I went to the domain and saw that someone had set up the domain so that any traffic to it ended up at a page full of advertisements. If you're familiar with AdSense, it was basically a MFA site. Off to the right there was a notation that the domain was for sale for $X.
For several days, I was trying to decide whether to purchase the domain. The backordering/monitoring service I used was still monitoring it. A few days after receiving the email about my not getting the domain, I got an email telling me the registrar for the domain had changed again. I assumed that meant someone else had bought it and then I gave up on the domain.
A few days later I got another email telling me the capture was successful and the domain was mine. I logged into my account at the registrar and sure enough, there was my domain.
That has happened to me twice recently.
I've been reading recently about the add/drop procedure used by some registrars or "domain kiting" as some have called it. A registar registers a domain for $6 and then sends the traffic to a page full of ads plus an offer to purchase the domain. The registar has 5 days to decide whether to keep the domain or get a refund. If the domain is not getting sufficient traffic or if the domain doesn't sell in 5 days, the registrar just sends it back and gets a refund.
I'm wondering if this is what is creating the situation I described above concerning domain backordering?
I guess I can't link here to the information, but I just read today that out of 35 million domains registered in April, 2006, 32 million of them were returned within the 5 day period.
FarmBoy
1. On a few forums, I've read that people have searched for a domain at a registrar. The domain was available and they waited a few days before deciding to purchase it. When returning to purchase the domain, it was no longer available. People were speculating that a company was registering domains they thought someone was interested in and holding them for a few days to see if they might be able to make a quick sale for additional profit.
I thought the people making these posts were a bit paranoid and into conspiracy theories. Some things I've read recently have caused me to reconsider.
2. There is a particular register that I've used for some of my domain names over the past few years. I won't name the registar here unless I get clearance from the moderator, but I think it's a fairly well known registrar. They got a lot of publicity recently. They are located in the U.S.
I went to my account at that registrar one day to renew some domains and discovered that some of my better domains weren't showing up on my renewal list. I emailed the company about it and a few days later they were back on my renewal list.
The thought that they were trying to get the domains to expire so they could register them crossed my mind, but I just dismissed it as a computer glitch. Some of the regulars on this board might recall I posted about it then and advised everyone to keep your own separate list of domains & renewal dates.
Anyway, in searching for information on the add/drop process, I found a couple of sites that mentioned a company that appeared to be based in Kenya was grabbing domains before the redemption period expired. It turns out this company may not be in Kenya after all and has ties to a U.S. registrar - the same registrar where I almost lost the domains that weren't showing up on my renewal list in the account.
I have links to various sources of information, but I won't post anything here unless I get clearance from the moderator. I don't know how much of this information is legit or reliable, but at some point, you have to start believing that where there is smoke there is a fire.
And just to be clear, the registrar I'm discussing in this post is not the same registrar I used for the backordering service I wrote about in the prior post.
FarmBoy
