How does someone know to buy domain after it is searched?

[DomainPhil]

Here is a serious question... and I feel it happens way too often for it to just be a coincidence:

Yesterday I searched a domain name for a client and when I went back to buy (after they approved it) it was gone. This is not a generic name and is an 18 character long .com domain! I have had this happen before and always just figured it was a bad coincidence but there is no way this was the case this time.

I searched this domain on DirectNIC and later that day it was registered under name.net.

Any ideas on how someone is scamming names (and then trying to resell them) based on searches with registrars? Am I just paranoid and this has happened multiple times purely as a coincidence?

Lastly, this small company doesn't have a trademark on their name so we can't get the name that way.

I know others have experienced this too... and it makes me wonder about the integrity of the registration system if there is a way to track searched names like this and then use this information to hold names hostage.

Thanks for any information! Ron

 

[DomainPhil]

Domain is now for sale...

Yep, just like I thought... the domain is now listed for sale.

I understand that some would say "this is just business" but it seems scummy... any ideas on how people are getting this information?

 

[briman1970]

...it makes me wonder about the integrity of the registration system if there is a way to track searched names like this and then use this information to hold names hostage.

Thanks for any information! Ron

Don't bother wondering... There is virtually no integrity in the system. Use Domain Name Analyzer (also called DN Analyzer). It's free on Download.com

 

[SpareDomains]

more money in selling good aftermarket names then selling hand registered domains for 6.95-8.95 so I assume you will see more and more of this data mining on what users are searching for from registrars, best advice don't search it unless you are ready to buy it especially if it is for a business client, pull the trigger at 6.95 and if they don't wan't it park it for sale or dump it for a few bucks, better safe then sorry.

 

[amosba]

Wait 5 days and check to see if the domain is available again. Chances are this is just a domain kiter and they'll drop the name before the grace period expires, though a second kiter might pick the name up and you'll have to wait another 5 days.

 

[cache]

this kind of thing happens all the time. see below:
http://www.namepros.com/domain-name-discussion/170611-can-someone-view-my-whois-search.html

 

[accent]

Yes, this is a common problem. I have had good luck checking names at Namecheap and finding them still availible later, and their system is fast as a bonus. You also can type in the name in your browser to check it - that will eliminate many, but not all, of the taken names.

Kiteing (also called "tasting") means companies "buy" a large number of names, then put advertisements on them and try to sell them for a few days. They keep the names with good traffic and dump the rest before 5 days, paying nothing for them. It is a loophole in the system. Moniker is said to allow the public to test a name for a few days, but learn more before you try it, one poster got stuck with ten names because he did not understand the system.

 

[cache]

I wish someday a law will be introduced to eliminate this kind of problem.

 

[Tippy]

Yes, this is a common problem. I have had good luck checking names at Namecheap

I havnt been so lucky using them, lost a few names I believe to these tasting Companies after checking them at NC, coincidence perhaps...

 

[accent]

I havnt been so lucky using them, lost a few names I believe to these tasting Companies after checking them at NC, coincidence perhaps...

Or perhaps you were checking better names???

The thing to remember is that they can hold it only 5 days or they have to pay. (Sometimes they grab a name for a second round). So if you don't keep checking the name (no traffic), in a few days they will probably let it go.

There does seem to be a lot of corruption in the domain industry, starting from the idea of letting a few private groups create domains out of nothing and sell them. That is almost as good a deal as the Federal Reserve has, with less accountability. The problem is that those who make the laws have very little understanding of the internet, and things change so quickly online that there is little chance the laws will catch up any time soon.

 

[briman1970]

If everyone would just use DN Analyzer to check for names, there would be a lot less of this going around. I have checked names and then registered them after days (sometimes over a week) and never has someone reg'd them out from under me.

 

[doiz]

I wish I had come across this thread earlier. The domain that I just searched for this afternoon and was planning to buy tonight is gone, grrr. Thanks for telling me about DN Analyzer~