New gTLD Application For .APP Is Withdrawn

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The 32nd new gTLD application has been withdrawn with ICANN, and today its not for a brand Application but for the most applied for new gTLD, .App.

.App you my recall had the most applications submitted to ICANN during the new gTLD program with 13 applications, including one’s submitted by Google, Amazon, Donuts, Top Level Domain Holdings and Famous Four and Afilias to name a few.

The company withdrawing their application to operate the Top Level Domain for .App is Dot App LLC, of Utah which had a prioritization number in the ICANN draw of 290.

Michael Daniel Jensen and Aaron Ronald Stewart were the contact for the company which appears to have only have only  filed for one new gTLD and apparently didn’t like their  chances against the other 12 applicants.

Since their initial evaluations had not been issued they will get a refund of 70% of their $185,000 application fee.

 

 

 

 

About Michael Berkens

Michael Berkens, Esq. is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of TheDomains.com. Michael is also the co-founder of Worldwide Media Inc. which sold around 70K domain to Godaddy.com in December 2015 and now owns around 8K domain names . Michael was also one of the 5 Judges selected for the the Verisign 30th Anniversary .Com contest.

Comments

  1. Grim says

    This is a smart move since people go to app stores to look for apps, not websites.

    Of course app companies will always have their websites with nice descriptions and screenshots of their apps, (mine has been online since the 80s, when it was just PC software, but is now moving more towards apps), but the reality is that unlike the PC era where you could go to a site and download programs and games, that’s just not how it works for apps.

    On a side note, this has hit some companies particularly hard; companies who were once huge on the PC game side of things, are now fighting to survive in the app world. It’s pretty crazy and that’s why it’s easy to imagine that the Internet will soon go through some big changes as well in regard to how people interact with it (or not) due to the ever-growing popularity of mobile devices.

    The Internet won’t disappear of course, and people with computers will still access it as always, but more and more it will be just the ‘big sites’ that really matter to people (accessed more and more through apps) that take up the majority of their browsing or entertainment time.

  3. Grim says

    When even Apple doesn’t apply for .app, you know there are smart reasons behind their decision not to.

  5. BrianWick says

    Almost reverse psychology – the more folks that apply for a new non.com TLD – the more folks that will not get it – because cause only one will win – money dictating.

    Almost as if 80-90 percent of the applicants can’t get along and form a new entity that manages the tld – then maybe the ICANN gods will pull it – isn’t that what right of the dot is all about ?

  6. _rubensk says

    What is interesting is that .app applicant found that 40% of $185,000 (the difference between withdrawing now and later) = $74,000 would be more than a possible private auction gain. Is he betting that there are too many applicants for them to agree on a private settlement, or that even an auction wouldn’t get him more than $74,000 ?