Once the feasibility of a new gTLD has been established, the next crucial step is selecting the right partners to bring your project to life. While the application process itself is rigorous, operating a top-level domain requires a network of highly capable, trusted partners. Think of it as building your dream team: each player brings unique skills, but they must all work together seamlessly to achieve success.
At Pitch, we help our clients assemble this ecosystem with precision. By streamlining the selection process and focusing on what truly matters, we ensure that applicants are not just ticking boxes for ICANN, but setting themselves up for long-term success.
Operating a gTLD is like running a small but critical piece of the internet’s infrastructure. It’s not something one organization can (or should) handle alone. From technical back-end operations to registrar distribution, from compliance monitoring to customer engagement, a gTLD involves multiple moving parts.
Choosing the right partners is critical because:
• ICANN demands it. Applicants must demonstrate reliable arrangements for registry services and back-end operations in their application.
• It affects your brand reputation. A weak or unreliable partner could result in downtime, security vulnerabilities, or reputational harm.
• It determines long-term costs. Partner agreements shape not just initial fees but ongoing financial obligations.
• It sets your strategic direction. The right mix of partners can either enable or constrain how creatively you use your gTLD.
Simply put: the partners you choose can make or break the project.
When guiding clients through partner selection, we typically focus on three categories of partners:
1. Registry Services Providers (RSPs)
These partners handle the technical heart of a gTLD: maintaining the DNS, ensuring uptime, managing zone files, and safeguarding against security threats like DNS abuse or DDoS attacks. In many ways, the RSP is the engine that keeps the TLD running.
Key considerations when selecting an RSP include:
• Track record of stability and uptime.
• Security credentials and compliance with ICANN standards.
• Scalability: can they handle sudden spikes in registrations?
• Cost structure: fixed, variable, or hybrid models.
2. Registrars
Registrars act as the storefront for your domain names, handling distribution to end-users. For some applicants — especially Brand TLDs — registrar involvement may be limited, but for others (generic TLDs or community-based TLDs), strong registrar partnerships are essential to reach the market.
Important questions include:
• Which registrars align with your strategic goals?
• How will they promote and support your TLD?
• Do they have reach in the markets or industries you want to serve?
3. Specialist Advisors and Service Providers
Beyond technical partners, applicants may need:
• Marketing advisors to position the TLD in the right way.
• Compliance consultants to monitor adherence to ICANN policies.
• Legal partners to draft and review third-party agreements.
These partners provide depth in areas where internal expertise may be limited.
Partner selection isn’t just about ticking ICANN’s boxes. It’s about building an ecosystem that matches your strategic intent. For example:
• A Brand TLD (.brand): You may need a strong RSP but limited registrar involvement. Security and governance take priority over market distribution.
• A City or Community TLD (.cityname): Political legitimacy and community engagement matter as much as technical reliability. Selecting partners who understand local governance and public interest obligations is crucial.
• A Generic TLD (.shop, .eco): Success depends on strong registrar relationships, marketing support, and scalability to handle potentially high volumes of registrations.
At Pitch, we align partner selection with these strategic nuances, ensuring applicants are not just compliant, but prepared to thrive.
Over the years, we’ve seen applicants fall into some predictable traps:
• Choosing purely on price. The cheapest partner may save money in the short term but cost more in downtime, security incidents, or hidden fees.
• Failing to negotiate clear contracts. Without robust agreements, applicants risk scope creep, unclear liability, or misaligned expectations.
• Not planning for the long term. A gTLD is a 10-year (renewable) commitment. Applicants need partners who can evolve with them, not just deliver on Day One.
Avoiding these pitfalls requires a structured approach and expert guidance.
We’ve built a process that streamlines partner selection while keeping clients firmly in control:
• Curated partner networks. We know the registry service providers, registrars, and advisors with proven track records.
• Objective comparisons. Our evaluation tools allow clients to compare options on performance, cost, and strategic fit.
• Contractual support. We draft and negotiate agreements that protect our clients and align with ICANN’s rules.
• Strategic alignment. We don’t just ask, “who can do the job?” but “who will help you succeed with your gTLD vision?”
In practice, this reduces what could be months of partner scouting and negotiations into a focused, efficient process.
Selecting the right partners isn’t glamorous. It doesn’t grab headlines the way a successful gTLD launch might. But it’s the foundation on which everything else is built. The right partners mean your TLD operates smoothly, securely, and strategically for years to come.
At Pitch, we help applicants make these choices with clarity and confidence. Because when the application becomes little more than a tick-box exercise, you want to know that the ecosystem around your TLD is robust enough to carry your vision forward.
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