Domain blocking services: protect your brand across the namespace

The domain namespace now spans well over a thousand extensions, and hundreds more are arriving with ICANN’s 2026 new gTLD round. Registering your trademark defensively in each one is no longer realistic, and criminal registrations concentrate precisely in the cheap, easy-to-register extensions that a defensive portfolio struggles to cover. Domain blocking services grew out of that gap: a way to reserve a trademarked domain across large parts of the namespace at once, without registering each one.

This guide walks through how domain blocking works, what a domain block requires and does not do, which programs exist today, and when a domain block is the better call than a defensive domain registration.

What is domain blocking?

Domain blocking is a registry-level or program-level service that stops third parties from registering your trademarked domain across many extensions at once. You place your domain on a block list instead of registering it in every extension, and any attempt to register that domain comes back as unavailable.

A domain block is proactive brand protection for the long tail of the namespace. It does not replace registering your core commercial domain, which you still own and use as part of the wider discipline of domain management.

Several domain blocking programs exist today, each with different reach:

• GlobalBlock and GlobalBlock+: a unified, multi-registry domain block from the Brand Safety Alliance, spanning many registries at once.
• DPML (Domains Protected Marks List): Identity Digital’s single-registry-family block, covering its own portfolio of extensions.
• AdultBlock and AdultBlock+: GoDaddy Registry’s block for the four adult-themed extensions.
• Uni EPS and Uni EPS+: GoDaddy Registry’s block for a small, changing set of extensions.
• NameBlock suite: a modular option (BrandLock, AbuseShield, SecureShield, and Web3 blocking) that lets you pick extensions individually.

We compare all of these programs further down. Domain blocking is one prong of a wider strategy; for how it fits alongside registering your core domain and monitoring the rest, see our guide to defensive domain registration. First, here is what happens when you place a domain block.

How a domain block works

A domain block is not a domain registration. Once active, your domain sits on a registry’s block list, or on a shared list spanning several registries. Any registrar that tries to register that domain in a covered extension gets an unavailable response.

A normal domain registration gives you a domain you own and control: a DNS zone, a website, email, and TLS/SSL certificates. A domain block gives you none of that. There is no DNS zone and nothing to point anywhere. A domain block adds your domain to a reserved-names list that the registry checks during every EPP check and create command. The registry returns an unavailable status for that domain, the same response a registrar would get if the domain were already taken.

A domain block also comes in two shapes. A single-registry block, such as DPML, covers one registry’s family of extensions. A unified multi-registry block, such as GlobalBlock, reaches across many separate registries and ccTLDs in one action.

Coverage also varies by match type. The baseline is an exact-match block on your trademarked domain. Premium tiers extend the match to typos, homoglyphs (characters that look identical but come from different scripts, such as a Cyrillic “a” standing in for a Latin “a”), and internationalized domain name (IDN) variants.

One point trips people up often: a domain block only prevents future registrations. It does not remove a domain a third party already holds. That case belongs to monitoring and enforcement, covered further down.

The trademark requirement behind every domain block

You cannot block a domain you have no rights to. Every domain blocking program requires you to demonstrate rights in the domain, so a domain block is not open to generic terms or a domain name you have merely started using.

What counts as sufficient rights, and how you prove them, depends on the program. There are two credentials, from two different bodies:

• Signed Mark Data (SMD) file: issued by the Trademark Clearinghouse (TMCH), the centralized database ICANN built for the New gTLD Program. It underpins DPML, AdultBlock, and the Sunrise and Claims services.
• Intellectual Property Right (IPR) number: issued by the Brand Safety Alliance (BSA), specific to GlobalBlock. A rights holder who already has a valid SMD file does not need a separate IPR number.

The TMCH itself is not a domain blocking program. It is the verification layer underneath the programs: it validates your trademark and issues the SMD file, and that credential is what unlocks DPML, AdultBlock, Uni EPS, and, as an alternative to a BSA IPR number, GlobalBlock.

Because the TMCH was built specifically for the New gTLD Program, its Sunrise and Claims services apply only in new gTLDs, not in legacy extensions such as .com or .net, which predate the clearinghouse and never ran a Sunrise phase.

GlobalBlock’s BSA verification is broader than the TMCH route: it accepts registered and unregistered trademarks, company or organization names, and celebrity names. AdultBlock is similarly flexible, accepting unregistered marks and public figures through third-party validation. The general rule is simple: you must demonstrate rights in the domain, and the exact credential depends on the program.

Keep an eye on renewals. A TMCH record and its SMD file run on their own term, and a domain block tied to a lapsed record can be weakened or revoked. Coordinate your TMCH renewal with your domain block renewal so neither expires unnoticed. InterNetX acts as a TMCH agent through its Trademark Clearinghouse service, which is one way to file and keep the record current.

The TMCH also powers Sunrise (a priority registration window before a new gTLD launches) and Trademark Claims (a warning when someone registers a matching domain). Those serve registration, not blocking. See our overview of sunrise, landrush, and general availability for how the launch phases work, and our interview with Jan Corstens of Deloitte for a fuller look at the clearinghouse itself.

Domain blocking programs available today

No single domain blocking program covers the whole namespace, because each one is tied to the registries that participate in it. Fit depends on your domain portfolio, the extensions that matter in your markets, and your budget. The table below lays out the main programs side by side.

GlobalBlock trades on breadth across many registries in one transaction. DPML trades on depth within one large registry family. AdultBlock and Uni EPS+ are narrow, high-value blocks for specific reputational risks. NameBlock is the modular option, letting you build coverage extension by extension. The bound is the same for all of them: coverage reaches the domains and extensions the program participates in, and no further.

When to block a domain and when to register defensively

Blocking and defensive registration are not competing choices. They answer different questions. The table below maps common scenarios to the right tool.

Domain blocking versus defensive domain registration: the cost logic

The table above sorts by scenario. Here is the arithmetic behind the “block the long tail” rows. Defensive registration at scale carries a per-domain registration fee, annual renewal for every domain, and administrative overhead: tracking expiry, keeping registrant data current, handling transfers. Multiply that across hundreds of extensions and the total cost climbs steeply.

Blocking changes the shape of that cost. One program fee covers many extensions at once, with no per-domain renewals and far less administration. Across a handful of extensions you use, registering is still the right call and gives you a usable asset. Across dozens or hundreds held purely for defense, blocking usually wins on total cost of ownership.

Domain blocking is not free, and programs differ in price and coverage, so the real comparison is which model gives you the coverage you need at the lower total cost for your footprint. The 2026 new gTLD round sharpens this: hundreds of new extensions are arriving, and under a register-everything model, each one is another set of domains to register and renew. A block that scales to new extensions absorbs much of that growth without a proportional cost increase.

What a domain block does not do

A blocked domain is not a domain you own. Understanding the limits avoids the most common misunderstandings:

• It cannot host a website or email. There is no DNS zone, because you never registered the domain.
• Coverage is bounded. A domain block reaches only the domains and extensions inside that program. Everything outside stays open to registration.
• It is not retroactive. If someone already registered a matching domain, the block does nothing to it. Removing an existing registration requires enforcement, such as a UDRP or URS dispute, or a takedown request.
• It is not automatic typo protection. An exact-match block stops only your exact domain. Typosquatting and lookalike protection require a premium tier, such as GlobalBlock+ or AdultBlock+, or NameBlock’s AbuseShield.
• It does not replace monitoring. Coverage is always a subset of the namespace, so monitoring the rest stays essential.

What the abuse data shows

Domain blocking has moved from a nice-to-have to a domain portfolio decision because of where online abuse now happens. The low-cost, easy-to-register long tail, the exact part a domain block covers efficiently, is where criminal registrations concentrate.

Almost every abusive domain in a new gTLD was registered to be abused, not compromised later. Even as mitigation rates climb past 90%, most malicious registrations still take more than a day to shut down. Blocking removes that entire window by keeping the domain from ever being registered.

Enforcement remains a growing, reactive burden: WIPO’s 2025 caseload was its highest in the UDRP’s 25-year history. Brand owners are following the abuse into the new namespace on the protection side too, as the trademark-protection share shifting toward new gTLDs shows. Every one of those disputes is a domain that sat open before anyone acted on it. For the reactive side of that pairing, see our explainer on the UDRP with Charlotte Spencer of WIPO.

Unblocking your own domain versus an override

A domain block is reversible. If you want to use a domain you had blocked, you release it and register it as a normal domain. The standard registration fee applies, and the domain’s lifecycle starts from that point. That is your own lever, and you can pull it whenever you decide the domain is worth using.

Override is different: it lets someone else register a domain inside your block. In standard programs such as DPML, a third party holding an exact-match trademark with a valid SMD file can override your block and register the domain, paying a one-time override fee plus the standard registration fee. This exists because identical trademarks can be legitimately owned by different parties in different countries or classes.

Premium tiers close this off. A DPML+, GlobalBlock, or AdultBlock+ block cannot be overridden by another trademark owner, even one with a matching mark. If protecting against a rival trademark holder is part of your risk picture, that is a concrete reason to choose a premium tier.

Domain blocks run on annual or multi-year terms, commonly up to five years, and are renewable. If a block lapses, the domain returns to the open market and becomes registrable by anyone. Tie block renewals to your TMCH renewals so neither expires unnoticed.

Coverage and the moving target of the 2026 new gTLD round

Which extensions does a domain block cover? Whichever registries participate in the program you choose. Coverage is a function of participation, and it shifts quickly: new gTLDs grew 29.9% YoY in 2025 and now hold a 12.4% share of the roughly 390 million domains registered worldwide.

Do not assume every new gTLD automatically falls under an existing block the moment it launches. Some programs extend quickly; others lag. Ask your provider, per program, before you rely on the coverage.

The next wave has a firm timetable: ICANN’s New gTLD Program 2026 opened applications in April 2026, closed them in August 2026. Each new extension opens with a Sunrise phase and then general availability, and each phase is a fresh window in which someone can register your brand name. That is exactly why coverage gaps make monitoring mandatory alongside blocking.

See your domain blocking options

The right domain blocking decision starts with a clear picture of what you already hold and where the gaps are. InterNetX’s domain blocking services cover the main programs from a single provider, alongside AutoDNS platform for the rest of your portfolio.

Explore domain blocking services