Am I Paranoid?

[idouble001]

Sometimes I use tools to find some gems in the unregistered domain name world, and I make lists. For some reason or another, many times I don't snap up the names that I 1) consider to have great potential & 2) have been unregistered for Christ knows how long. Then a few days/weeks later I stumble back upon my list, go to register a sleeper domain, and it's taken!

Now am I underestimating the alarming rate at which domain names are registered every day, or is it possible that the tools I use to search are going into someone else's list for them to reap the benefits of my hesitance?

 

[Luvdomainz]

I've noticed the same thing,even searching for new ones,a few days later it's taken!

 

[snicksnack]

Some tools send the info back and the info gets used. in general I would recommend that once you find a "gem" register it before it is gone. There is no reason to wait.

 

[ComKid]

Naturally the better you are at domaining and finding better keyword domain names to register.... the more likely this will happen to you. Especially the longer you wait.

This has happened to me a few times in the past.

I learned that if I don't do search, then come back later to register it...it never happens.

 

[networkmsia]

happens to me too , lol

 

[mrjohn]

Some tools send the info back and the info gets used. in general I would recommend that once you find a "gem" register it before it is gone. There is no reason to wait.

I keep a couple hundred dollars sitting in PayPal solely for this purpose. Ya just never know when you might find a winner.

 

[Sparhawke]

It is not paranoia if they are really doing it.

Heres how you find out which ones are sniffing your domains:

Find a domain name that you do not really want anyway, one that you do not mind losing out to them...and do what you do with these tools, and again with another for another tool and again...

Make a note of which domains you look at through each tool and then get snapped up...and then post your findings here so that everyone knows that they steal domains.

 

[buywiser]

Happens to me too...
Whois search from DN registries are BS!

 

[enlytend]

What tools are you using?

Solution: Run a whois client on your own PC and query the registries directly (the drawback to that is you can't do too many lookups in a short timeframe or they'll block your IP.)

 

[siga]

while it no doubt happens. Please be sure of accusing any tools before you know for sure.

Have all the domains been registered by the same person?/registry?

You could use tests but to be honest just search wiser.

Use tools others reccommend such as estibot for quick keyword metrics.
DRT for general research
Alexa.com for traffic/ links
Google adwords keyword tool for general exact search information
excel/text pad for cleaning and building lists
(hopefully others can add to this list.)

If checking if a certain domain is taken why not type in .info instead of .com on a site that searchs all tlds.

Also if it really is happening to you and you have used trustworthy tools etc, check your computer for virus/spyware.

If you come across a gem. Register it now...., I've lost count of the time domains have been regged that were on my list.

 

[gazzip]

It is not paranoia if they are really doing it.

No doubt about it, some registers have become more like domainers/portfolio holders/parkers/resellers so some have a vested interest other than the price or reg fee. Its not paranoia, its reality

...they're out to get you!


.

 

[Doxy]

...... Then a few days/weeks later I stumble back upon my list, go to register a sleeper domain, and it's taken!
.....

If you find a gem and then wait for a couple of weeks before registering it you must be as dumb as if you found a 100 buck bill on the street and went for a coffe. Then your all surprised about half a hour later that its gone.

 

[snoopinc]

Happened to me once when i was trying to register a 2 letter .com.au domain. I didn't have enough money at the time to buy it.

 

[idouble001]

If you find a gem and then wait for a couple of weeks before registering it you must be as dumb as if you found a 100 buck bill on the street and went for a coffe. Then your all surprised about half a hour later that its gone.

Watch your mouth there, you. The thing is, I usually register the really good looking names first. Some of the straddlers tend to look better to me at different times. It happens to us all.

 

[BitcoinDK]

Your not paranoid especially Network Solutions used to do it, I don't know if they are doing it still.

But try search namepros for "Network Solutions registered the domain name i searched for" and you will see how they use to be. AND many other registrar's did it at that time, I don't know now, but be careful when you lookup domain names.

Here's one thread with it a couple of years ago:
http://www.namepros.com/warnings-and-alerts/431775-networksolutions-com-never-use-them.html

 

[idouble001]

I'm using Domain Name Analyzer by hostingdude.

I use it mainly for it's versatility, and I have a set pattern in the way I do things that I'm not quite sure I could easily replicate with other software. I like sticking to what works, but I have become a little suspicious of the tracking.

 

[garptrader]

The bigger issue is likely the number of individuals trying to grab quality domains, looking through drop lists, reviewing names with backorders, etc. Given how heated Namejet/Snapnames auctions can get at times, if you find a good domain which you believe has meaningful resale value to an end user and can acquire it reg fee, why would you wait to reg it?

 

[DubDubDubDot]

The people who run these tools would be fools for not having some mechanism in place to steal domains from searchers. IMO 100% of them do it even if it's just a matter of logging all domains entered in and then dumping the list into a bulk check for availability and then looking at that list.

 

[coltter]

i believe it's true, you can choose the reliable domain whois checker.

 

[Bannen]

If you search availability thru a registrar, your searches are not secure and can be sniffed by them or by others who know how to tap into this. And the registrars don't hide the fact that they can take searched names and post them in the 'other available names' list most of them offer whenever you search a name. I used to get angry back in the days when I used registrars for my searches; I'd search a few dozen names, kull out the best ones and do my research on them afterwards... and literally within one or two hours of my search, a name I wanted would be taken. That would happen a LOT, and where the name was regged so close to your search time you just knew it wasn't a random coincidence. There are many discussions on this in this forum, especially in the 2006 - 2007 years when domain sniffing was really coming to light.

Of course people would say 'you should have regged it right away if it was so good'. But many of us search hundreds or thousands of names per day, and each day discover dozens of good quality names. Takes time to do proper research on each one to tell if we think it will really be worth the reg, and what it might be used for (resellers, end user, minisite, big development, etc.). Further... you KNOW how many of us/you reg names immediately because we're so excited about how good they are... and then afterwards do some research, think on it overnight, get appraisals, and realize the next day it's just not that great. 'Regging it when you see it because you think it's terrific' should NOT be your prime motivation in regging names. As a very occasional thing, only. Research it, sleep on it. - that is, if you did the name search through a secure method, ha ha.

Now I use secure tools for my searches and that doesn't happen, beyond what you would regularly expect with a good name eventually being regged by someone else. Estibot uses a secure system so if you do a name evaluation with them you'll also be checking the name's availability in a secure way; domain name analyzer is another one, a small simple program you download to your machine and it is secure; also saferwhois.com uses a secure method.

Good luck