.dig

Is .dig a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?

AI & tech
applicants
  • ShortDotIn a catalog
on the record since Sep 8, 2026 · updated Sep 8, 2026
AI score
31/ 100
Usable but limited

A niche TLD for budget-conscious registrants chasing a short memorable name — hobby and side projects, "dig it" style vanity sites, plus a thin slice of excavation, mining, archaeology, gardening and DNS/dev-tool projects that find the word literally apt.

assessed by claude-fable-5-1 · Sep 8, 2026
AI score 31 of 100. .com scores 96, .ai scores 84.
who it’s for

budget-conscious registrants chasing a short memorable name — hobby and side projects, "dig it" style vanity sites, plus a thin slice of excavation, mining, archaeology, gardening and DNS/dev-tool projects that find the word literally apt

techCommerceCulture
applicants
1 on file
ShortDotIn a catalog

One of the 80 strings ShortDot published for the ICANN 2026 round. ShortDot states it has submitted 40 applications, but publishes the 80 strings without revealing which 40 are applications and which 40 are designated replacements. The submission claim is therefore applicant-level, not string-level: nothing in the source says ShortDot applied for THIS string. Catalogued, not announced.

closest 2012 bets
3 of 1,408

The 2012 applications making the most similar bet. Chosen by AI from every string in that round, without being told what happened to any of them.

.flystrong parallel
delegated 2014 · live4 domains · May 2026

Same bet: a three-letter everyday English verb that carries both a literal industry meaning (aviation there, excavation/mining/gardening here) and a colloquial second sense, so it has to be sold as an evocative action word rather than to a category that already needs a home.

uncontested · scored 45* in 2012 · run by Charleston Road Registry Inc.

.eatstrong parallel
delegated 2014 · live3 domains · May 2026

Same bet: a short, punchy generic verb with no institutional owner or membership body behind it, whose value depends entirely on registrants finding the wordplay worth putting their primary identity on.

uncontested · scored 42* in 2012 · run by Charleston Road Registry Inc.

.runmoderate
delegated 2015 · live138,594 domains · May 2026

Same bet in structure — a tiny common verb with a double reading (activity vs. operate) that must be marketed as a brandable phrase-completing string — though it has a larger obvious consumer vertical to lean on than .dig does.

2 applicants contested it · scored 35* in 2012 · run by Snow Park, LLC

* A separate 2012-only read, time-locked to what was public that year. Different scale from this page’s score, so the two are not comparable.

history
  1. ShortDot · first recordedSep 8, 2026
    ShortDot (Ireland) Limited
news & sources
CatalogShortDot's 80 strings for the ICANN 2026 round
Sep 8, 2026
ShortDot (Ireland) Limited has submitted 40 applications to ICANN's 2026 New gTLD Program. The 80 strings shown include applied-for and designated replacement strings across ShortDot's 40 ICANN applications, presented without revealing their status or pairing.
ShortDot (Ireland) Limited
about ShortDot
NewsShortDot applies for 40 top level domains
Sep 8, 2026
The company just disclosed its 40 applications and 40 replacement strings.
Domain Name Wire
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This record is corrected in the open. See the changelog and methodology.