As a Domainer, Will You Put a NameBlock Block on Your Names?

[bhartzer]

NameBlock is launching soon (expected in the next month or so). NameBlock will allow you to pay to place a block on a series of characters (such as your product name, brand, company name, etc.).

You'll be able to place that block so no one can register a domain that contains those characters, and a ton of common variations. For example, if PayPal would put a block on PayPal, then domains like PayPa1.com, PayPa1.net, etc. couldn't be registered. They'll show up as being not available to register.

You don't have to have a trademark to put a NameBlock on. But you'll pay annually for the block.

As a domainer, are you planning on putting block on your more valuable names?

 

[bhartzer]

I think this answers your question, Joe. So yes, an override is possible. But yet another fee for that.

Yes, that explains it.

 

[Bob Hawkes]

But most likely they have a list of words (or sets of characters) that cannot be blocked. I'm guessing it's probably something like a list of dictionary words, something like that.

I find this a little confusing, but from NameBlock website it says the following, which I take it to mean that dictionary words (and their variants?) can't be blocked. Same you can't block a trademarked term.

NameBlock's algorithm identifies names that shouldn't be blocked! If a typo version of a block is actually a dictionary word or registered trademark, we don't block it!

 

[Bob Hawkes]

There are various types of blocks that you can buy. This explains one of them. So let's say I don't want the word EXAMPLE to be allowed in certain extensions, I could choose them. However, this all depends on what registries get on board. You also could supposedly block with a wildcard, like I have some unique brand name XXXXX I could black XXXXX + * for any combination. But those fees keep adding up for each block I want. And of course the system is meaningless if the main registries don't sign up.

Multi-block options include wildcard, choose your own extension and more! These options are available at a fixed cost per extension and offer volume and term discounts.

 

[DomaineerInc]

So....DNAccess is the company that launched Nameblock or at least has it listed as one of it's products/services ie licensed. Correct? From their About page: "DNAccess was founded in March 2023 by Bill Hartzer, CEO of Hartzer Consulting, LLC, a digital marketing and domain name consulting agency". My understanding that OP said he *might* offer it as a reseller?
"Let's make it clear: it is NOT my model, not my business, not my service.
I am NOT associated with NameBlock (although I may resell it when it launches)."
Nameblock states that they have partnered with DNAccess. And DNAccess lists NameBlock under products offered. A site search of ICANN .org shows no mention of NameBlock, I guess I'm just curious about transparency, here. Thx.

 

[StartupsBrandsCom]

Look Bill, show some verifiable facts. We can take it from there. Hate it, love it. I don't care. So far there's zero evidence of ICANN approval hence it's going to impact close to zero domainers (unless you're really much invested in .global; big if).

Nothing here to see or worry about, carry on.

Yup. They, from the blocking service, can simply purchase on-demand domains registrations at very special registrar' granted discounts or maybe rise sponsorships or even get subsidiary from IT Dept., or otherwise funding from the corporate clubs and deal as resellers! With as many marketing virtualization in line with PR and Law.

 

[anantj]

Registrars don't block any names, the fee just blocks the names from being registered. The blocked names won't be registered, it's just that no one will be able to register the name. If they try to register a blocked name, it will show as unavailable.

Can you explain how it works globally? If the registrars aren't blocking the registration of "blocked" names, how will it work? Or is it enforced by ICANN somehow and all registrars HAVE to abide by such blocks?

What happens if someone blocks say a super popular and generic term such as GPT, Shop, app, or "go" etc.?

Also, what happens to existing registrations/domains?

 

[anantj]

That makes no sense $100 a year, You will pay 1 cent to each registrar a year?? The math doesnt make sense., My selling point as registrar would be I never signed up for crazy domainblock so u guys are free to get any domains.
There is trademark for almost any word. You are going to block trademark companies for registering names? This is just nuts. ICANN, verisign, trademark owners will be upset. Lawyers will have a field day with this. I think some lawyers put u up to this?

Considering there are plans for a reseller network, the full $100 is also not going to be available to distribute to registries.

 

[Gabriel360]

First off, I don't trust anything @bhartzer says.

That said, this is one of those ideas so ridiculous the only way to describe it is "harebrained."

Did the founders even bother to conduct a feasibility study?

For context, here's a list of people that will lose money as a result:

1. ICANN.
2. Registries like Verisign.
3. WIPO.
4. Registrars.

Ironically, these are the people who need to approve a service like this.

Then, there is the issue of appealing a blocked name. You'll have to pay to a bunch of nameless programmers to acquire something they don't even own.

People who have ZERO rights acting as gatekeepers.

Sounds like a poorly packaged scam to me.

Pricing also seems to be tiered which means the cheapest price will probably only cover TLDs so useless there's no point blocking them. And the useful tiers would probably be too expensive for the average business owner, especially if they already have the .com/most appropriate extension of their business name.

 

[bhartzer]

So....DNAccess is the company that launched Nameblock or at least has it listed as one of it's products/services ie licensed. Correct? From their About page: "DNAccess was founded in March 2023 by Bill Hartzer, CEO of Hartzer Consulting, LLC, a digital marketing and domain name consulting agency". My understanding that OP said he *might* offer it as a reseller?
"Let's make it clear: it is NOT my model, not my business, not my service.
I am NOT associated with NameBlock (although I may resell it when it launches)."
Nameblock states that they have partnered with DNAccess. And DNAccess lists NameBlock under products offered. A site search of ICANN .org shows no mention of NameBlock, I guess I'm just curious about transparency, here. Thx.

NameBlock is not my product/service, as others have pointed out in the thread, it's owned and operated by a completely different company.

NameBlock has "launched", back in 2022, but it's not offering any blocks yet (you can't buy the service yet).

My company will most likely be a reseller, and have already gone through the steps to resell it. That also includes creating pages on one of our sites about it. It's a 'novel' concept... create a web page on your website so that you can start ranking (organically) so it's ready when people start searching for the service. Just because web created pages doesn't mean that we have any sort of ownership interest in NameBlock. I or any of my companies aren't affiliated in any way.

 

[bhartzer]

Can you explain how it works globally? If the registrars aren't blocking the registration of "blocked" names, how will it work? Or is it enforced by ICANN somehow and all registrars HAVE to abide by such blocks?

What happens if someone blocks say a super popular and generic term such as GPT, Shop, app, or "go" etc.?

Also, what happens to existing registrations/domains?

Registrars don't do the blocking, the registries are doing the blocking. Domains aren't blocked, keywords or a set of characters that would appear in a domain name are blocked. So if 'walmart' is blocked, and you try to register 'walmartstinks.com' then it will say it's not available for registration... all registrars will show that.

 

[bhartzer]

First off, I don't trust anything @bhartzer says.

That said, this is one of those ideas so ridiculous the only way to describe it is "harebrained."

Did the founders even bother to conduct a feasibility study?

For context, here's a list of people that will lose money as a result:

1. ICANN.
2. Registries like Verisign.
3. WIPO.
4. Registrars.

Ironically, these are the people who need to approve a service like this.

Then, there is the issue of appealing a blocked name. You'll have to pay to a bunch of nameless programmers to acquire something they don't even own.

People who have ZERO rights acting as gatekeepers.

Sounds like a poorly packaged scam to me.

Pricing also seems to be tiered which means the cheapest price will probably only cover TLDs so useless there's no point blocking them. And the useful tiers would probably be too expensive for the average business owner, especially if they already have the .com/most appropriate extension of their business name.

>> First off, I don't trust anything @bhartzer says.

Why? I'd like to know. Have I ever said anything that is untruthful or suspect? Please point out ONE case of that.

Regarding NameBlock, I don't think they would have made it this far without fully vetting the product/service through multiple entities, organizations, registries, attorneys (domain attorneys), etc.

I don't think the pricing has anything to do with the registries--so it won't cost a different price to put a block on at a certain registry. It's not like that--any block is most likely going to be at ALL or none.

Not a scam, it's been vetted and approved and is launching soon--so as domainers and domain owners we have to deal with it. That's the reason I've brought this up in the first place (and posted about it).

 

[bhartzer]

Can you explain how it works globally? If the registrars aren't blocking the registration of "blocked" names, how will it work? Or is it enforced by ICANN somehow and all registrars HAVE to abide by such blocks?

What happens if someone blocks say a super popular and generic term such as GPT, Shop, app, or "go" etc.?

Also, what happens to existing registrations/domains?

>> Also, what happens to existing registrations/domains?
If a block is placed on a particular set of words or characters (it's not placed at the domain level), then if the domain expires then the block would go into affect.

If 'walmartsucks dot com" is already registered, and there is a block placed by Walmart on 'walmart', then if 'walmart sucks dot com' expires, then the block would take affect. No one would be able to register it.

That's one of the questions I asked NameBlock, and that's what they said.

 

[Blueleaf66]

You can block anything you want, though... even larger more popular words.

What???

That's a whole new level nonsense.

 

[branding]

Good to see the thread was moved to promotional. Thanks mods!

 

[branding]

If 'walmartsucks dot com" is already registered, and there is a block placed by Walmart on 'walmart', then if 'walmart sucks dot com' expires, then the block would take affect. No one would be able to register it.

They can do whatever they want. It's 100% legitimate to register/own that domain.

 

[bhartzer]

Good to see the thread was moved to promotional. Thanks mods!

That's pretty absurd... there's no promotion involved here. LOL

 

[branding]

That's pretty absurd... there's no promotion involved here. LOL

I strongly disagree. You're blatantly pushing a service that isn't going to affect anyone. They've been at it before under a different brand.

Just marketing fluff...

Nameblock, as you paint it out to be, is never going to happen.

It's just another brand protection service. Just something that lives in their mind and they could use for registrations affecting their owned TLDs. Nothing new.

You make it seem like they work closely with ICANN. They definitely don't.

I'm glad they moved it to promotional. If you'd ask me they should give you crap about spreading misinformation.

Edit:
Preying on those who are unable or ignore to do their own DD. Insanity.

 

[bhartzer]

I strongly disagree. You're blatantly pushing a service that isn't going to affect anyone. They've been at it before under a different brand.

Just marketing fluff...

Nameblock, as you paint it out to be, is never going to happen.

It's just another brand protection service. Just something that lives in their mind and they could use for registrations affecting their owned TLDs. Nothing new.

You make it seem like they work closely with ICANN. They definitely don't.

I'm glad they moved it to promotional. If you'd ask me they should give you crap about spreading misinformation.

Edit:
Preying on those who are unable or ignore to do their own DD. Insanity.

>> I strongly disagree. You're blatantly pushing a service that isn't going to affect anyone. They've been at it before under a different brand.
Wait, what?!?
Look at my original post. I'm not "pushing" a service.
Who has "been at it before"? What different brand? Nameblock launched a year ago.

Just marketing fluff...

>> Nameblock, as you paint it out to be, is never going to happen.
It's already been approved, and TLDS have already signed on, that's my understanding based on answers I've gotten from them. It's real.

>> It's just another brand protection service. Just something that lives in their mind and they could use for registrations affecting their owned TLDs. Nothing new.
Really? No--it's a domain blocking service, not 'brand protection'. Guess we should have a NameBlock rep step in and actually show which registries and TLDs that have already signed on.

>> You make it seem like they work closely with ICANN. They definitely don't.
I was literally told last week by NameBlock that it's now ICANN approved, and they've been working closely with ICANN. So there's that.

>> I'm glad they moved it to promotional. If you'd ask me they should give you crap about spreading misinformation.
None of it's "misinformation", you have not done any research on it. You will owe me an apology when it's launched and in full effect

 

[branding]

>> I strongly disagree. You're blatantly pushing a service that isn't going to affect anyone. They've been at it before under a different brand.
Wait, what?!?
Look at my original post. I'm not "pushing" a service.
Who has "been at it before"? What different brand? Nameblock launched a year ago.

Just marketing fluff...

>> Nameblock, as you paint it out to be, is never going to happen.
It's already been approved, and TLDS have already signed on, that's my understanding based on answers I've gotten from them. It's real.

>> It's just another brand protection service. Just something that lives in their mind and they could use for registrations affecting their owned TLDs. Nothing new.
Really? No--it's a domain blocking service, not 'brand protection'. Guess we should have a NameBlock rep step in and actually show which registries and TLDs that have already signed on.

>> You make it seem like they work closely with ICANN. They definitely don't.
I was literally told last week by NameBlock that it's now ICANN approved, and they've been working closely with ICANN. So there's that.

>> I'm glad they moved it to promotional. If you'd ask me they should give you crap about spreading misinformation.
None of it's "misinformation", you have not done any research on it. You will owe me an apology when it's launched and in full effect

Right... I will apologise when ICANN will allow a random player like nameblock to block .com registrations related to a random keyword.

They have some insane promotional videos. Like, register sarah.whatever, block 500 variations within the same TLD. This might fly in some obscure TLDs but it's never going to happen in .com/org/net. That's why you can't just trust every gTLD registry.

You seem to be in touch with them. Ask them to stop by and let's have a laugh. Dress it up all you want, don't take us for fools to gain some SEO benefit.

Did you verify their ICANN approval yet? Guess not as I've requested that evidence at least twice.

you have not done any research on it.

Give me a break. I contacted the registry I'm accredited at and they were like, you insane? We have our own precautions in place.

 

[branding]

Not to say I don't think ICANN wouldn't approve them using these blocks on their own TLDs. Your house, your rules....

Still, will never happen at a serious registry, one most domainers are invested in at the scale/level they/you make it out to be.

Basically there's zero noteworthy news/info in this thread.

 

[bmugford]

Still, will never happen at a serious registry, one most domainers are invested in at the scale/level they/you make it out to be.

As far as I can tell, the only registry on board is "ShortDot SA" with the following extensions -

.bond
.cfd
.cyou
.icu
.sbs

It's like a who's who of extensions no one cares about.

Brad

 

[branding]

As far as I can tell, the only registry on board is "ShortDot SA" with the following extensions -

.bond
.cfd
.cyou
.icu
.sbs

It's like a who's who of extensions no one cares about.

Brad

I know right? There's more about it though. They started out under a different brand but I'm sure they'll enlighten us once Bill Hartzer has invited them over to join us to discuss Nameblock and convince us this isn't just some SEO stuffing attempt...

In which case I should probably shut up and not indulge him. Oh well... Truth has to be told... Eager to meet you @nameblock.

 

[bmugford]

As I said, I don't think they would put out a list, it wouldn't make sense to do that.

If you pay for a block, they're going to use "an abuse variants algorithm to generate an Abuse Variant List consisting of variants of a Block Label, based on e.g. abuse suffixes, homoglyphs, common misspellings etc, and subsequently blocks a maximum of 500 Domain Names within the same participating TLD as the Block Label."

From their FAQ -

https://nameblock.com/end-users

Do I get access to the full list of domains included in my block?​

Yes!

 

[bhartzer]

From their FAQ -

https://nameblock.com/end-users

Do I get access to the full list of domains included in my block?​

Yes!

That's good to know...

 

[bhartzer]

As far as I can tell, the only registry on board is "ShortDot SA" with the following extensions -

.bond
.cfd
.cyou
.icu
.sbs

It's like a who's who of extensions no one cares about.

Brad

When I talked to someone at NameBlock, they indicated that there were other registries that have already signed on with NameBlock, I think it was at least 13 registries that were already signed, which is a more than those "shortdot' TLDs.