Godaddy spying on searches?

SitPoMk

SitPoMk

New member
Dec 19, 2008
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Chicago, IL
I'm pretty pissed. I'm coming out with a bomb ass web app, had a good name in mind, which I obviously searched if the .com was available. It's an extremely obscure name which no one would think of, let alone purchase. It has no value for domainers because it has no significant words or meanings at all.

Now a few months later, I go back to godaddy to just check in and whatever and I see "premium domain for sale!" read "HEY DICKWAD WE KNOW YOU WANT THIS DOMAIN SO WE'LL JUST SELL IT TO YOU FOR $2,000! KTHX"

I tried all similar domains and NONE of these are taken. Can anyone explain this or had this happen?
 


Two possibilities:

1.) Maybe your idea wasn't as unique as you thought it was. The Internet is really, really big, and you let it sit for "months" -- it might have just been taken by someone then put up for auction.

2.) Considering as GoDaddy will grab one of your expiring domains the second it runs out and put it up for auction, and seem to be more aggressive about this than pretty much any other registrar, I would not put it past them at all to go through searched-but-not-registered domains and snatch them up. I mean, I'd do this if I were a registrar, and GoDaddy is way more evil than I'll ever be; I won't touch them or any of their resellers with a 10' pole. (My favorite of their evil tactics: if you want to transfer a registration away from them, you're required to first drop the domain privacy and expose your name to the world in WhoIs before they'll let you transfer it away.) Just use a different registrar.
 
Registrars do indeed spy on searches. I'm not sure which do and which don't but next time don't do whois through your registrar or register your domain directly if it's free.
 
Only search for domains on a reputable registar or in the url line of a browser.

But domain tasting rules have changed and this does not happen as much as it used to.
 
I sometimes wonder if they do this - but why would they choose some obscure name.. I search for many of the same random domains, seeing if anyone reg'd them, and they never get registered.. Godaddy gets many many searches.. wouldn't it be kind of hard to have someone review them all looking for gems?

It's probably like someone stated earlier - your domain idea wasn't that unique and someone else grabbed it - or - many people searched for the same domain, and the godaddy algorithm grabbed it thinking it was popular and they should try their hand at selling it at a premium price..

it's strange the way people think - or maybe just me - I owned a domain many years ago - and let it expire.. and now I see it in someone else's hands, at a huge premium over the $10/yr it cost me - I want it back oh so badly and somehow now see it as valuable.. this is probably the tactic godaddy is playing on to sell the seemingly worthless domain.. now it's registered it somehow has more "value"..

hope my rambling makes sense :)
 
#1 yes, registrars are doing this. and in my opinion whoever thought of it was a fucking genius

#2 if the domain name in question "has no significant words or meanings at all"... just register another domain name
 
Just create a bunch of accounts and have them all search the shit out of popular names like:

hfewjigreg.com
q6ddh438fun3.com
dsad329rbn9nveg.com
 
Network solutions was in fact caught doing this but Godaddy has been suspected of frontrunning for some time now. The only way to know for sure is to test with bogus company names you have no intention of buying and then checking back a few days later. Run mutilple queries. They might only target names that have been checked for availability a few times.
 
I've had the same thing happen to me with Godaddy on at least a couple of occasions. I'm sure they filter searches that find available names but do not register and then hand pick the ones they think they can resell at higher than reg. I would do the same thing if I was them because most of their customer base doesn't have a clue.

I don't even register names at Moniker, but I do all my bulk searches there these days or I'll go to namecheap if I'm just looking for one or two domains that I may not register on the spot.
 
Frontrunning would be pretty ballsy of GoDaddy after the shit storm that happened with Network Solutions, but they could be doing it.

I haven't had any issues with eNom, I run most of my searches there or at DomainTools

But never wait to buy a domain you think you want, buy it now and you can always let it expire later.
 
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