I Suspect Automatic Bidding Software is being Used at GoDaddy Auctions

[lennco]

I have had this feeling before but now I strongly believe that someone is using Automatic Bidding Software at Godaddy expiring auctions.

I just went through a grueling 4hr long bidding war with mostly one other bidder over at Godaddy's Expiring Auctions for a really great name, OnlineFreePoker.com

Why 4hrs?

Because the person I was bidding against place increments of only $5 bids with EXACTLY :26 seconds left extending it 5:26 every time!
Once it went over $500 the increments increased to the required minimum of $10
Never once did they place a higher bid amount then the minimum or at any other time then :26 seconds left in the auction!
Now, why in the world would they do this?

If you are a buyer you don't want to extend the auction any longer then you have too right?
But if you want to get more attention to an auction and maybe get a higher price then the best way would be to extended an auction as long as you possibly can and hopefully attract more bidders, especially if its a great domain like OnlineFreePoker.com
But who would do this? HHhhmmmm....I wonder......

For several hours I tested my theory.
I mostly used proxy bids and I would refresh the auction every second starting at :32 seconds.
:31 :30 :29 :28 :27 BAM! 5:26 extended.
This went on for hours.

And when I was outbid I would test my theory by placing a minimum bid around the :30 second mark and I would once again be the highest bidder.

But other times I was outbid I would then place my bid around the :25 second mark and I would again be outbid by the minimum amount, I knew this because I would immediately place a new minimum bid and I would once again be the high bidder.

So this method told me that even when the other bidder was the highest Bidder, their Automatic Bidding Program would still place a minimum bid at the :26 second mark.
Bidder 3 never once that I could tell every changed their pattern of bidding.

There were 4 bidders total and I was bidder 2 and the suspected auto bidder was 3
Bidder 1 and 4 were not in the auction very long so it was mostly me and auto bidder 3

Bidder 3 came in at $85 and they finally won it at $532 after I gave up and all along the way they only placed the minimum bids at :26 seconds left extending it to 5:26 every time left making the auction last nearly 4 hrs.

So IMHO it was either a Automatic Bidding Program or the most meticulous anal retentive bidder that ever was.
You be the judge

 

[TravisS]

I'm sure it would do both.

This is all hypothetical and no 2 auctions play out the same, but I feel like with my style of bidding, this would be VERY helpful.

I guess I bid differently lol. Opposed to extending the auction and running the risk of more bidders jumping in, I prefer to throw a high bid, outbid, and end it. When the proxy bid is a bit higher, I like to think that the other bidder is thinking, "this guy must want it" lol. Granted, I can't be glued to the auctions, so I make do w/ that.

 

[DomainVP]

Sure takes the fun out of the auction, also removes some psychological bid influencers like Bidding in increments of $5 for 20-30 minutes, then suddenly bidding in increments of $50.

You can just hear the competing bidder going, "nooooo way."

all depending on the name of course.

 

[TravisS]

I'm sure it would do both.
If i had a bot doing it $5 at a time, 5 minutes at a time, we're talking 20 to 40 possible auction extensions. At this point that buyer might be gone. I could be avoiding a bidding war right then and there.

This is all hypothetical and no 2 auctions play out the same, but I feel like with my style of bidding, this would be VERY helpful.

My post was still sitting in "moderation" lol...I had to repost it.

I guess I bid differently lol. Opposed to extending the auction and running the risk of more bidders jumping in, I prefer to throw a high bid, outbid, and end it. When the proxy bid is a bit higher, I like to think that the other bidder is thinking, "this guy must want it" lol. Granted, I can't be glued to the auctions, so I make do w/ that.

 

[Edward Smeu]

@lennco GoDaddy is the land of all possibilities..definitely that was an auto bid. But the good news is that the domain ain't worth that much. If you want to develop, get FreePokerOnline.net for reg fee

 

[domainhacks-931385]

Turns out the bot guy didn't win after all. Domain got transfered out and renewed.

Ahhh the good ol' "find out what my name is worth at auction and transfer out last minute" ploy.

One troll beats another. Good times.

 

[main]

Turns out the bot guy didn't win after all. Domain got transfered out and renewed.

Ahhh the good ol' "find out what my name is worth at auction and transfer out last minute" ploy.

One troll beats another. Good times.

Seems like they are shill bidding on their own domain to extend the auction for as long as possible for maximum exposure. Then they're hoping to get contacted directly after they've transferred the domain elsewhere. Definitely shady.

 

[alanchau]

Protrada has an auction sniping feature. Not sure if it's still actively being worked on, as I did not receive a response to an email.

 

[buywebsites.biz]

Protrada has an auction sniping feature. Not sure if it's still actively being worked on, as I did not receive a response to an email.

I also didn't get any support response when I wanted to cancel bids on a bunch of auctions I had queued up in Protrada (I didn't realize until too late that they didn't have anyway to cancel a pending snipe).

 

[greggb]

Because the person I was bidding against place increments of only $5 bids with EXACTLY :26 seconds left extending it 5:26 every time!
Once it went over $500 the increments increased to the required minimum of $10
Never once did they place a higher bid amount then the minimum or at any other time then :26 seconds left in the auction!
Now, why in the world would they do this?

It sounds like the work of someone pretty amateur, to not use a random number generator to vary the bid increment and time in between bids. Of course the random number generator isn't really all that random, but it's enough to fool most humans.

Anyway, it was an exciting story, bidders 1 - 4 placing their various bids. I kept wondering, is someone going to bid, or will the auction end?