Domain Tasting Down 99.7% – But It’s Coming Back -
Domain tasting is down, but the registration game is merely changing.
ICANN is reporting that domain name tasting is down 99.7% since it implemented new policies to thwart it. Tasting is registering a domain name to test for traffic, and returning it within five days for a full refund if it doesn’t get enough traffic.
The new policies limited the number of domains a registrar could return for a refund. This changed the domain tasting model on its head and eliminated ... read more ...
Tag Archives: Domain Tasting
Thu 17th December 2009
Wed 12th August 2009
ICANN: Domain Tasting Down 99.7% -
ICANN policy change leads to drastic drop in domain tasting.
ICANN released a report (pdf) today that shows a 99.7% drop in domain tasting since adding new penalties to the practice. “Domain tasting” refers to registering a domain name and then returning it for a full refund during the first five days of registration.
The data show that deletes during the grace period (which were primarily tasting prior to the changes) is down 99.7% from June 2008 to April 2009, ... read more ...
Wed 27th May 2009
Demand Media Awarded Patent for Tiered Domain Name Registrations -
The return of domain name tasting?
Demand Media, parent company of eNom, has been awarded United States Patent 7539774 for “Method for domain name registration and a corresponding apparatus”.
The patent application was filed in 2005 and appears to be targeted toward domain monetization of low traffic domains. The idea would be for the registry, such as VeriSign (NSDQ: VRSN), to offer domain registrations at different prices but with different rights. For example, ... read more ...
Mon 23rd February 2009
Domain Tasting 2.0 -
The new era of domain tasting starts in April.
“The end of domain tasting”
“Domain tasting is dead”
“ICANN shuts down domain tasting”
You’ve heard it all before. But as I’ve pointed out, new rules designed to kill domain tasting starting in April won’t kill it. Curtail it, yes. But not kill it.
In some ways, the new era of domain tasting parallels to other changes in the domain industry. What used to be very easy will now become difficult.
Domain ... read more ...
Fri 9th January 2009
VeriSign Notifies Registrars About Domain Tasting Changes -
VeriSign sends notice about changes to add grace period rules.
As required by a new ICANN policy, VeriSign (NASDAQ: VRSN) has notified its registrars about changes to the Add Grace Period policy. These changes were made to limit the practice of “domain tasting”, which is registering a domain and returning it for a refund within the grace period if it doesn’t deliver enough traffic. The text of the notice is below:
Please be advised that ICANN formally announced ... read more ...
Mon 22nd December 2008
3/31/09: Death of Domain Tasting (Or is it?) -
Domain tasting is down, and will take another hit in March. But that may not be the end of it…
Domain tasting — the practice of registering a domain to test for traffic and deleting it for a refund within a specified grace period — is down 84% since ICANN inacted a budget measure to make the scheme more expensive. But that was just a temporary fix. By March 31, 2009, all registrars will face even harsher penalties for engaging in the practice. But as I detail ... read more ...
Fri 14th November 2008
Domain Name Tasting Down 84% -
Domain tasting is down 84% since ICANN implemented its 20 cent fee.
In June ICANN approved a budget measure designed to curtail domain name tasting (registering a domain, checking it for traffic, and then deleting it within the first 5 days for a full refund if traffic wasn’t high enough) and domain kiting (registering a domain and then serially deleting it and re-registering it every 5 days to avoid paying registration fees).
The budget measure called for the 20 ... read more ...
Fri 20th June 2008
Network Solutions: “We’ll Stop Reserving if ICANN Adds Fee” -
Network Solutions says it will stop controversial practice if ICANN adopts fee next week.
Next week the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) board will vote on its 2009 budget. The budget includes the much-talked-about provision to make the ICANN registration fee (currently 20 cents) non refundable once a registrar’s deletions during the five day grace period exceed 10% of new registrations during a month.
Network Solutions says it will ... read more ...
Wed 30th January 2008
Google Duped Us -
Google is smart, and it proved it with its “we are not evil” approach to domain kiting.
I knew those engineers at Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) were smart. But they also have smart PR skills.
Last week, Google decided to let the world know it was going to stop monetizing kited domains — those domains that are continually dropped and re-registered during the 5 day registration grace period. It found a mule to report this to the world and show how Google was a great ... read more ...
CADNA Releases Report on Domain Name Drop Catching -
Special interest group suggests that non-refundable $.20 fee is not enough to stop domain tasting.
The Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse (CADNA) released a report today about expired domain drop catching. It’s an interesting report and contains good data, although I don’t agree with all of its conclusions.
CADNA hired Zooknic to study 17,000 randomly selected domains dropping on September 18, 2007. Of those names, 100% of the .net and .com domains released ... read more ...
Fri 21st December 2007
Biggest Threat to a Domain Industry - A couple of months ago, my buddy, Elliot Silver asked me to do an interview for his blog and asked me what the biggest threat to the Domain Industry was.
I answered that government action or over reaction to attempt to deal with trademark infringement issues was the biggest issue we face as an industry.
Looking toward 2008 I believe that the trademark issues still are the biggest threat.
Here are some domains that are dropping today which already have multiple backorders at namejet.com:
bankofamericanonline.com
geraldrford.com
dienychannel.com
directvoffer.com
jessicasimpsen.com
sprintbill.com
verizonaccount.com
disenchannel.com
diseychannal.com
forbsmagazine.com
hondarepairs.com
nbadunks.com
nbarosters.com
armaniaexchange.com
atvhonda.com
briteneyspears.com
countrywidemorgtages.com
directtvemployment.com
customercountrywidebank.com
You ... read more ...