Automattic, the parent of WordPress.com, WooCommerce and Tumblr, put in bids for 16 new web extensions during ICANN’s 2026 application round. The list includes .wordpress, .woo, .tumblr and .matt, a nod to founder Matt Mullenweg’s first name. Everything went public on October 7, when ICANN used Reveal Day to release all 1,615 applications filed this round.
Automattic submitted the applications through Knock Knock WHOIS There LLC, the arm that won .blog in the last round. According to Domain Name Wire, that extension has since climbed to around 375,000 registrations.
Demand differs sharply from one string to the next. On five of the 16, Automattic faces no challengers: .jazz, .matt, .tumblr, .woo and .wordpress each drew a single applicant. The other 11 are contested, and the number of companies in each fight ranges from two up to nine. Interest peaks at .pop and .robot, where nine applicants each are competing. After those come .pod with eight rivals in the set and .vibe with seven.
Several of those contests put Automattic up against hosting and website-builder companies. In .human, it goes head-to-head with Hostinger and Aruba, among six total applicants. In .pop it crosses paths with Aruba, and in .pod it runs into Squarespace. Those three companies also collide elsewhere on the list. Aruba, Hostinger, and Squarespace all want .lab, and both Hostinger and Aruba chase .gen.
Automattic has also named 11 replacement strings. Four remain available: .freelance for .hire, .php for .vibe, .task for .soul and .rap for .jazz. The other seven are deactivated because each matches a string another applicant filed, which the replacement rules do not allow. Applicants can switch until October 21.
ICANN’s data flags .mesh, .tumblr and .woo as brand applications, while .wordpress does not carry that mark. Aruba filed the most applications among the hosting companies, with 20, and 16 of them are contested. Squarespace filed 15 and Hostinger four, though all four of Hostinger’s are in contention.
These counts are still provisional. The replacement period can pull an applicant out of a set, and ICANN will publish its final list of applied-for strings on November 17. Singular and plural notifications and String Confusion Objections could also create new sets later.
