.loc
Is .loc a real TLD? Who’s applying to run it?
Nobody has applied for .loc in its own right, as of 7 October 2026. RP1 named .loc as the replacement string of its .vrs application.
Short but ambiguous: reads as "location" or "local", useful for maps and local directories, with little brand pull on its own.
local-business directories, mapping and location-sharing services, and developers who already use "loc" as a shorthand for local or location
No applications recorded for this TLD yet.
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.
Same bet as .loc read as the everyday clipping of "location/local": a short truncation of a generic place-and-property word, sold as the open shorthand a whole trade already types, where the abbreviation itself has to be instantly legible to ordinary buyers.
The purest formal twin — a bare three-letter clipping of a generic category noun offered as an open namespace, so the whole wager is that a stub of a word reads as the category to anyone who sees it, with no owner's name behind it.
Same job and same buyer — any business or listing whose primary identity is "where" rather than "who" — but it makes the bet with a full, unambiguous generic noun instead of asking an abbreviation to do the recognizing.
What a .loc domain is
.loc is not a TLD yet. It is a string on our record of the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round, filed under Places. Nobody has applied for .loc in its own right. It is named on ICANN’s list as part of an application for another string.
Is the .loc domain extension real yet?
.loc is not yet a domain extension you can register: nothing resolves under it, and no registrar sells names in it. Nobody has applied for it on the public record; the ICANN 2026 new gTLD round is the process that would decide whether it becomes one.
When can you buy a .loc domain?
You can’t yet. ICANN publishes every applied-for string on Reveal Day, 7 October 2026 at 18:00 UTC. A .loc name can only be registered after that, once the string is delegated and its registry opens. Last round's closest parallel to .loc was .immo, delegated on 27 August 2014.
Is .loc a real TLD?
Not yet. .loc is not in the DNS root, so nothing resolves under it. It’s here because ICANN’s list names .loc as part of an application for another string. Every entry on this page links to its source.
- RP1 · first recordedICANN
“MC2619T-T81663 · Metaversal Corporation · replacement string of .vrs”ICANN
- Band chosen: 30-49 (usable but limited), at its floor. The string is three letters and short, which by analogy with other short generic-ish TLDs tends to attract some registrations on price and for name hacks, and the "location/local" reading gives mapping, check-in and local-directory projects a plausible primary-identity use. It is not in the 50-69 band because the meaning is an abbreviation rather than a word: it is read variously as location, local, lines-of-code or locale, so adoption always needs explaining and the brand signal is weak; analogous geo-flavoured generics such as .place have, by analogy, shown thin primary-identity use and a thin aftermarket. It is not in the 10-29 band because the location reading is a genuine, broad category with real buyer groups rather than a joke or event-driven niche, and the short length supports modest sustained demand. A market complication (not a lifecycle one): "loc" is informally used as a suffix for local development and private networks, which by analogy with how .dev was treated pre-delegation can make public identity use awkward and may constrain how freely names resolve. On the record there is one application, a brand-type application by Metaversal Corporation filed as a replacement string for .vrs (stated neutrally); a brand-type filing informs adoption likelihood toward narrow operator use rather than open volume, though the score assumes general availability. Main market uncertainty: whether any sizeable mapping or local-commerce platform would adopt .loc addresses as its standard location URLs, which is the only route from price-driven volume to a recognisable category namespace. Registration figures, pricing and demand for the string are unknown.