Definition of "Domain drop" vs fully expired domain name?

[paradisemedia]

is a domain drop the same as a domain fully expiring and being able to be registered for $10 or so on any registrar?

or is a domain considered dropped when you delete the nameservers?

I used a tool called completedns.com to check when a domain is dead or not and it's SEO juice is nullified according to the 2003 google algo tweaks for expired domains.

according to this tool a drop is when nameservers are deleted. so i'm wondering if google considers it the same.

The implications of this are huge, because buying a domain for SEO which google has nullified is a huge waste of money. I bulk analyzed 275 rebuilt auction domains for SEO purposes and almost all that were dropped according to completedns never rebuilt proporely.

Good example of this is dropcatch.com, those should not be used for SEO as they always register after a full expiration and are dead on arrival.

However sites like godaddy auction the domain before it fully expires so to google it just looks like the owner changed registrars or was acquired. However godaddy auctions also shows other registrars, and some of them seem to 'drop' a few days before the auction according to completedns, but they still show in ICANN as registered. So i'm just trying to figure out if maybe completeDNS should not be fully trusted and i need another tool that shows full expirations instead of 'drops'

 

[King]

Expired typically means they could still renew it or will be put up for auction. Drop means it's released and anyone can go in and buy it at reg fee.

 

[enterscope]

Generally Expired Domains refers to Domains that Expire and go to Auction at the current Registrar.

Dropped Domains refer to Domains that Drop from the registrar and become available either through Drop catch services or available for Hand Registering. A Drop Catch service will attempt to Hand Register the domain once it drops using computers and automated registering systems for a fee.