On 17 December 2014, Power Auctions LLC, ICANN's authorized auction service provider, conducted a New gTLD Program Auction to resolve string contention for two new generic top-level domain (gTLD) strings: .BABY and .MLS. Applicants for these strings were unable to resolve contention among themselves; thus their contention sets proceeded to auction, which is the method of last resort to resolve string contention as prescribed in Module 4 of the New gTLD Program Applicant Guidebook. Subject to payment of the winning price and meeting all other criteria for eligibility, the winner will enter ICANN's contracting process to sign a Registry Agreement to operate the respective gTLD.

Six applicants participated in the auction for .BABY. Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. prevailed with a winning price of $3,088,888.

Two applicants participated in the auction for MLS. The Canadian Real Estate Association prevailed with a winning price of $3,359,000.

All proceeds from the Auction are being segregated and withheld from use until ICANN's Board of Directors define a plan for an appropriate use of the funds through consultation with the community.