My NameSilo .COM's Get Indexed In Search Engines???

[DomainAuction]

Hi Name Pros,

I've been using NameSilo for a majority of my domain registrations but recently I noticed a HUGE inconvenience they have caused for me and several investors when simply doing a Google search for the brand that I am developing...

The name of my upcoming brand uses a .COM domain and we are based in the United Stated with upcoming expansions in Mexico, Canada, and several other countries in South America. Our expansions were to be kept confidential until date-of-launch but thanks to NameSilo that was impossible ...

Once confirming our expansions; we wanted to obtain all possibilities (and typo's) of our brand name in ccTLD's and additional .COM's so we purchased the ccTLD's for the brand (E.g., *.mx, *.ca, etc) from other registrars since NameSilo currently does not offer such extensions but also purchased .COM's such as TheBrandsNameMexico.com, TheBrandsNameMX.com from NameSilo ...

One week after purchasing those additional .COM's from NameSilo we noticed them listed on Google (several times, and from different aggregated resources / URL's) when simply Googling the brands name ...

Pretty much all .COM's registered from NameSilo such as TheBrandsNameMexico.com have somehow appeared in Google Search results when simply searching for the brand. Let me be clear, literally ALL domains including the main/root .COM domain we will be using for the brand are 100% untouched. We simply just registered them and left them as-is until it is time for launch.

#1 - All of my NameSilo purchases have their Privacy enabled prior checkout

#2 - Our competition now knows that we are expanding into Mexico, Canada, and the South American countries because of this (... and my investors were PISSED)

How can a completely untouched domain registration be scraped so easily? Do all newly registered domains simply go into some sort of public database? If not, is NameSilo somehow selling my info?

Whatever the case is; they must fix this. Who knows what other information is floating around the web when it SHOULD NOT be (...especially if privacy is enabled and/or paid for)

 

[karmaco]

Did you disable the parking pages after registration? You mentioned buying other extensions elsewhere. All registrars have auto parking pages.

Privacy means your identity is private not that your names or registration of them doesn’t make it to a search engine or a database. To do that you have to insure no records or limited records in your panel.

Your issue is visibility not privacy.

 

[namesilo]

Hi Name Pros,

I've been using NameSilo for a majority of my domain registrations but recently I noticed a HUGE inconvenience they have caused for me and several investors when simply doing a Google search for the brand that I am developing...

The name of my upcoming brand uses a .COM domain and we are based in the United Stated with upcoming expansions in Mexico, Canada, and several other countries in South America. Our expansions were to be kept confidential until date-of-launch but thanks to NameSilo that was impossible ...

Once confirming our expansions; we wanted to obtain all possibilities (and typo's) of our brand name in ccTLD's and additional .COM's so we purchased the ccTLD's for the brand (E.g., *.mx, *.ca, etc) from other registrars since NameSilo currently does not offer such extensions but also purchased .COM's such as TheBrandsNameMexico.com, TheBrandsNameMX.com from NameSilo ...

One week after purchasing those additional .COM's from NameSilo we noticed them listed on Google (several times, and from different aggregated resources / URL's) when simply Googling the brands name ...

Pretty much all .COM's registered from NameSilo such as TheBrandsNameMexico.com have somehow appeared in Google Search results when simply searching for the brand. Let me be clear, literally ALL domains including the main/root .COM domain we will be using for the brand are 100% untouched. We simply just registered them and left them as-is until it is time for launch.

#1 - All of my NameSilo purchases have their Privacy enabled prior checkout

#2 - Our competition now knows that we are expanding into Mexico, Canada, and the South American countries because of this (... and my investors were PISSED)

How can a completely untouched domain registration be scraped so easily? Do all newly registered domains simply go into some sort of public database? If not, is NameSilo somehow selling my info?

Whatever the case is; they must fix this. Who knows what other information is floating around the web when it SHOULD NOT be (...especially if privacy is enabled and/or paid for)

Also, please note that all domains (well, maybe not for a few select ccTLDs) are available via WHOIS search and that several sites publish WHOIS listings as a form of click bait. Therefore, it would be expected that virtually every domain is "findable" via Google if you search for it.

This of course does not in any way mean we are selling information. We take the privacy of our customers extremely seriously and have never, would never and will never sell information. WHOIS is not something unique to us.

Regarding privacy, @karmaco is entirely correct - WHOIS privacy plays absolutely no part in shielding a domain name from WHOIS. Privacy refers to replacing your personal information with information populated with privacy data.

 

[namesilo]

Hi Everyone - Thanks for all of the feedback and discussion. We agree that it can be useful to be able to register/maintain domains without name servers. This is quite frankly something that has never been previously requested in over 8 years and 2 million domains, so it could take a little time for us to get this option in place, but it is something we will address.

@tonyk2000 - you are absolutely correct that some registries do mandate name servers so we will need to go through each that we integrate with in order to ensure that we enforce those rules.

Thanks again for all the responses, and, as always, we are happy to continue improving our services to provide the greatest level of support and number of options for the management of your domains.

 

[Premiums]

probably i should create an account on namesilo..
good support i am really surprised

 

[Kuffy]

probably i should create an account on namesilo..
good support i am really surprised

It's not just the support. Name Silo is the registrar for domain name investors. They have got so many extras like market sites, landing pages, free privacy, Bitcoin payments, portfolio management software two level authentication, and loads of other features that you would expect, but can't get elsewhere.

 

[tonyk2000]

I'd say that the root problem is not the whois privacy OR content of a parked page, but the inclusion of the domain name(s) in DNS zone(s). DNS zone is one only source for telemarketers, indexes etc. I may register jshdjshd8342978.com (or anything that was definietely not registered before) without attaching DNS servers to it - and I bet no Indian will email or call me with design offers for it, even if I publish my direct private cell phone number in whois ;
and the domain would never appear in google or anywhere. Nobody, except myself, registry and registrar will know that I regged it. And, should I never attach any dns servers - and let the domain expire - the only list it will appear in will be pendingdelete list provided by the registry when the domain becomes pending delete.

Question to @namesilo - is it possible to remove dns servers from a domain management area, or not to assign any dns servers to a handregged domain through namesilo.com ? I never tried this, had no need to. But it may become necessarry earleir or later, and this thread is an example. If not currently possible, you would of course be able to remove dns from any domain manually on registry level if asked- or to simply set ClientHold registry status with the same no-dns effect - but what would be shown as the result in control panel?

Edited: for the sake of completness, details my registration with no dns will also be delivered to whois data escrow provider which is now obligatory, and possibly somewhere else as a part of bulk whois access program...Both these things are icann - regulated I think.

 

[Kate]

I don't believe so. Domain names can be used purely as e-mail domains which require only mx records and do not require nameservers. So, afaik, naked domains are not grounds for cancellation

You still need nameservers to advertise your MX records. So if you choose not to set any NS, then you can't use the domain for E-mail, website or anything else.
But you can indeed use a domain for E-mail service only, then you just publish one or more MX records in your DNS zone. But if the MX is a host under the same domain name then you'll also have to add matching A/AAAA records - it has to be resolved somehow

Some registries insist on a valid set of NS, and will even conduct periodic checks, and send you mail notifications when the NS are not responding/resolving/authoritative for your names. You are supposed to fix that - or else (doesn't mean they will really delete your names though).
Known examples: .is, .fi...
So it depends on the extension.

 

[Michael M]

Will try to set one up and demo it.. But you do not need NS if you just have MX records which is the critical piece for mails

Sorry, sir - but you are incorrect.

A MX record is a type of text or resource record stored in a nameserver. There is no way to create a MX record without nameservers assigned - as it will never "resolve." Therefore no message could ever be delivered to that domain.

No nameserver - nowhere to store the MX record (with authority). Period.

I think you are possibly thinking of the fact that A records and MX records are different, and somehow not realizing that both are stored and served by a DNS server?

 

[Michael M]

As mentioned by @anantj - using the industry standard robots.txt file can tell bots to not crawl or index your site. Google/Yahoo/etc should respect and honor this (others bots may not).

To exclude your entire domain/site the robots.txt file should contain this:
User-agent: *
Disallow: /

You could put the site behind a login.

You could take the site off of the root directory and bury it under a sub directory.

You could remove the nameservers.

You could remove the A record for the parent and www. (possibly use a subdomain)

You could fill your site with ads and bad content - and google will "ban" your domain.

You can create a script to not serve the site to the google bot (though it will crawl with other user-agent headers occasionally just to see if this is being done)

etc....

But this "issue" is not standard - as most people are asking the opposite question - "why is my site not indexed in google?"

 

[namesilo]

This occured with untouched .COM's (nice knowing you support .CA and .MX, will look into that!) --- but yea; I simply register them and enable privacy prior checkout. That said, this should not happen for a TON of reasons. Also, the customer should not need to do anything but enable privacy for their purchase to remain private and not be indexed in search engines. All the customer needs to do is pay NameSilo and rest assured that a $9 domain name won't cause their phone to continously ring the following morning like mine did.

I understand it would require probably quite a bit of changes to prevent this from happening to me or others in the future; but I also believe that that's OK. Especially because of the harm it can do for someone.

Simply put; my domain portfolio should not be public if privacy is enabled AND the domain should not suffer (by doing anything extra like having 0 records) --- not many domainers know the damage that causes for future development and SEO.

Thanks for the professional reply; I'd love to see this change --- thank you, keep me posted please.

Thanks for the reply. I really am sorry, but there is nothing that we, or any other registrar in the world, can do to prevent a domain from being searchable for the reasons I listed in my previous reply (which I think crossed paths with your most recent reply). Again, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to shield the fact that domains have been registered. Several web sites harvest WHOIS and produce click-bait sites based upon the information therein. Also, zone records are available from most registries (including .com) which makes learning about newly registered domains simple. I would think of it like the USPTO web site... if you register a trademark, it is published. With a domain, if you register it, then consider that it will be able to be found. This again has nothing to do with us specifically or any other registrar.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jurgen Wolf]

If you want to disable it at all - remove all nameservers OR enter the following:
ns1.example.com
ns2.example.com

 

[Acroplex]

When you register a domain, and add privacy, isn't your info at the WHOIS instantly masked? What am I missing here?

Some domain registrars mask your contact info but not your name/company. Which can make it worthless as a paid feature.

 

[namesilo]

If you want to disable it at all - remove all nameservers OR enter the following:
ns1.example.com
ns2.example.com

Yes, following the recommendation above will definitely do the trick.

@DomainAuction - A faster solution, assuming our name servers are already in use, is to delete all of the A/CNAME records for the domain. The parking page will then not load within just a few minutes.

 

[namesilo]

When you register a domain, and add privacy, isn't your info at the WHOIS instantly masked? What am I missing here?

Some domain registrars mask your contact info but not your name/company. Which can make it worthless as a paid feature.

Sorry - thought you were asking if the domain name was masked (too much multi-tasking!)

You are correct in what you wrote - sorry for any confusion on my end

 

[Acroplex]

Yeah. So this isn't related to WHOIS privacy then. Just curious.

 

[xyo]

As @tonyk2000 asked/suggested, it is currently NOT possible at Namesilo to completely remove Nameservers from a domain. Though this is technically perfectly fine for at least all gtlds registries and can be done at some other registrars.
This way, at least the domain wouldn't be published in the zone file. I'm not sure if new .com/.net registrations are automatically published somewhere else, but I think not.

So this would be an adequate way to (at least better) shield new registrations from appearing anywhere on the internet.
I do miss this feature at quite some registrars so would be a nice thing if Namesilo could implement this.

 

[Kate]

As @tonyk2000 asked/suggested, it is currently NOT possible at Namesilo to completely remove Nameservers from a domain. Though this is technically perfectly fine for at least all gtlds registries and can be done at some other registrars.
This way, at least the domain wouldn't be published in the zone file. I'm not sure if new .com/.net registrations are automatically published somewhere else, but I think not.

I don't think this would solve the problem. A simple name availablity check would indicate that the name had been registered, and this is the fact that th OP was trying to conceal.

A domain name that has no name servers will not be provisioned in the zone files. It will be almost 'invisible'. Because everybody can see the newly-registered domain names based on the zone files. But if it was registered without any active NS, then you won't see it in the zone files.
Sure, if you check the domain you will see it's taken (and you will get the whois record) but you have to know it exists in the first place, or what to search.

However, there is something else to keep in mind. Since the majority of ccTLDs do not publish their zone files, search engines like Google cannot easily detect all new registrations.
However they have some tricks. For example, if you try to resolve one domain name and you are using their public DNS (8.8.8.8), then Google will find out and add the domain to their crawl list. Thus they are able to visit and index your site without even being notified.
Why do you think they offer a free DNS service ? It is to collect as many host names as possible.

To sum up, registering a name with no active NS is a valid option to go 'stealth'.
However, some TLDs are strict and insist on a set of valid NS before registration can proceed, for example .de.

 

[HotKey]

NameSilo's not-so-private Domain "Privacy" ...

Wonderful. Another disparaging thread title with little or nothing to do with the actual problem at hand. Maybe learn a little more about domain name basics before lighting these fires.

Namesilo's whois privacy works just fine. Perfect, in fact. So now, when this thread shows up in search results, and a reader is wondering, please disregard the OP's title.

 

[anantj]

Isn't a non-resolving doman name grounds for cancellation? I thought that was why two name servers were required.

I don't believe so. Domain names can be used purely as e-mail domains which require only mx records and do not require nameservers. So, afaik, naked domains are not grounds for cancellation

 

[Jv1999]

probably i should create an account on namesilo..
good support i am really surprised

You should definitely do it for now, because they have the cheapest .com/.net at $7. I think that applies to transfers too!

Once they go back to $9 again, then go switch to Epik.

 

[MasterOfMyDomains]

@namesilo will answer your questions I am sure.
Not exactly sure what you mean, that they were indexed in google search?

 

[namesilo]

Hi Name Pros,

I've been using NameSilo for a majority of my domain registrations but recently I noticed a HUGE inconvenience they have caused for me and several investors when simply doing a Google search for the brand that I am developing...

The name of my upcoming brand uses a .COM domain and we are based in the United Stated with upcoming expansions in Mexico, Canada, and several other countries in South America. Our expansions were to be kept confidential until date-of-launch but thanks to NameSilo that was impossible ...

Once confirming our expansions; we wanted to obtain all possibilities (and typo's) of our brand name in ccTLD's and additional .COM's so we purchased the ccTLD's for the brand (E.g., *.mx, *.ca, etc) from other registrars since NameSilo currently does not offer such extensions but also purchased .COM's such as TheBrandsNameMexico.com, TheBrandsNameMX.com from NameSilo ...

One week after purchasing those additional .COM's from NameSilo we noticed them listed on Google (several times, and from different aggregated resources / URL's) when simply Googling the brands name ...

Pretty much all .COM's registered from NameSilo such as TheBrandsNameMexico.com have somehow appeared in Google Search results when simply searching for the brand. Let me be clear, literally ALL domains including the main/root .COM domain we will be using for the brand are 100% untouched. We simply just registered them and left them as-is until it is time for launch.

#1 - All of my NameSilo purchases have their Privacy enabled prior checkout

#2 - Our competition now knows that we are expanding into Mexico, Canada, and the South American countries because of this (... and my investors were PISSED)

How can a completely untouched domain registration be scraped so easily? Do all newly registered domains simply go into some sort of public database? If not, is NameSilo somehow selling my info?

Whatever the case is; they must fix this. Who knows what other information is floating around the web when it SHOULD NOT be (...especially if privacy is enabled and/or paid for)

Hello. Can you please expand on what you have reported? Are you perhaps referring to WHOIS? Or maybe the default parked page for domains? If WHOIS, there is nothing we can do about that. If the default parked page, you can easily remove that via any number of options. Please also feel free to email us at [email protected] for help.

Also, as a point of reference, we do support .ca and .mx domains.

 

[DomainAuction]

Hello. Can you please expand on what you have reported? Are you perhaps referring to WHOIS? Or maybe the default parked page for domains? If WHOIS, there is nothing we can do about that. If the default parked page, you can easily remove that via any number of options. Please also feel free to email us at [email protected] for help.

Also, as a point of reference, we do support .ca and .mx domains.

This occured with untouched .COM's (nice knowing you support .CA and .MX, will look into that!) --- but yea; I simply register them and enable privacy prior checkout. That said, this should not happen for a TON of reasons. Also, the customer should not need to do anything but enable privacy for their purchase to remain private and not be indexed in search engines. All the customer needs to do is pay NameSilo and rest assured that a $9 domain name won't cause their phone to continously ring the following morning like mine did.

I understand it would require probably quite a bit of changes to prevent this from happening to me or others in the future; but I also believe that that's OK. Especially because of the harm it can do for someone.

Simply put; my domain portfolio should not be public if privacy is enabled AND the domain should not suffer (by doing anything extra like having 0 records) --- not many domainers know the damage that causes for future development and SEO.

Thanks for the professional reply; I'd love to see this change --- thank you, keep me posted please.

 

[DomainAuction]

Did you disable the parking pages after registration? You mentioned buying other extensions elsewhere. All registrars have auto parking pages.

Privacy means your identity is private not that your names or registration of them doesn’t make it to a search engine or a database. To do that you have to insure no records or limited records in your panel.

Your issue is visibility not privacy.

Also, please note that all domains (well, maybe not for a few select ccTLDs) are available via WHOIS search and that several sites publish WHOIS listings as a form of click bait. Therefore, it would be expected that virtually every domain is "findable" via Google if you search for it.

This of course does not in any way mean we are selling information. We take the privacy of our customers extremely seriously and have never, would never and will never sell information. WHOIS is not something unique to us.

Regarding privacy, @karmaco is entirely correct - WHOIS privacy plays absolutely no part in shielding a domain name from WHOIS. Privacy refers to replacing your personal information with information populated with privacy data.

How do I disable parked pages? But wouldn't it make more sense to make the parked pages ineligible for indexing unless the owner asks for them to be? I've never experienced this with any other domain defaults (aka "parked pages") ...

Also, a domain with 0 records is a complete no-no (in my opinion and 15 years of SEO experience); especially for future development. How can I make it so the domain defaults contain records but are not eligible for indexing?

Whatever it takes, i'll do --- I honestly never knew it would do this and it hurt my current project bigtime.