“They didn’t know it was impossible, so they did it.”
(Mark Twain)
”The AnyName concept directly fulfills ICANN’s stated objective for new gTLDs: to enhance innovation and utility within the DNS.”
AnyName Technology — The Benefits for Brand gTLDs
Enabling eligible gTLDs to turn NXDOMAIN into signal by interpreting user intent
Summary for Brand gTLDs - for the full AnyName Technology Website, click here
Imagine a system enabling you to invite your customers to express their intent through type-in navigation (even if these domains are unregistered):
• any product (playstation5.amazon, iphone15.amazon)
• any category (laptops.amazon, books.amazon)
• any brand (samsung.amazon, apple.amazon)
A brand gTLD such as Amazon, Disney, Netflix, or Spotify could never register all domains to match user intent. These requests would have to return an NXDOMAIN response.
The concept proposed here makes those unregistered domains functional by allowing them to route within the DNS, enabling the interpretation of user intent and serving the user with meaningful results inside the brand’s own namespace.
Why this matters for brands
Brand gTLD namespaces are currently static — by definition (requirement of NXDOMAIN response to unregistered domains). Allowing internet users to express their intent through natural, meaningful (yet unregistered) domains requires a dynamic registry — something the current DNS infrastructure does not provide.
The AnyName concept introduces that missing layer, enabling intent recognition and controlled dynamic responses inside trusted, eligibility-restricted gTLDs.
Technical Basis
This AnyName model builds on RFC 8914 (Extended DNS Errors, EDE), published in October 2020.
Authoritative registry servers designate a Target URL in the EDE field payload (e.g., https://my.amazon/?origin=PlayStation5), and DNS resolvers simply relay that EDE field to the browser.
The browser then forwards the user to the registry-designated HTTPS endpoint, enabling the (e.g. Spec 13) registry to interpret user intent.
A real-world use case example: a live .airport gTLD mockup
For the 2026 gTLD round application for .airport (see dotairport.org), we have created a live .airport simulation mockup. It is simulated in the second level of the .makeup gTLD.
Try it out at burningman.airport.makeup or at sicily.airport.makeup or hethrow.airport.makeup (a typo of Heathrow) or try any typo like “Gattwik” (Gatwick) or destination like “Disneyworld” or “Coachella” or territory like “Thailand”, “Florida” or “Poland”. The mockup is AI-powered. This is just a demonstration model - please do not expect absolute perfection. It is based on an OpenAI-driven interpreter that maps intuitive inputs to verified airport results.
Eligibility Summary
Only namespaces that demonstrably serve the end-user’s utility, operate under a single trusted interpreter, and return results solely within their own gTLD are eligible to use AnyName.
This eligibility model protects user intent and preserves the neutrality of resolution.
See full eligibility criteria click → /eligibility
AI-powered Interactive gTLD Eligibility Check
For more information please send an email to alexander.schubert@anyname.technology or call +1(202)888-2029