ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
07/30/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/30/2026 03:06
ICANN Publishes String Similarity Evaluation Data and Guidelines
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) published new data and guidelines to assist and guide the independent String Similarity Evaluation (SSE) Panel. The panel is tasked with identifying similar and potentially confusing top-level domain strings to prevent user confusion and a loss of confidence in the Domain Name System (DNS) due to the delegation of visually similar strings. Panel members will use new String Similarity Evaluation Data and String Similarity Evaluation Guidelines to assist in their evaluations, including those as part of the New gTLD) Program: 2026 Round as per the details provided in the New gTLD Program: 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook (AGB).
The SSE Data covers the analysis of the full repertoire of the Root Zone Label Generation Rules and identifies pairs of code points that are similar, as determined by the respective script experts, and defines the level of similarity between them. The data will be used with the SSE tool to compute the potential similarity of applied-for strings with any other applied-for strings or other categories of strings identified in the AGB. The SSE tool will generate a prescreening report, which will be used for further review and analysis by the SSE Panel.
The SSE Guidelines provide direction for the SSE Panel on how to manually conduct the string similarity evaluation and how to use the prescreening report generated by the SSE tool during this analysis.
To learn more, please visit the SSE webpage.
About ICANN
ICANN's mission is to help ensure a stable, secure, and unified global Internet. To reach another person on the Internet, you need to type an address - a name or a number - into your computer or other device. That address must be unique so computers know where to find each other. ICANN helps coordinate and support these unique identifiers across the world. ICANN was formed in 1998 as a nonprofit public benefit corporation with a community of participants from all over the world.
ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers published this content on July 30, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on July 30, 2026 at 09:06 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]