Domain tasting, is it something that I should look out for?
Domain tasting is a dangerous practice that hopefully never affects you or any of your potential business.
Have you ever come across a great idea, found an available domain name in Whois, tested it, only to come back a few days later and find it taken? It could be coincidence or it could be domain tasting.
It involves the “try-out” (temporary holding) of multiple domains, returning them within a 5 day grace period for a full refund.
The grace period of 5 days is the AGP (add drop grace period). This 5 day window allows a dropped domain name to be returned for a full deposit refund. The rule was originally created to help facilitate corrections within the domain name registration process.
So how does domain tasting actually work? First a registrar
makes a large deposit with the VeriSign registry. The deposit is
then used to secure a domain name. Once the name has been
secured, a web page is created, tailored for the exact name.
The assumption with domain tasting is that a user landing on a page based solely due to its domain name must be looking for a certain product or service. When a user lands on this page and clicks a link, the owner of the page then makes money.
The registrar will hold on to this domain name for the 5 days to determine if it is making money (hence the idea domain tasting). If at the end of five days it is no longer making money, they release it back in to the pool and receive a full refund. In this scheme, money is made without actually purchasing the name. One name was used in this example but it is actually done on a much larger scale.
You or I looking for a particular domain name may never be able to obtain it because it is being rotated in and out of availability using 5 day periods over and over.
Ok, so you wondering, what does this have to do with you? Well, if you are trying to secure a particular domain name (the great idea that you came up with), you might want to delay searching on it until you are absolutely sure you are ready to pull the trigger if it is available. Otherwise, your search information (which is available to your registrar after you query their database) may be providing business opportunities for someone else via domain tasting.
So…..once again, if possible.
1. Delay searches of your great ideas for domain names until you are absolutely ready to pull the trigger/purchase.
2. Sometimes it is better just to get multiple names. For example, If there are two that are similar, (singular vs. plural), if they similar but one represents is a common misspelling, etc…
3. Worst case scenario, You can’t make up your mind, use a registrar
that allows you the 5 day grace period to make a final decision.
Until next time.
