Got this email today: Code: We have added a new tool to check the DNS query volume data for unregistered COM domain names. You can find the tool by logging into your Dynadot account. Then click on the "Search" tab and click on the "Data Analyzer Tool" sub menu link: http://www.dynadot.com/account/ The tool is free to use as long as you have an order history with one successful payment in the last 365 days. What is the Data Analyzer Tool? The Data Analyzer Tool allows you to submit unregistered COM domain names for traffic data query volume analysis. You can find it by logging into your account and clicking on the "Search" tab and then "Data Analyzer Tool" sub menu. The data results are represented as a score between 0 and 10. A score of 1 would be on the low end of traffic volume and 10 would be on the high end. A score of 0 would be no traffic data. There will be 6 scores for each domain name which represent different periods of time: the last 1-6 days, 1 week, 4 weeks, 13 weeks, 26 weeks, and 52 weeks.
How do they get this data? It is not available via Verisign. The only other idea is that they get it from an ISP and extrapolate outward. This could be very powerful info. I do believe VeriSign will work within their internal Registrar group and provide corporate clients with NXD data on potential typos of their TMs and provide that list for themt o register. That is as most I have heard. Seems very suspect in my mind. Any thoughts?
I'm wondering where they are getting this too. It sounds like a great tool. I submitted a couple of domains to test it out. If this information is available to the public somewhere, I'd really like to know where If it's not public, I'm glad Dynadot is offering it! I wonder if they'd be willing to share the data with their bulk customers eventually... That could take the load off of their servers by allowing people to get the data and do their own searches/queries for domains they are interested in locally. It probably would increase registrations through Dynadot too
Anybody tried registering any domains using the tool data? If yes, how well did the domains perform and what were there scores ? and How accurate are the results ?
According to Dynadot: We are getting this data from Verisign. Data Analyzer is a new service they just started offering to registrars. The traffic is worldwide. I believe we are the first registrar to implement the service for our customers. The more you spend with us, the more domains we submit for you every day. We don't have access to their entire database. We simply submit your domains to them, and they return the results to us the next day. By the way you can only submit .com domains. I have found a few domains which I am still thinking whether to buy or not. Here are the results: DOMAIN1 0-6 days 0 1 week 2 4 weeks 4 13 weeks 6 26 weeks 6 52 weeks 5 DOMAIN2 0-6 days 0 1 week 0 4 weeks 0 13 weeks 3 26 weeks 3 52 weeks 3 DOMAIN3 0-6 days 0 1 week 1 4 weeks 1 13 weeks 6 26 weeks 5 52 weeks 5 DOMAIN4 0-6 days 0 1 week 0 4 weeks 4 13 weeks 4 26 weeks 3 52 weeks 3 The number against days and weeks show search score. They are represented as a score between 0 and 10. A score of 1 would be on the low end of traffic volume and 10 would be on the high end. A score of 0 would be no traffic data.
This is not good for domainers and Hand registrations folks like myself. THis is a way around tasting.... Look out for Enom and others to get access to the NXD data and grab all the traffic domains without having to test them. This is disturbing and shady on VeriSign's part. I am going to investigate.
How is it "shady" for a party to sell its data to others, short of any applicable law specifically defining it?
I don't think other registrars will provide this service because previously Dynadot was the only one giving grace deletion even though this service was available to all registrars hence Dynadot had an edge in this regard. So now they have started this after the recent change in grace deletion by ICANN which will keep their edge to some extent.
The more you spend the more you can test. Although I don't know exactly how it works but you can see the calculation on right side after you go to data analyzer page.
So far I am loving this tool. However it is not my concern that the public is being given this information. It is that registrars like eNom have it regardless if whether they themselves will share it. This is what I think MrSpartan is getting at. Once eNom uses it, they will register virtually all traffic names for themselves.
Or at least try. One tries to gain a potentially competitive edge over another, after all, which happens in every other field in every other day. One could also complain. But unless maybe some material harm occurs, I don't know what's so "shady" about it. That's just me, of course.
You can be like enom too and get all the good traffic domains, just pay to make about 100 registrars like they have.
Shady is a little strong, I admit maybe I shoudl have said slimy. The problem is that the NXD (Non-Existent Domain) data is acquired as stewards of the internet rather than as stewards of the TLD. How is it any different than if registrar customers search for available domains and then the registrar sells or acquires those searched names to someone else? VeriSign is not supposed to provide that data for sale. They are getting around it by having folks ask for names they want data on rather than providing it wholesale. Doesn't that sound like a loophole they are working around? Certainly does to me.
Hmm, that detail probably needs to be covered in the next .com contract with whoever ICANN or whatever authority that time "gives" it to. Until then, that's essentially going to be considered a party's "private" data to do as they wish. Short of someone suing in court, maybe.
I just got a .com domain with following search results according to data analyzer tool: 0-6 days 9 1 week 10 4 weeks 10 13 weeks 10 26 weeks 10 52 weeks 9 Let's see how it goes. There is another 3 character .com available with a hyphen (-) LL-L.com 0-6 days 0 1 week 1 4 weeks 4 13 weeks 6 26 weeks 5 52 weeks 5
I registered a name that got a "5", gets no traffic. Maybe 9's and 10's would be better to stick with, since the $1.00, unreliable (capped) tasting can add up.
