Dynadot

discuss Is ReCaptcha killing domaining?

NameSilo
Watch
Impact
9,298
Has everyone tried doing a Godaddy whois lookup recently? Or at Network Solutions?

Let's talk about Whois results for domains currently residing at Godaddy registrar -- at every other registrar's Whois lookup I've tried today, the majority of contact information including email address has been removed. Then you're directed to Godaddy's whois URL for all that "missing information".

But the kicker is that when you go to Godaddy's whois lookup, you're confronted with seemingly endless ReCaptcha roadblocks that waste time and simply annoy. I know I've ranted about this ReCaptcha situation before (mostly to deaf ears), but I really have to wonder if these same roadblocks and missing information in most Whois results are what's confounding end-users and discouraging many of them from finding a domain's owner information -- specifically, email addresses. Because IMO, it sure ain't readily available anymore!!

Am I making all this up??
 
Last edited:
7
•••
The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
I see your point, but I'm not sure, because every web site developer and SEO expert from India sure knows how to find mine! :banghead:
 
30
•••
Good programmers write their own scripts which don't use captcha so the only people getting blocked may be the end user.
 
4
•••
A lot of ways to get WHOIS info out there....
 
4
•••
In the last inquiry I got, the guy mentioned that he looked in the "ICANN Who is" to find me, which is the first result in google for whois. But maybe he didn't specifically mean whois.icann.org.
ICANN Whois uses a captcha too, but you're not forced to go to godaddy to get the full details.
I have a simple whois script, but I don't remember if godaddy registrant details are blocked. I don't think they were but didn't pay attention as I mostly used it for getting basic info like the dates and registrar.
 
6
•••
Ive tested Godaddy registrat and it lead me through only one step of ReCaptcha check.

Reason youre facing endless ReCaptcha roadblocks can be various.

Maybe you have installed browser plugins or bad cookies.
Try to delete cookies and unneeded plugins. Also, you can try another browser or just change your IP adress.
 
7
•••
I'd definitely try the above if you're having slow captcha.
I have one click captcha at GD, finally!
 
5
•••
yes, its a pain if you are mass harvesting information to spam people.

For the person who wants to contact you to buy a name from you, i'm sure the recaptcha is not an issue, lol

When i register a name i'm guaranteed to get at least 15 - 20 spam emails, 2-3 text messages and at least 3-5 calls asking for , seo, web design, logo, etc.
 
11
•••
yes, its a pain if you are mass harvesting information to spam people.

For the person who wants to contact you to buy a name from you, i'm sure the recaptcha is not an issue, lol

When i register a name i'm guaranteed to get at least 15 - 20 spam emails, 2-3 text messages and at least 3-5 calls asking for , seo, web design, logo, etc.
I am now getting emails from a gmail address complaining that I blocked their email from their .ga address. Seriously? You go around my block and you think now I will use you? Stupid spammers.
 
4
•••
In 14 years of domain sales I can count on one hand the number of end users that have contacted me from the whois email address as most inquiries from that are domainers or spam web design/seo etc... offers reason I use a specific email address only used on whois.
 
Last edited:
5
•••
I just noticed that not all registrars hide the email in the whois info.
 
4
•••
In 14 years of domain sales I can count on one hand the number of end users that have contacted me from the whois email address as most inquiries from that are domainers or spam web design/seo etc... offers reason I use a specific email address only used on whois.
My experience is largely different. Once Chips happened, that all changed though.
 
2
•••
100% agree.

this is the main reason I moved away from what is otherwise a nice sale lander at Bodis.. not only they got captcha but its one of those picture ones. don't know if you ever tried them.. but that is beyond ridiculous!!! it is like asking a 5 year to play with a puzzle so they can send a domain inquiry.. sometimes they keep going for longer than should too! they say they'll make it optional in their next upgrade.. which thye first said was gonna be released last year.. so I gave up. moved to parking crew.. where at least the captcha is fully optional.

major nuissance imo!
 
3
•••
They are a pain in my opinion & If I wanted to chase Cars or look at street signs I would be a Dog.
Plus I find you can pick what you like until it gets fed up & eventually gives in? :sleep:
 
7
•••
My experience is largely different. Once Chips happened, that all changed though.

My domains have mainly pointed direct to my own sales pages the majority of the time over those 14 years even when parking did pay better so that may have something to do with it since all my domans go straight to a sales page no reason to look up whois since they lead to a simple easy make offer form. Damn near every domain I own was a hand registered expired domain which I've mainly turned into 1-10k sales so the reason domain parking never really appealed to me as I've turned $8 into that 1-10k range quite a few times so sales revenue has trumped parking earnings so much I haven't parked too many names over the years.
 
Last edited:
2
•••
They are a pain in my opinion & If I wanted to chase Cars or look at street signs I would be a Dog.
Plus I find you can pick what you like until it gets fed up & eventually gives in? :sleep:

Yes and a dog could piss on all those stupid street signs they show you. Supposedly the point of that is to train Google's self driving cars so they don't ignore signs and drive into rivers and shopfronts. They could have serious probs when told to go to a drive-through restaurant. I tried one time 40 entries and still could not get past a ReCaptcha, wtf.

If you want to do WHOIS lookup directly (no captchas) or check domain availability without using a registrar (who may then register a free domain) the instructions are simple and here they are on NP: https://www.namepros.com/blog/checking-domain-name-availability-without-using-a-website.862678/
 
Last edited:
4
•••
Hmm, never really had a problem on GoDaddy's site before. I normally use either their whois check or who.is when I need some info.
 
2
•••
Just to prove a point I just logged into an account of a well-known website, the Captcha came up asking for me to spot the cars, not a car in sight just a line of flags, I clicked each one and was verified. Worked like a dream. :alien3:
 
1
•••
Yes and a dog could piss on all those stupid street signs they show you. Supposedly the point of that is to train Google's self driving cars so they don't ignore signs and drive into rivers and shopfronts. They could have serious probs when told to go to a drive-through restaurant. I tried one time 40 entries and still could not get past a ReCaptcha, wtf.

If you want to do WHOIS lookup directly (no captchas) or check domain availability without using a registrar (who may then register a free domain) the instructions are simple and here they are on NP: https://www.namepros.com/blog/checking-domain-name-availability-without-using-a-website.862678/
Excellent link thanks for posting it. arrived just in time to help, I feel like I've been Pi**ng in the wind with my ongoing support battle with Whois, Thank you
 
2
•••
1
•••
Domainers are species which have fast evolved to withstand obstacles like recaptcha and all those time killing stuffs. Nope, I don't think it will ever be able to kill domaining as a whole, but in the long run can kill the registries which implement them in the twenty first century.
 
3
•••
If the WhoIS stops the flow of spam calls I'm all for it. If you have a domain of value to an end user, reCapthca isn't stopping them from contacting you. They can just go through the registry brokers if need be. If Godaddy and other registries are selling domain registrants information, they should stop because Im f**** tired of all the spam calls, emails, and texts...
 
2
•••
yes, its a pain if you are mass harvesting information to spam people.

For the person who wants to contact you to buy a name from you, i'm sure the recaptcha is not an issue, lol

When i register a name i'm guaranteed to get at least 15 - 20 spam emails, 2-3 text messages and at least 3-5 calls asking for , seo, web design, logo, etc.

Only 3-5 calls? Damn... I wish I only got 3-5 spam calls :banghead:
 
4
•••
A buyer who isn't motivated to get past a Captcha code isn't going to be motivated to pay a fair price or follow through with a transaction involving arcane processes like escrow and domain transfer.

Granted, it's annoying. But it's 5 seconds of annoying.
 
3
•••
A buyer who isn't motivated to get past a Captcha code isn't going to be motivated to pay a fair price or follow through with a transaction involving arcane processes like escrow and domain transfer.

Granted, it's annoying. But it's 5 seconds of annoying.


But sometimes you cannot get past the ReCaptcha at all - I have experienced that. Other times it takes many, many tries.
 
1
•••
Back