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---- I smell a rat.

Woz - 10:47 pm on Oct 15, 2007 (gmt 0)


I think the fact that this discussion comes up quite often points more towards the probability of the practice of monitoring domain checking and it still being unresolved than anything else. In deed, the subject was brought up just this last weekend in discussions I had with both SEO novices and seasoned professionals.

One challenge is that while there are anecdotes available aplenty about people checking domain availability and then finding the domain gone the next day or whatever (Woz puts his hand up for this one), there is little if anything in the way of proof. Were we in a court of law then the burden of proof would apply and in the absence of such proof the issue would be dismissed. But then, there is a great difference between law, courts and reality, and the reality is that there is more than enough in the way of anecdotes and circumstantial evidence to support suspicions that the practice is going on. And with the current rise in "domain tasting", that is, domainers registering the domain to test the quantity/quality of traffic and then keeping or releasing them in a few days through a registration loophole, the probability that your whois queries are being monitored can only increase.

Some past discussions:
[webmasterworld.com...]
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[webmasterworld.com...]

It is best then to act under the assumption that the practice IS going on and thus proceed with caution when checking the availability of domains.

My pointers are:-

  • If you are checking the availability of a domain at a registrar then do so with your Credit Card at the ready, even if you are unsure if you will actually use the domain. If you don't use it then you are out a few dollars at the most, but if you decide you do want to use it but someone else has snapped up the domain whilst you were making up your mind, then you cannot and need to start thinking of a new domain.

  • Try checking the availability of the domain using obfuscation. Go to a service that lists historical domain whois and use their tools to do a domain search on a selection of letters from the target domain. That is, if you are checking fuzzybluewidgets.com, then search the database using the letters "zzybl dget" which should pickup all domains using these combinations of letters. You can then eyeball the list for your target domain without alerting anyone to the specific domain you are checking. If it is available, pop over to your favourite Registrar with your Credit Card at the ready.

  • If you are working for a corporation where purchases need to be approved, then educate the decision makers to the problem and either be very obfuscated in your domain checking, or gain pre-approval for the target domains and register them on the spot. Again, the corporation would only be out a few dollars if decisions are changed, but changing major marketing campaigns when the target domains are "stolen" could be a lot more expensive.

  • If you find your target domain has been "stolen" then what nativenewyorker suggests applies. Be patient for a few days, avoid going to the domain/site which would increase traffic, check the whois at the REGISTRY, and you might find that a "taster" is involved but has dropped the domain due to low traffic. Again, when this happens, pop over to your favourite registrar with Credit Card at the ready.

    I find it best to assume that someone is watching my whois queries and when checking the availability of a domain I proceed ready to register it at a moments notice should it be available - I can type in my CC details in about 2 seconds flat. ;)

    Onya
    Woz

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