GoDaddy selling your name searches?

[ulasbbtr]

One week ago I was making some searches after the late midnight hours. Checked it at godaddy, it was available. I was so sleepy that I decided to purchase it in the following day. Morning (early afternoon ), I checked the name and surprised that it was registered. That would be OK someone discovered it too, there are lots of domainers. I checked the whois it was showing a registrar that I don't know, still couldn't remember its name. In the info it shows name created at JAN 1 2008, etc no admin contact information.

One day later I checked the whois info again, that was same, only shows registrar creation date, but still no contact info. Also at internic there was no information available. And today I checked the name again to discover whom registered the name. It is strange this time creation of the domain was changed like the following:
Creation Date: 04-jan-2008
Expiration Date: 04-jan-2009
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.

I read some things about Godaddy's selling your search history to firms. This experience made me somewhat sure about that action. Probably they held the name for themselves for two days, and then sold to someone else. I don't know what happened in the background, but there is a bad smell for me.

 

[TT]

Just another reason NOT to use GODADDY for anything..... Thay have to be the worst registrar on the planet.... Sorry Bob your a great guy but your business ethics suck

Stick with companies like NAMECHEAP that assure people they do not participate in under ground tactics like GODADDY.

I can attest to NAMECHEAPS honesty as I have a few thousand domains with them and never once has I checked and went back to see them or another domain company purchasing any of my creations.

juccoholdings.com is among one of these GODADDY front companies

http://www.revenews.com/bradwaller/archives/2006/07/domain_hijackin.html

 

[ulasbbtr]

This is the second time, I got surprised by godaddy. The previous one was also interesting and I still can't find a logical reason for how that happened. I checked a name at godaddy and it showed that it was registered. I looked at the whois information that godaddy provided and whois information was empty. So I opened the moniker and checked that domain was available, and I registered that immediately

 

[shockie]

juccoholdings.com is among one of these GODADDY front companies

http://www.revenews.com/bradwaller/archives/2006/07/domain_hijackin.html

can't find where it says this...

 

[lzy]

Do a search on the forums, alot people have already attested to this.

Solution: Never use Godaddy to check the availability of any name, unless you're ready to register it immediately.

 

[-REECE-]

Speculation is that Verisign is the one selling your name searches.

If you do a search even on Namepros, you'll find that several registrars have been accused -- and some have even had representatives step in and defend their businesses and say they have nothing to do with it.

Interesting fact: I've never had anything taken "all of the sudden" that wasn't a .com or .net. Coincidence? Maybe not.

 

[DotWeekly]

Simply put... Godaddy does NOT have a live domain checking system on there site that they provide it's customes. So there are many problems with this, and errors with there system etc, that show a domain is available and it's not really...

Use a live Real Time provider like Moniker, EnomCentral or Dynadot. You won't see this issues with them.

If you really wanted to track it down you could. I'm sure it was an expired domain. It dropped, was picked up, dropped again after 96 hours and depending on when you checked it, was in that process.

Check again in 4 days from the current whois, and you will be able to register it again. This time, use one of these, Moniker, EnomCentral or Dynadot.

 

[Dave_Z]

I read some things about Godaddy's selling your search history to firms.

Bob himself said in his blog Go Daddy doesn't sell searches.

can't find where it says this...

Neither can I.

 

[Name Trader]

Speculation is that Verisign is the one selling your name searches.

I thought this was a fact? DomainTools are one of those accused of selling their searches and one of their executives stated it as not them, but Verisign selling those searches.

These "snatched" registrations have a remarkable similiar "feeling" whoever is being accused. I see the same thing about it being only .com/.net. Coincidence? Probably not.

I think most of the accused are upstanding people, and I take them at their word. If it's Verisign selling the data, then this kind of experience will be felt at every registrar in proportion to their size. That's why you see so many complaints about GoDaddy. If it's Verisign, we're doomed. Even with a "clean" whois such as iWhois.

 

[co2]

Interesting, about 3 weeks ago, I reg a 5 letter domain .com .net and .mobi. When I checked out, up came a page saying that my phone No was incorect. I called Godaddy, the rep had me on hold for a long time. I tried to hurry him up, he was telling me that +61 had to be added to the No, took him a long time to do it.

Finaly he sorted it, now this had never happened befour, and I was expressing to him that I could lose the names. He said something about 15 minutes to compleat the transaction.

I have lost several names over the last 2 years, using Godaddy to check if thay were available. As someone has said befour, if you check, and it's there. BUY IT!

 

[unclewalter]

Lol someone should screw with them and make a script to mass search like a million names. :imho: :hehe:

Never liked that go-daddy.

 

[Adventure]

Where to check WHOIS

Speculation is that Verisign is the one selling your name searches.

I've never had a problem doing name searches at http://www.netsol.com

I've found good names where I didn't have a chance to register them right away. When I finally did get around to buying them, they were still there.

They also have one of the few WHOIS databases where you don't have to play the puzzle game to do a name search. If the name isn't parked, you can see a thumbnail of the website's homepage right on the WHOIS.

As they're getting the lion's share of the registration fee on .com and .net domains, they don't really care whether you register the domain with them or with your favorite registrar.

They've been "straight arrow" with me.

---Ed

 

[skylineleong]

Yes, especially dont use godaddy Monitoring.
I try add monitoring available domain. Someone will auto grab it.
So funny.

 

[shockie]

Yes, especially dont use godaddy Monitoring.
I try add monitoring available domain. Someone will auto grab it.
So funny.

hilarious.

 

[interestedenough]

While I have doubts that goDaddy itself does the domain hijacking, certainly some have their hooks into goDaddy searches somehow. There is either somebody looking for exactly the same domain names as me at the same exact time, waiting for me to search for them to register them just before I do, then taste some, and keep some, or my godaddy searches are intercepted... This has happened to me several times.

What I did do lately was a complete cleanup of my firefox, removed any script/addon that I didn't trust, and installed the NoScript addon for firefox, just in case the interception was at my end.

 

[Shane]

I think the best way to check domains is whois. Much safer than using Godaddy to check.

 

[Keith]

I reg names through godaddy but always check availability through moniker first. With that said, there have been many cases where I look up a random name, it is available and I do not reg it. The next day it is regged by someone. This has happened countless times with both godaddy and moniker and as recent as 3 days ago.

It seems to me that when this happens, it is a random individual who gets the name. Not a big company or registrar. Is it possible for joe blow to spy on a word search?

 

[newdomainer.mobi]

with millions of domains & thousands of domainers isn't it possible that these things are just bound to happen sometimes... the law of averages & coincidence.

I often reg a name after reading something gives me an idea... I'm sure I'm not the only person to have read that same thing & have a similar idea for a new reg?

I have lost names because I didn't reg them straightaway but it doesn't happen often.

Gary

 

[ulasbbtr]

The problem is not someone else's registration, which is quite normal as you wrote there are lots of domainers around. The strange thing, after a half day from my search, at Jan. 1 domain was registered by a registrar and three days later domain's whois info became created by Jan.4 and registrar became Godaddy. If individual domainers can do such registrations and such whois modifications, I think it's quite normal.
And for the security and personal privacy issues, as a computer engineer I am very paranoiac about such things cause I believe what Andrew Grove said "Only The Paranoid Survive", so in my case (and for me) all the fingers are pointing godaddy. I will never make a search with them, that's my lesson.

 

[Name Trader]

I've never had a problem doing name searches at http://www.netsol.com

I wouldn't be so sure. I have seen complaints about there whois lookups too.

Although registrar's whois lookup MIGHT be compromised by a third party. I still think the most likely explanation is they are getting the information from Verisign. I would very much doubt that GoDaddy are "stealing" domains searched but not registered.