, such as a photographer on .photography or a developer tool on .dev.
• You get a much shorter, cleaner name than any .com alternative.
• Your audience is comfortable with modern extensions, such as developers, creators, or younger consumers.
• You use it for a campaign or product microsite while your main brand stays on .com.
• You own a .brand TLD, where the extension itself carries authority, though that is a route open only to large organizations.

They are a weaker choice when:

• Your audience types .com by habit and the .com is owned by someone else.
• Email deliverability is critical and you have not tested the TLD with your recipients' mail systems.
• Renewal costs are significantly higher than a comparable .com and the budget matters.

A Checklist Before You Register

Question	Why it matters
Who owns the .com of the same name?	Leakage of typed traffic and email
What is the renewal price, not just year one?	Premium tiers can renew at high prices
Is the TLD HSTS-preloaded?	You need TLS before the site loads at all
Does the TLD have eligibility rules?	You may lose the domain if you do not qualify
Has this specific domain been used for spam before?	Inherited reputation can affect email and trust
Do your key forms and tools accept long TLDs?	Old validators can reject your own email address

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New gTLDs FAQ

Conclusion

New gTLDs give you far more choice than the legacy extensions, and Google treats them as equals for ranking. They will not boost your rankings with a keyword in the extension, and geographic-looking new gTLDs do not act as location signals. Where they help is in branding: a shorter, more meaningful name that fits what you do.

Before you register one, look past the first-year price and check renewal costs, eligibility rules, HSTS requirements, the reputation of the specific domain, and who owns the matching .com. If those checks come back clean and the name fits your brand, a new gTLD can be an excellent choice.

Here are some useful references for going deeper on new gTLDs:

1. ICANN: New Generic Top-Level Domains — ICANN's program site with background, delegated strings, and next-round information.
2. IANA: Root Zone Database — every delegated TLD with its type and registry operator.
3. Google Search Central Blog: Google's Handling of New Top Level Domains — Google's statement on how new gTLDs are treated in search.
4. Google Search Central: Managing Multi-Regional and Multilingual Sites — how Google uses TLDs and other signals for geotargeting.
5. HSTS Preload List: hstspreload.org — check and submit domains for browser HSTS preloading.