On 25 February 2015, Power Auctions LLC, ICANN's authorized auction service provider, conducted a New gTLD Program Auction to resolve string contention for one new generic top-level domain (gTLD) string: .APP. Applicants for the string were unable to resolve contention among themselves; thus their contention set 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 gTLD.

Twelve applicants participated in the auction for APP. Charleston Road Registry Inc. prevailed with a winning price of $25,001,000.

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.