Best Whois?

[Name Trader]

Which is the best whois for finding available new GTLD's for any given keyword(s)? A whois which is updated with new GTLD's as they become available.

eNom's is ok but is a pita to use and a tad slow.

 

[v5x]

Well I did put together http://www.whoislookup.domains which covers most new gTLDs but queries to the whois.donuts.co services are throttled now.

I can't see an option to request an IP address to be whitelisted on their site.

 

[NameOmnia]

Did you try whois.com or gandhi.net?

 

[Name Trader]

whois.com is what I was looking for. gandhi.net doesn't appear to be resolving. Thanks.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

I've just made this one: http://whoislookupservice.com/ supports all the new TLDs and will add others as they are released.

 

[Name Trader]

Hi Charles. I have a few questions...

1) How soon after a new GTLD becomes available is the whois lookup included in the script? Assume this is not just Donuts whois?
2) How easy is it to get/install the updated script?
3) If we purchase a single domain license, can we upgrade to the multiple domain license by paying the difference in prices.
4) What would be awesome would be to search all the TLD's for available domains. This would also potentially provide greater revenue. Because of the nature of doing the same lookup at multiple registrars, it would be useful if this could be turned on/off by the user and/or script owner.
5) The multiple lookup response is too lengthy. This should be presented in a columnar fashion with just the essential info. 1 domain per line, or at most 1 domain per 2 lines.

 

[Charles Sweeney]

Hi Stub.

Thank you for your feedback and questions!

1. I aim to check regularly for new TLDs and include them in the script (it's not a big job for me). All the new generic TLDs are supported (those with a WHOIS server) not just donuts.

2. It's very easy to get and install the updated script. You can get it from my Download page. It's very easy to install too, it's just one file and will work without any configuration.

3. Yes indeed. You can purchase a single license then upgrade to a multiple. I have an article on my support section about that.

4. There is a facility to search all TLDs when looking up multiple domains. It can be turned on or off by the user or owner.

5. There is an option to hide the server response for the multiple lookups and simply show if the name is registered or not. There's a checkbox on the multiple lookup form for it.

Any questions, just let me know.

 

[Name Trader]

Questions/Suggestions?

1. I don't see the option to search all TLD's when looking up multiple domains. You must have that turned off?
2. I cannot find your forum. URL Please?
3. I don't really like how you have implemented the TLD's you wish to search..
i) As I said in 1. I can't find the all toggle switch
ii) You should have a tick box against every sub-heading (ie: popular) to select/deselect all in that sub-heading
iii) You should have some method of saving/tracking only a selected subset of TLDs, either by having a login (where the subset could be saved) or by tracking them by IP address. Logging in would be much preferred method. Unless you have some other suggestion.
iv) There should be a box to select all the popular and then only the top TLDs for each sub-heading (.pl would be a good example of that)
v) I would expand the popular to include .us .co .de .tv

 

[SearchEngineZ]

I use https://whois.domaintools.com/ (free subscription). I have never looked up new GTLDs, but they gave a result for the first random one I tried: seo.guru

 

[igalvez]

Which is the best whois for finding available new GTLD's for any given keyword(s)? A whois which is updated with new GTLD's as they become available.

eNom's is ok but is a pita to use and a tad slow.

I have built a whois service that meets your needs.

Not satisfied with the Whois lookup services available online or via the command prompt, I decided to build my own Whois lookup service.

GWhois.org is the first and only Whois lookup tool online that:

1. Performs a live Whois lookup. No caching or saving of old data!
2. Performs an authoritative Whois lookup! GWhois.org starts straight at the root (iana.org) and then traverses down to the registry and registrar as needed. That means that you can do a Whois lookup for the TLD itself (e.g. com), too!
3. Supports all existing top level domain names (TLD's). Also, because GWhois.org starts at the root, it will automatically support new TLD's as ICANN assigns them!
4. Supports Internationalized Domain Names (IDN’s)!
5. Supports both IPv4 and IPv6 addresses!

On top of all that, GWhois.org is fast, clean, and easy to use.

Please let me know what you think: http://gwhois.org/

 

[Name Trader]

I like the coloration of the registrant info. I'd like to see the same coloration for the registered and expiry dates. However I don't like the way you display the Registrar info by default because 1) It's too long, and 2) The expiry date will always be wrong if it is an expired domain. What I would like to see is the Registry Info plus the Registrant info only from the Registrar info, by default. Then you click on the Registry/Registrar info, if you want to see that. Nobody doing a whois lookup is really interested in the Admin/Tech Info. They are basically only looking for the Registrant, or to know the domain isn't registered (or expired... which you can't tell from the Registrar info). Is this something you could do?

Also. It would be good if you could search the other TLDs for availability. Finally, a bulk search feature would also be nice, but that might be asking too much?

 

[Charles Sweeney]

1. I don't see the option to search all TLD's when looking up multiple domains. You must have that turned off?

You need to select them manually. I did think about having a "select all" link but with 1,100 extensions I didn't want the WHOIS servers getting hammered by people messing about. Also it's not meant to be a bulk lookup tool (I have another script for that). That being said, it would be very easy to add a "select all" link, so I might offer the option for those customers who might want it (it would be their choice to enable it or not).

2. I cannot find your forum. URL Please?

Don't have a forum.

3. I don't really like how you have implemented the TLD's you wish to search..

Grouped by "Popular", "Generic" and "Country Code". Not sure how else I would group them.

i) As I said in 1. I can't find the all toggle switch

On the form for the multiple lookups there's a "show response from WHOIS server" checkbox. If it's checked the full responses are shown. If it's not checked then a simple "registered/not registered" message is shown. Yep, looking at that wording it could be misleading.

ii) You should have a tick box against every sub-heading (ie: popular) to select/deselect all in that sub-heading

Good idea.

iii) You should have some method of saving/tracking only a selected subset of TLDs, either by having a login (where the subset could be saved) or by tracking them by IP address. Logging in would be much preferred method. Unless you have some other suggestion.

Good suggestion. If someone was to use the lookup regularly and have a number of extensions they were interested in, they would have to manually select them every time. Storing their favoured extensions could be useful.

iv) There should be a box to select all the popular and then only the top TLDs for each sub-heading (.pl would be a good example of that)

Yep, good suggestion.

v) I would expand the popular to include .us .co .de .tv

The script can be configured to show any extenion in the Popular section, so it's down to the site owner. That list was my own but I started domaining in 2000 and was out for a long time, so I might be a bit old fashioned!

Thanks once again for your feedback and suggestions. Really appreciate it.

 

[Name Trader]

OK. I misread you about the forum thing. I found you article about the upgrading. Thanks.

 

[igalvez]

I have recently made a huge upgrade to GWhois.org and it now displays Whois data in a structured, user-friendly manner. The registrant information is displayed by default, but you can click any section title to reveal any other info!

 

[Name Trader]

This would be much better if you would show the Registrar Creation and Expiry Dates and NameServers by default along with the Registrant Info.

 

[igalvez]

This would be much better if you would show the Registrar Creation and Expiry Dates and NameServers by default along with the Registrant Info.

I took your advice and added a little summary for domain names that shows the Creation Date, Expiration Date, and Name Servers as listed at the REGISTRY.

 

[Name Trader]

Registration Expiry Dates at the REGISTRY are unreliable for .com and .net domains because they show the Registry Renewal Date for the first 45 days after expiry, when no renewal has taken place at the REGISTRAR. You would be much better of taking this information from the REGISTRAR whois info.

 

[igalvez]

Can you explain more about the dates not being reliable?

In my experience and from my knowledge working for a domain name registrar, it was always the other way around.

1. The domain name reaches its Expiration Date and the owner has not paid to renew it.
2. The registrar renews the domain name at the registry for 1 year in hopes that they can recoup the cost.

This allows the registrar to provide an expiration grace period and then a "redemption grace period". If the owner never pays for the domain then the domain is auctioned off or sold.

The domain is not always renewed by the registrar, though, if they think they won't make money off of it. In that case, then the actual ICANN 45-day expiration grace period starts and then the domain gets deleted after that period.

 

[igalvez]

Oh, I think I see what you mean. With the new ICANN RRA 2013, registrars list the "Registrar Registration Expiration Date" on the Whois, which only is supposed to change when the owner has actually paid the registrar for the domain.

 

[Name Trader]

That's not exactly how it works. .com and .net domains are automatically renewed between the Registry and Registrar when they expire. This adds one year to the Registry Expiry Date. If they remain unpaid by the Registrant after 45 days, the domain goes into Redemption and the Renewal is refunded by the Registry to the Registrar. At no time does the Registrar Expiry Date change unless the domain is actually renewed by the Registrant. Hence. Every expired domain which has not been renewed by the Registrant shows the wrong expiry date at the Registry for .com and .net domains. And so, the extentions anyone is wanting most to capture, show the wrong expiry dates at the Registry.

The auction is only an afterthought by those money-grabbing registrars who either 1) Run their own Auction House, or 2) Have and agreement with a 3rd Party Drop-Catching service like SnapNames or NameJet, to auction off domains which have not been renewed before they go into Redemption after the 45 days, when they lose control of the domain after that 45 days. This is why, in most cases, the maximum number of days a Registrar will give the Registrant to renew a domain is somewhere between 30-42 days. Depending on the Registrar, and their modus operandum.

The Registrar Expiry Date will always be correct because the Registrant hasn't renewed it.

 

[igalvez]

Thanks for clarifying.

I will make the adjustment to use the Registrar Expiration date if available. I will provide an update shortly.

 

[Name Trader]

Oh, I think I see what you mean. With the new ICANN RRA 2013, registrars list the "Registrar Registration Expiration Date" on the Whois, which only is supposed to change when the owner has actually paid the registrar for the domain.

This was also the case before the new ICANN RRA in 2013.

 

[igalvez]

OK. GWhois now shows the Creation and Expiration dates as listed at the Registrar if available. Otherwise, it will show the dates the registry provides.

 

[Name Trader]

It looks a tad awkward, but it provides the essential information. I would have provided this info either with or closer to the Registrant Contact information. Maybe between the Status and Registrant Contact called something like Mini Status. So that the info is easier to read all together. But that's nit picking.