inquisity

When testing out names for my blog, I tried possible domain names by simply typing them into the address bar of Firefox (a domain name is something like www.google.com or www.yahoo.com). Domain names tell your browser where to find a website like Google. The following day, I discovered that some of the domains which previously had been available were now taken by place-holder sites. You know the ones I’m talking about, where it’s just a skeleton page with some random links on it and a “search” field. Someone had figured out that I was thinking about buying that domain name and purchased it before me, and now wanted to “negotiate” a price (much higher than the normal price, of course).

Apparently this practice actually has a name: Domain Name Tasting. When you initially purchase a domain, you have a 5-day grace period where you can “return” the domain for a full refund. This policy was originally intended to protect consumers from accidentally buying the wrong domain due to typos or other mistakes. Certain enterprising individuals have figured out a way make money through this loophole by automatically buying domains that are searched for or typed into browsers and earning advertising revenue from page visits.

Currently it’s a legal practice, but Google is fighting back by not including these sites in AdSense results. The idea is to prevent people from earning money off the practice, effectively eliminating the market. ICANN, the organization that oversees these kinds of things, is looking into the matter.

In order to minimize the chances of this happening to you, see if domains are available through sites like godaddy.com, and buy them immediately if they are. Nothing is worse than finally coming up with a good name and then having someone “steal” it from you.