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Welcome to our monthly Industry News Digest. Explore new online trends and domain industry news to stay up-to-date. Here’s a summary for July 2026:
The Early Warning Report platform, which helps potential applicants for new domain extensions assess market competition in advance, has received requests to verify over 300 applications for the upcoming New gTLD (generic Top-Level Domain) Round. According to the platform,a total of 93 companies have made 365 requests concerning 313 unique domain suffixes. For 41 zones, more than one prospective applicant has already been identified.
The New gTLD Program, coordinated by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), allows organizations to apply for and operate their own domain extensions. The upcoming application window marks the program’s second round since the original launch in 2012.
The Early Warning Report allows applicants to see in advance who else might be interested in the same domain extension, allowing negotiations between potential applicants before bids are officially announced. After ICANN discloses the data, opportunities for negotiations are limited, as competing applicants usually have to go through the established competition resolution procedures, which may include auctions if multiple applicants seek the same string.
The platform isn’t an official ICANN tool and doesn’t guarantee applicants’ success. Nevertheless, the popularity of the service demonstrates that significant interest is already being generated in the second round of New gTLD applications. Interest is high in both branded and thematic domain zones .
Why should you care? Companies considering applying for a new domain extension should begin preparations early. Important first steps include assessing potential competition, considering the technical infrastructure, and identifying possible partners able to ensure stable registry operation and compliance with ICANN requirements.
For this purpose, they can turn to the Evaluated Registry Service Provider (RSP), which provides a secure and reliable technical infrastructure for launching and managing TLDs. Such providers include it.com Domains, which has its own platform for managing domain extensions.
Source: Domain Name Wire
Innovation Labs, a division of the Identity Digital organization working on an AI agent identification system, has developed DNSid, a project which proposes to use DNS (the Domain Name System) to create a kind of ‘birth certificate’ for AI agents. The goal is to provide a standardized, voluntary way for organizations to verify an AI agent’s identity, confirm its owner, and establish who is responsible for its actions.
Today, a single AI agent can have different identities across various cloud and enterprise systems, making it difficult to verify who is behind it. DNSid proposes a more universal way to verify the identity and ownership of an agent. It uses DNS as a trusted, globally distributed directory, while PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) provides cryptographic identity verification and blockchain is used to create an immutable record of key information. Together, these technologies are intended to create a consistent and verifiable identity framework for AI agents.
Why should you care? AI agents are increasingly being used in customer service, business process automation, performing transactions, and digital services. As they gain greater autonomy, it becomes important for companies to understand how to verify that they are using a trusted AI agent and who is responsible for its actions.
If such identification standards become widespread, they could improve the security of interactions with AI, reduce the risk of fraud, and simplify the integration of AI agents into business processes. Domain technologies could also become one of the foundations for establishing a trusted digital identity for such systems.
Source: Domain Name Wire
Wix, a website creation platform, has published its first State of Websites Report, based on data from over 300 million users of its service. According to its findings, search remains the largest source of website traffic, accounting for 42% of visits. Direct traffic accounts for 40%, and social media generates 13%.
According to Wix, AI-driven discovery is still at an early stage in terms of direct website traffic. Visits from LLM (Large Language Model) services currently account for less than 1% of all sessions, although this number quadrupled from 2024 to 2025. At the same time, AI is increasingly becoming part of the search journey itself through features such as Google AI Overviews, which influence how users discover brands before they visit a website.
Wix also notes that users may first learn about a brand through AI search and then go directly to their site to check the facts or explore an offer in more detail. It follows that direct traffic doesn’t always reflect how a user initially learned about a company.
Why should you care? Despite the relatively small share of direct traffic from LLM services, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is becoming an important tool for promotion. Users can encounter company information in AI Overviews, ChatGPT responses, and other AI tools, even before landing on a website.
This means that beyond traditional search, it’s essential websites and their content adapt to fit new formats. Useful, clear, and structured content increases the chances that company information will be correctly processed and used by AI systems.
Source: Wix
Google has introduced a feature that allows users to find out whether an ad was created using AI (Artificial Intelligence). This information is available through the My Ad Center dashboard, which can be accessed via the three-dot menu or the information icon on the ad.
The new option, ‘How this ad was made,’ shows whether an ad was created or edited using AI and also allows users to block or report ads. This feature applies to ads on Google Search, YouTube, and Google Discover.
Previously, Google only required disclosure of the use of AI in political advertising. Now, this information is becoming available to users in other advertising formats.
Why should you care? AI is increasingly being used to create advertising, and transparency about the origin of content is becoming an important part of the digital environment. Users are gaining more information about how advertising messages are created, and advertisers must address new audience expectations regarding transparency and trust.
The use of AI in marketing is gradually becoming more visible to users. However, advertising efficiency still depends on quality, relevance, and credibility, not just the tech used to create it.
Source: TechCrunch
LinkedIn has introduced new tools to help identify and limit the spread of low-quality AI-generated content. Users can now flag posts using the new ‘Seems like AI slop’ feature if they believe the content is excessively AI-generated or lacks value. Based on these signals, the platform will refine its recommendation algorithms and reduce the visibility of such content.
At the same time, LinkedIn is rethinking its approach to using AI. Instead of relying on a tool that helped generate post text entirely, the platform is emphasizing a feature called proofreading and text enhancement, preserving the author's style and voice. In this way, LinkedIn aims to encourage more authentic, professional communication.
Why should you care? More and more platforms are shifting from discussing the use of AI to focusing on the quality and transparency of such content. Priority is gradually shifting toward original content, where AI assists the author rather than completely replaces them.
AI should be viewed primarily as a tool for accelerating work and generating ideas, rather than as a substitute for in-house expertise. Unique knowledge, practical experience, and a recognizable style are becoming more important for audience trust and the long-term effectiveness of content marketing.
Source: The Verge
Stay up-to-date with digital trends and news - visit it.com Domains blog and follow us on social media.
Continue reading at the it.com Domains blog...
More than 300 Requests for New Domain Zones Received
The Early Warning Report platform, which helps potential applicants for new domain extensions assess market competition in advance, has received requests to verify over 300 applications for the upcoming New gTLD (generic Top-Level Domain) Round. According to the platform,a total of 93 companies have made 365 requests concerning 313 unique domain suffixes. For 41 zones, more than one prospective applicant has already been identified.
The New gTLD Program, coordinated by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), allows organizations to apply for and operate their own domain extensions. The upcoming application window marks the program’s second round since the original launch in 2012.
The Early Warning Report allows applicants to see in advance who else might be interested in the same domain extension, allowing negotiations between potential applicants before bids are officially announced. After ICANN discloses the data, opportunities for negotiations are limited, as competing applicants usually have to go through the established competition resolution procedures, which may include auctions if multiple applicants seek the same string.
The platform isn’t an official ICANN tool and doesn’t guarantee applicants’ success. Nevertheless, the popularity of the service demonstrates that significant interest is already being generated in the second round of New gTLD applications. Interest is high in both branded and thematic domain zones .
Why should you care? Companies considering applying for a new domain extension should begin preparations early. Important first steps include assessing potential competition, considering the technical infrastructure, and identifying possible partners able to ensure stable registry operation and compliance with ICANN requirements.
For this purpose, they can turn to the Evaluated Registry Service Provider (RSP), which provides a secure and reliable technical infrastructure for launching and managing TLDs. Such providers include it.com Domains, which has its own platform for managing domain extensions.
Source: Domain Name Wire
AI Agents May Soon Get Their Own ‘Birth Certificates’
Innovation Labs, a division of the Identity Digital organization working on an AI agent identification system, has developed DNSid, a project which proposes to use DNS (the Domain Name System) to create a kind of ‘birth certificate’ for AI agents. The goal is to provide a standardized, voluntary way for organizations to verify an AI agent’s identity, confirm its owner, and establish who is responsible for its actions.
Today, a single AI agent can have different identities across various cloud and enterprise systems, making it difficult to verify who is behind it. DNSid proposes a more universal way to verify the identity and ownership of an agent. It uses DNS as a trusted, globally distributed directory, while PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) provides cryptographic identity verification and blockchain is used to create an immutable record of key information. Together, these technologies are intended to create a consistent and verifiable identity framework for AI agents.
Why should you care? AI agents are increasingly being used in customer service, business process automation, performing transactions, and digital services. As they gain greater autonomy, it becomes important for companies to understand how to verify that they are using a trusted AI agent and who is responsible for its actions.
If such identification standards become widespread, they could improve the security of interactions with AI, reduce the risk of fraud, and simplify the integration of AI agents into business processes. Domain technologies could also become one of the foundations for establishing a trusted digital identity for such systems.
Source: Domain Name Wire
Wix: Search Remains the Primary Traffic Source, but AI’s Role is Growing
Wix, a website creation platform, has published its first State of Websites Report, based on data from over 300 million users of its service. According to its findings, search remains the largest source of website traffic, accounting for 42% of visits. Direct traffic accounts for 40%, and social media generates 13%.
According to Wix, AI-driven discovery is still at an early stage in terms of direct website traffic. Visits from LLM (Large Language Model) services currently account for less than 1% of all sessions, although this number quadrupled from 2024 to 2025. At the same time, AI is increasingly becoming part of the search journey itself through features such as Google AI Overviews, which influence how users discover brands before they visit a website.
Wix also notes that users may first learn about a brand through AI search and then go directly to their site to check the facts or explore an offer in more detail. It follows that direct traffic doesn’t always reflect how a user initially learned about a company.
Why should you care? Despite the relatively small share of direct traffic from LLM services, GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is becoming an important tool for promotion. Users can encounter company information in AI Overviews, ChatGPT responses, and other AI tools, even before landing on a website.
This means that beyond traditional search, it’s essential websites and their content adapt to fit new formats. Useful, clear, and structured content increases the chances that company information will be correctly processed and used by AI systems.
Source: Wix
Google Helps Users Find Out If AI Was Used in Ad Creation
Google has introduced a feature that allows users to find out whether an ad was created using AI (Artificial Intelligence). This information is available through the My Ad Center dashboard, which can be accessed via the three-dot menu or the information icon on the ad.
The new option, ‘How this ad was made,’ shows whether an ad was created or edited using AI and also allows users to block or report ads. This feature applies to ads on Google Search, YouTube, and Google Discover.
Previously, Google only required disclosure of the use of AI in political advertising. Now, this information is becoming available to users in other advertising formats.
Why should you care? AI is increasingly being used to create advertising, and transparency about the origin of content is becoming an important part of the digital environment. Users are gaining more information about how advertising messages are created, and advertisers must address new audience expectations regarding transparency and trust.
The use of AI in marketing is gradually becoming more visible to users. However, advertising efficiency still depends on quality, relevance, and credibility, not just the tech used to create it.
Source: TechCrunch
LinkedIn Steps Up Its Fight Against Low-Quality AI Content
LinkedIn has introduced new tools to help identify and limit the spread of low-quality AI-generated content. Users can now flag posts using the new ‘Seems like AI slop’ feature if they believe the content is excessively AI-generated or lacks value. Based on these signals, the platform will refine its recommendation algorithms and reduce the visibility of such content.
At the same time, LinkedIn is rethinking its approach to using AI. Instead of relying on a tool that helped generate post text entirely, the platform is emphasizing a feature called proofreading and text enhancement, preserving the author's style and voice. In this way, LinkedIn aims to encourage more authentic, professional communication.
Why should you care? More and more platforms are shifting from discussing the use of AI to focusing on the quality and transparency of such content. Priority is gradually shifting toward original content, where AI assists the author rather than completely replaces them.
AI should be viewed primarily as a tool for accelerating work and generating ideas, rather than as a substitute for in-house expertise. Unique knowledge, practical experience, and a recognizable style are becoming more important for audience trust and the long-term effectiveness of content marketing.
Source: The Verge
Stay up-to-date with digital trends and news - visit it.com Domains blog and follow us on social media.
Continue reading at the it.com Domains blog...
