report Significantly Increased Auction Activity

[Ategy]

Wow .. I'm actually having a frustrating day at auction .. just about all the domains I'm watching (just about all the best on my personal list and quite a few from my shared public list are getting far above average number of bids and well above average prices.

Usually on my days off I manage to snag a few cheap .. and even turn down some really good ones .. it's almost as if instead of just one heavyweight (like HugeDomains) competing with the rest of us .. that there are now two heavy hitters battling it out for everything barely even leaving any scraps for the rest of us.

To the point where names of the type/quality I was getting at at $17, $12 or even closeout are hitting three figures .. and domains I'd grab mid-high $xx are hitting $250++ and up.

While this certainly sucks for auction buyers in the short term .. if it keeps up .. it could mean significantly better wholesale prices in the long term .. which could be either good or bad for domainers depending on the particulars of their portfolio.

I did notice patterns like this last year .. wish I tracked it better. Before the day even started and most bids began, I did notice it certainly was a big day in terms of number of good names .. maybe that was part of it?

Curious if I'm the only one seeing this?

 

[Ategy]

... At this point they are blanketing anything with an decent appraisal (1), and could be a set time long experiment for all we know, but Ategy who is a value buyer started noticing some attention to the type of names he is from time to time easily able to sneak under the rader, but everything is getting scanned (2) with a fine tooth comb now.

Two things there ..

1) While any automated appraisal system could never possibly be considered reliable in any way, I have to credit GoDaddy's appraisals for getting SIGNIFICANTLY better since they first launched it. I've noticed they are on at least the 3rd generation over the last few months .. 1st gen it scored 1/10 (minimum $1000) .. 2nd gen 3/10 (min $500).. 3rd gen possibly 5-6/10 (min $100) .. there might have been a few steps in between .. and let me be clear it's not "good" .. but definitely vastly "better" .. meaning much better than the absolute garbage it was when it launched. This might be one part of the puzzle.

2) That is my only true huge concern. Do APIs have the ability to access the new "Watchers" datafield. Which would let the human being sitting behind the app/bot cherry pick scan just watched domains .. sure it would still be a lot .. BUT .. vastly less work than needing to plow through all domains like I need to one by one (I don't actually search nearly 50k domains a day .. but you know what I mean .. lol).

I really want to know EXACTLY every data field available to API/bot users.

I dealt with namejet today 2 weeks after, they were unable to deliver a name that was sitting at godaddy, no idea why they don't get those names under their roof before they let them into auction.

I thought domains had to be at one of their sponsored registrars in order to be sold there?

 

[Ategy]

My only concern with Bots is *IF* they have more information than we get. Otherwise I just bid on domains as I normally would. It's not the fact they are bots that bugs me .. it's the fact the volume and prices were so high I couldn't be my usual stingy self by grabbing what I considered to be my usual steals (was too good to last I guess)! lol

But who knows if the bots API access have more info or not? I asked Joe and Nick (GoDaddy) in another thread (https://www.namepros.com/posts/6458702/) the full list of what exactly the data fields they had access to were. And Joe seemed rather annoyed claiming he thought he already answered twice in another thread (which he actually didn't at all .. lol), and then only answered the question in part without specifying what EXACT datafields APIs have access to, other than just saying they don't have access to Proxy bid amounts.

Joe Styler & Paul Nicks ...
1- What exactly are all the data fields available to the API?
2- Does the data returned to the API for "Highest bid" include the highest proxy bid, or just the current highest active bid (actual sale price if no more bidding)?

3- I think what he meant was how many people in general have access to the API .. I'm curious about that number as well just to have an idea of how many people we're talking about?

I did answer your other question on the other thread twice already I believe so I ignored it. I can only say the same thing so many times, there is no ability to see someone's proxy bid on the API. It doesn't really seem like there would be from an observer of the auctions as well, otherwise many of the biggest bidders on the API would have a clear advantage, and I suspect there would be among other things a thread on How Come I get outbid by the exact amount over my proxy bid all the time? etc. It's not really like you can hide something like that. This is the last time I am going to address this, I don't know how else to say it. No one on the API can see your proxy bid.

I found it a little odd that he felt it was appropriate to ignore such a serious and straight forward question when he only "believed" he answered it in another thread? lol .. In fairness to him .. it did seem like the most important thing I wanted to know was if they could see proxy amounts .. but I also clearly said I wanted a list of every datafield .. that list was never given .. and is what's most important to me as I rarely proxy anyways.

But my main concern is if they can see number of watchers .. because I rarely ever place proxy bids except if I'm work. I'm concerned about this because new closeout pages now show how many people are "watching" a domain .. if bots see that data field at all times (even before auction) then they have a HUGE advantage. I spend hours a marking domains to watch, and then they just come in and only need to scan the domains I and other domainers are watching. Otherwise bots are simply quicker to bid and I don't mind competing against them since we do get 5 minutes to raise our bid.

One other gripe would be more with the closeout snipping .. but on domains I really want, I often just place a $12 bid 6 minutes before an auction ends (sometimes if I'm at "work" I'll have to place a bid an hour or two in advance and cross my fingers .. lol). GD has randomized the closeout times a bit .. but obviously a bot can just refresh every second automatically .. which is their only real advantage (although be it a HUGE one).

Also very curious if they can actually see the actual amount of proxy bids. I know Joe said no. And I totally believe that's what he believes to be true. But let's be honest in saying the GoDaddy platform is a colossal mess full of bugs, glitches and inefficiencies .. I'm not sure anybody truly knows for sure! lol

A couple of weeks ago I lost a solid domain because of a perfect storm of THREE separate bugs/issues! It was very clear I had a much better understanding of the ins and outs of their platform than even my rep. I feel really bad for him .. he's always trying to be helpful .. but there are just too many bugs they aren't aware of on the platform .. it's almost impossible for them to really know more than power users like ourselves who go into every nook and cranny of their platform.


On a far more serious note ... There was a bug I found and reported a few times a few years ago (before I was really domaining) where you could get a backdoor mini-page that showed ALL bids .. including proxy bids. This bug was present for many months if not longer (probably even more going back until I discovered it). Even after I reported it it wasn't fixed. The only reason that hole eventually got closed was because they revamped the platform themes at one point and the link was no longer accessible directly (although if someone knew the direct link it's entirely possible they still had access far longer .. and if it was openly available on a webpage .. it certainly was available to Bots).

That effectively would have allowed anybody listing an auction to shill and drive up the price if their domains to right below someone's supposedly secret proxy bid. I really wasn't buying much back then .. I was buying with intend to develop (which I never ended up doing in the years after my big site from 1999 to the mid 2000's). I never bid on anything but expiration auctions. I personally used it to extend auctions hoping the other person would be long offline by the time I actually passed their bid. Or simply to keep bidding below the proxy to give me more time to think about if I really wanted the domain at the proxy price. Looking back I also guess I could have used that bug to save up to $4 by bidding just $1 over the proxy so as not be paying the $5 spread.

However .. I genuinely believe there is nobody at GD out to get us .. and I really believe they are genuine when saying they want to have a fair platform ... just about every person I've talked to at GD has been super nice and friendly and go as far as they can to help. But each and every time I report problems/issues/errors, things rarely change and I rarely hear back .. it all just gets swept under the rug and forgotten. It wouldn't surprise me if there were things about API access even the upper levels of GD just simply aren't aware of. The GoDaddy platform is just too massive to be effectively managed by people who are anything but power users who actually know the ins and outs of the platform.

It would be great to get a clear straight answer of every single data field available to the APIs/Bots. But I've asked too many times and think the likely reason I never get an answer is because the people I ask quite simply don't even know themselves!

 

[Ategy]

In terms of auction pricing .. I think too much is being read into conspiracy theories so to speak .. lol .. aside from my concerns about what data bots have access to, the large jump in prices isn't that all that surprising.

If you think about the only real change is the addition of a new big player (@Frank.Schilling 's Uniregistry maybe? Or others some have mentioned) .. here's why I think that ...

We all know that Huge Domains is buying a ton of names .. but because there was no monster counterpart player bidding against them .. they kept snagging a large bulk of names super cheap. Sure the rest of us human domainers bit up a good portion of them to some degree, but still far from everything.

Enter a new big player / bot to the game. Now they are playing off of each other. What Huge domains used to get with one bid now triggers the new player to bid as well .. and where in the past Huge Domains got a name for $12-$50 that they were prepared to spend $500 .. now because of a single other player .. most of their domains get driven way up.

Realistically when there is only one player in the game prices are just rock bottom .. and all it takes is one major player and every domain get challenged and driven up (theoretically to what they should have sold for).

With 2+ bots playing against each other we're going to see a lot more patterns .. it actually perfectly understandable and expected .. almost definitely not some big conspiracy.

The important thing to remember is as has been said above .. just don't bid beyond what a domain is worth. But there is one fact that sucks .. and that under the current conditions it's going to be significantly harder to find those great domains that used to slip through the cracks. I grabbed a huge number of solid domains at or just above closeout last year .. I admit I took it for granted and am upset at the situation .. lol .. but in reality instead of being mad .. I should be grateful for being able to benefit from those good times over the last few months!


Who knows .. maybe this is a short term buying spree and it'll revert back shortly. I'm actually having deja-vu with this thread as I'm quite sure I started one like this at some point last year! lol .. and having new capital in wholesale auctions isn't even a bad thing .. it's actually a sign of good health in the domain markets .. and more importantly .. gives us as domainers more liquidity (as long as you don't buy garbage domains .. lol)

 

[wwwweb]

My only concern with Bots is *IF* they have more information than we get. Otherwise I just bid on domains as I normally would. It's not the fact they are bots that bugs me .. it's the fact the volume and prices were so high I couldn't be my usual stingy self by grabbing what I considered to be my usual steals (was too good to last I guess)! lol

But who knows if the bots API access have more info or not? I asked Joe and Nick (GoDaddy) in another thread (https://www.namepros.com/posts/6458702/) the full list of what exactly the data fields they had access to were. And Joe seemed rather annoyed claiming he thought he already answered twice in another thread (which he actually didn't at all .. lol), and then only answered the question in part without specifying what EXACT datafields APIs have access to, other than just saying they don't have access to Proxy bid amounts.



I found it a little odd that he felt it was appropriate to ignore such a serious and straight forward question when he only "believed" he answered it in another thread? lol .. In fairness to him .. it did seem like the most important thing I wanted to know was if they could see proxy amounts .. but I also clearly said I wanted a list of every datafield .. that list was never given .. and is what's most important to me as I rarely proxy anyways.

But my main concern is if they can see number of watchers .. because I rarely ever place proxy bids except if I'm work. I'm concerned about this because new closeout pages now show how many people are "watching" a domain .. if bots see that data field at all times (even before auction) then they have a HUGE advantage. I spend hours a marking domains to watch, and then they just come in and only need to scan the domains I and other domainers are watching. Otherwise bots are simply quicker to bid and I don't mind competing against them since we do get 5 minutes to raise our bid.

One other gripe would be more with the closeout snipping .. but on domains I really want, I often just place a $12 bid 6 minutes before an auction ends (sometimes if I'm at "work" I'll have to place a bid an hour or two in advance and cross my fingers .. lol). GD has randomized the closeout times a bit .. but obviously a bot can just refresh every second automatically .. which is their only real advantage (although be it a HUGE one).

Also very curious if they can actually see the actual amount of proxy bids. I know Joe said no. And I totally believe that's what he believes to be true. But let's be honest in saying the GoDaddy platform is a colossal mess full of bugs, glitches and inefficiencies .. I'm not sure anybody truly knows for sure! lol

A couple of weeks ago I lost a solid domain because of a perfect storm of THREE separate bugs/issues! It was very clear I had a much better understanding of the ins and outs of their platform than even my rep. I feel really bad for him .. he's always trying to be helpful .. but there are just too many bugs they aren't aware of on the platform .. it's almost impossible for them to really know more than power users like ourselves who go into every nook and cranny of their platform.


On a far more serious note ... There was a bug I found and reported a few times a few years ago (before I was really domaining) where you could get a backdoor mini-page that showed ALL bids .. including proxy bids. This bug was present for many months if not longer (probably even more going back until I discovered it). Even after I reported it it wasn't fixed. The only reason that hole eventually got closed was because they revamped the platform themes at one point and the link was no longer accessible directly (although if someone knew the direct link it's entirely possible they still had access far longer .. and if it was openly available on a webpage .. it certainly was available to Bots).

That effectively would have allowed anybody listing an auction to shill and drive up the price if their domains to right below someone's supposedly secret proxy bid. I really wasn't buying much back then .. I was buying with intend to develop (which I never ended up doing in the years after my big site from 199 to the mid 2000's). I never bid on anything but expiration auctions. I personally used it to extend auctions hoping the other person would be long offline by the time I actually passed their bid. Or simply to keep bidding below the proxy to give me more time to think about if I really wanted the domain at the proxy price. Looking back I also guess I could have used that bug to save up to $4 by bidding just $1 over the proxy so as not be paying the $5 spread.

However .. I genuinely believe there is nobody at GD out to get us .. and I really believe they are genuine when saying they want to have a fair platform ... just about every person I've talked to at GD has been super nice and friendly and go as far as they can to help. But each and every time I report problems/issues/errors, things rarely change and I rarely hear back .. it all just gets swept under the rug and forgotten. It wouldn't surprise me if there were things about API access even the upper levels of GD just simply aren't aware of.

It would be great to get a clear straight answer of every single data field available to the APIs/Bots. But I've asked too many times and think the likely reason I never get an answer is because the people I ask quite simply don't even know themselves!

A bot having the advantage to see the number of watchers, married with their new appraisal formula could be the reason why you started this thread today, out of frustration. I have no idea, and I am sure nobody will ever tell us.

Well I guess it could really be summed up in one line of code to show a user id, or bidder number, only exchange to this day that does not provide that transparency, not sure why?

 

[wwwweb]

Bitcoin collapse and an increase in domain spending... you don't say.

Predictions

Stock market got slammed also today.

 

[wwwweb]

I thought domains had to be at one of their sponsored registrars in order to be sold there?[/QUOTE]

Domain was blockchainbet com, I guess namejet is not doing there homework, sat on my money for 2 weeks, emailed them last week, they said no no don't worry, domain is just transferring over, today get the email based on our TOS we reserve the right to cancel the auction, but we can't say anything blah blah bs whatever, shit show over there anyways.

 

[Arca]

If you think about the only real change is the addition of a new big player (@Frank.Schilling 's Uniregistry maybe? Or others some have mentioned) .. here's why I think that ...

We all know that Huge Domains is buying a ton of names .. but because there was no monster counterpart player bidding against them .. they kept snagging a large bulk of names super cheap. Sure the rest of us human domainers bit up a good portion of them to some degree, but still far from everything.

Enter a new big player / bot to the game. Now they are playing off of each other. What Huge domains used to get with one bid now triggers the new player to bid as well .. and where in the past Huge Domains got a name for $12-$50 that they were prepared to spend $500 .. now because of a single other player .. most of their domains get driven way up.

Realistically when there is only one player in the game prices are just rock bottom .. and all it takes is one major player and every domain get challenged and driven up (theoretically to what they should have sold for).

With 2+ bots playing against each other we're going to see a lot more patterns .. it actually perfectly understandable and expected .. almost definitely not some big conspiracy.

I think this is a nice summary of what seem to be the change in dynamic at GD. Humans drop out of the bidding when prices get too crazy. But these automated bids don't "discern" the quality/value of a domain in the same way, and neither side drops out of the bidding. HugeDomains have often used the strategy of high proxy bids, and similarly, Frank's taryn bot always uses the high proxy bid strategy at NameJet. When two (or more) parties use this strategy with automated bids, either side is going to get maxed out, hence the sudden increase in prices.

 

[Michael M]

As GD auctions continues to grab up more of the different registries expired domains - it is forcing the big players to move away from catching domains at the drop and more over to GD and other auction platforms.

As it has been mentioned in this thread - as more bots become active on a platform they will now be in competition with each other. Emotions are removed and bids are based purely off of variables and static limits that the programmers/operators have set. If the big players don't collude in some fashion then it is likely that these bots will max each other out. (they are unlikely to collude intentionally as their interest are opposite of each other)

I would imagine the bot owners did not expect to be maxed out (or close to) on each domain they bid on. They were playing a game of averages but when someone else is willing to push you on every bid it is going to greatly increase the cost of acquisition across the board.

So in this case I would imagine they will need to rework their bots to try to mitigate the bidding wars with other bots in some form or fashion. In other words I imagine they will have to lower their max bid on mediocre names to continue to be profitable.

(the bots will need to learn to be more conservative with their bidding structure and max bid)

So hopefully in time - bot competition will settle down some price-wise... But I can only imagine will continue to increase in volume.

 

[Arca]

Average names that sold above $100 at GD over the past two days is about 150. Normal average prior to these bots maxing each other out was about 75/day. So far the volume seems to roughly have doubled starting from Feb 4.

 

[Arca]

Another thing I noticed is that no worthwhile domains seem to go to closeouts due to getting no bids. If they didn't have bids already, a $10 bid at about 5:50 seems to come in for anything remotely worth buying.

 

[wwwweb]

Another thing I noticed is that no worthwhile domains seem to go to closeouts due to getting no bids. If they didn't have bids already, a $10 bid at about 5:50 seems to come in for anything remotely worth buying.

I’m sure there are regular human domain watchers that once they place that back order on the domain at 6 minutes, they spring into action bidding, and outbidding against the bots, who are just processing these min bids all day hoping to keep sniping human distraction. Unlike bots we take calls, lose focus, or can’t rebid, huge advantage here in that sense.

There is not much you can do to change your style of bidding here, the only solution is you must pay more.

Effectively if we can figure out the bot programming we can tax the bots also in our human ways, as a joint force, and maybe make the bot owners change their strategies to less
liberal means.

 

[Arca]

I’m sure there are regular human domain watchers that once they place that back order on the domain at 6 minutes, they spring into action bidding, and outbidding against the bots, who are just processing these min bids all day hoping to keep sniping human distraction. Unlike bots we take calls, lose focus, or can’t rebid, huge advantage here in that sense.

There is not much you can do to change your style of bidding here, the only solution is you must pay more.

Effectively if we can figure out the bot programming we can tax the bots also in our human ways, as a joint force, and maybe make the bot owners change their strategies to less
liberal means.

It seems that one bot is set to bid on anything that gets 2 x bids. I saw many of these $10 HD bids (bidder 1) nearly closed, I then placed a bid (bidder 2), and a bidder 3 came in hard every time and the auction turned into a bidding war between 1 and 3. Additional bidders often join in, but this particular pattern with 1 opening and 3 being auto "triggered" by bidder 2, and then going at, it was repeated for a bunch of auctions for low quality names that would normally not get much bidding attention at all, so that was pretty notable compared with how these names normally proceed through the pre-release (most would likely have closed with zero bids had it not been for that $10 opening bid by HugeDomains).

I don't know at what prices these bots are maxed out at. It's a bit risky to figure it out as most of these are low quality names. I did bit up to $XXX on every single name I bid on yesterday even though many of them were certainly not worth that, but nothing I bid on closed below $XXX, so I feel that you can drive the price up to at least $XXX on every name these bots are going after.

 

[Asfas1000]

I’m sure there are regular human domain watchers that once they place that back order on the domain at 6 minutes, they spring into action bidding, and outbidding against the bots, who are just processing these min bids all day hoping to keep sniping human distraction. Unlike bots we take calls, lose focus, or can’t rebid, huge advantage here in that sense.

There is not much you can do to change your style of bidding here, the only solution is you must pay more.

Effectively if we can figure out the bot programming we can tax the bots also in our human ways, as a joint force, and maybe make the bot owners change their strategies to less
liberal means.

You can put a proxy bid and leave your PC surely ?

 

[wwwweb]

It seems that one bot is set to bid on anything that gets 2 x bids. I saw many of these $10 HD bids (bidder 1) nearly closed, I then placed a bid (bidder 2), and a bidder 3 came in hard every time and the auction turned into a bidding war between 1 and 3. Additional bidders often join in, but this particular pattern with 1 opening and 3 being auto "triggered" by bidder 2, and then going at, it was repeated for a bunch of auctions for low quality names that would normally not get much bidding attention at all, so that was pretty notable compared with how these names normally proceed through the pre-release (most would likely have closed with zero bids had it not been for that $10 opening bid by HugeDomains).

I don't know at what prices these bots are maxed out at. It's a bit risky to figure it out as most of these are low quality names. I did bit up to $XXX on every single name I bid on yesterday even though many of them were certainly not worth that, but nothing I bid on closed below $XXX, so I feel that you can drive the price up to at least $XXX on every name these bots are going after.

Agreed that is why godaddy is loving this, HD b/o bot #1 just casually places backorders around the 6 minute mark, they have effectively tested timing, and found what has worked best, as they would like to avoid setting off human triggers, and getting outbid, or having to pay more than they need to.

As well the multi bid confirmation by outside parties verifying this domain may contain value they have not discovered is another pattern.

I think they have been at this for 2 years started around Dec 2015, so they have probably fine tuned it enough that many master bidders here are started to get annoyed, and that simply means HD is getting it right.

 

[wwwweb]

You can put a proxy bid and leave your PC surely ?

Surely you will be out of business sooner than later, call me crazy but many times I have seen people simply take out someone’s proxy and walk away knowing they made someone pay the max, and they no longer want the name.

Now we go back to step 1, why godaddy is hiding those bidder id, or usernames, what is their motivation, it’s almost as mysterious as trump, and Russia as they will never acknowledge why they are the only auction company in the industry to hide user ids?

They finally folded to pressure with the transfer out loophole, but even that has been gamed by a smart few.

 

[Arca]

Now we go back to step 1, why godaddy is hiding those bidder id, or usernames, what is their motivation, it’s almost as mysterious as trump, and Russia as they will never acknowledge why they are the only auction company in the industry to hide user ids?

Bidder ID's are needed more than ever now imo.

 

[Asfas1000]

Surely you will be out of business sooner than later, call me crazy but many times I have seen people simply take out someone’s proxy and walk away knowing they made someone pay the max, and they no longer want the name.

I don't understand. How can someone know I paid my max since they don't know my proxy bid amount ? Also, why would they risk paying a hefty price if they happen to win the domain ?

 

[wwwweb]

I don't understand. How can someone know I paid my max since they don't know my proxy bid amount ? Also, why would they risk paying a hefty price if they happen to win the domain ?

Isn’t it funny how many bidders like to bid $99, and not $100, or $95, and then all the sudden walk away when they know they have taken someone’s proxy out, psychological levels, the more they make you pay the less you have to spend, or outbid them with.

This leads us back to the question of why no bidder id’s?

 

[pchip]

The scary thing about having a bidding bot like HD has is that it can be very easily used against you.

Since the HD Bot is a computer algorithm making decisions based on predefined rules, it's not difficult to figure out the patterns and thresholds. Once someone has that, they could develop there own bot and well, you know. You wouldn't even need a bot to mess around with them.

Someone could do this as a way to get them to spend more money on each domain. The more they spend, the less they buy. You get the idea.

This was definitely a top concern of my when I was interested in developing a bot of my own.

 

[Asfas1000]

They (HD) probably evaluate each domain they are interested in using their own algorithm and have an internal max bid per domain, based on that valuation.

Example , valuation=$200, bid up to $140.

 

[wwwweb]

The scary thing about having a bidding bot like HD has is that it can be very easily used against you.

Since the HD Bot is a computer algorithm making decisions based on predefined rules, it's not difficult to figure out the patterns and thresholds. Once someone has that, they could develop there own bot and well, you know. You wouldn't even need a bot to mess around with them.

Someone could do this as a way to get them to spend more money on each domain. The more they spend, the less they buy. You get the idea.

This was definitely a top concern of my when I was interested in developing a bot of my own.

The same rules they get you to spend more money, can be easily turned on them, turning that bot on with a credit account comes with risk, wasn't it not to long ago, someone's bot went crazy, and godaddy pulled back all those bids, going against their own TOS. Must have been HD, they will do anything to keep them happy.

 

[Ategy]

On my end I am tracking far fewer names today (the last few days I was tracking a vastly higher than average number of domains .. was a good 3-4 days in terms of names at auction) .. so that likely played into it as well ... on my end things are much calmer today .. but that could just be a result of the specific names I'm tracking .. curious if it's the same for any of you?

A bot having the advantage to see the number of watchers (1), married with their new appraisal formula could be the reason why you started this thread today, out of frustration. I have no idea, and I am sure nobody will ever tell us.

Well I guess it could really be summed up in one line of code to show a user id, or bidder number, only exchange to this day that does not provide that transparency, not sure why (2)?

1) That is my biggest question and concern as someone who actually spends a lot of time and energy going through the names myself.

2) To be fair .. there are plenty of reasons both for and against showing names/ID. Separate debate so I won't get into it here. I'd actually be in between .. not necessarily showing during auction .. but showing publicly after for transparency's sake.

...
I would imagine the bot owners did not expect to be maxed out (or close to) on each domain they bid on. They were playing a game of averages but when someone else is willing to push you on every bid it is going to greatly increase the cost of acquisition across the board.

So in this case I would imagine they will need to rework their bots to try to mitigate the bidding wars with other bots in some form or fashion. In other words I imagine they will have to lower their max bid on mediocre names to continue to be profitable.

(the bots will need to learn to be more conservative with their bidding structure and max bid)

So hopefully in time - bot competition will settle down some price-wise... But I can only imagine will continue to increase in volume.

Really great POV you shared there @Michael M .. We all assumed all this action was fully deliberate .. but you're right .. quite possibly the Huge Domains bot was caught offguard and cost them a pretty penny the last few days .. lol. Perfect storm of higher than average volume and quality of domains expiring combined with a new (or revamped) bot to compete against. I suppose it really depends on how much human intervention is going on with their bot. I personally assumed there is a human enhanced bot .. (Cyborg .. lol) .. but maybe it's a little simpler and exactly what you said. In the end I doubt we'll ever truly know .. would need more data points I'm guessing .. but kinda hard since there's not much public info/data available after auctions end.

 

[wwwweb]

On my end I am tracking far fewer names today (the last few days I was tracking a vastly higher than average number of domains .. was a good 3-4 days in terms of names at auction) .. so that likely played into it as well ... on my end things are much calmer today .. but that could just be a result of the specific names I'm tracking .. curious if it's the same for any of you?




1) That is my biggest question and concern as someone who actually spends a lot of time and energy going through the names myself.

2) To be fair .. there are plenty of reasons both for and against showing names/ID. Separate debate so I won't get into it here. I'd actually be in between .. not necessarily showing during auction .. but showing publicly after for transparency's sake.



Really great POV you shared there @Michael M .. We all assumed all this action was fully deliberate .. but you're right .. quite possibly the Huge Domains bot was caught offguard and cost them a pretty penny the last few days .. lol. Perfect storm of higher than average volume and quality of domains expiring combined with a new (or revamped) bot to compete against. I suppose it really depends on how much human intervention is going on with their bot. I personally assumed there is a human enhanced bot .. (Cyborg .. lol) .. but maybe it's a little simpler and exactly what you said. In the end I doubt we'll ever truly know .. would need more data points I'm guessing .. but kinda hard since there's not much public info/data available after auctions end.

Maybe the bot has a daily spend allocated as a protection mechanism, if they used their entire budget yesterday, today it could be wound down, I am sure it is some amazing customization given they have been building it for the past 2 years.

As for calmer today, I saw in your post yesterday you went with .org's, could be extension specific, as outside of .com you are going to have less bidders.

 

[Ategy]

I think it was more than that .. for at least the last 2 days for me there was a significant increase in volume of names I was tracking .. some good names as well. Certainly a higher number of solid names Sunday there was a larger than average number of really good unique names. Then yesterday seemed to be a coffee anniversary .. at least 2 large batches of good coffee names (both aged .. but different years) went through the system.

Theoretically these are all names someone (or some company) registered during x-mas break during early 2000's ... sometimes names do come in waves .. and sometimes you can find a weird but logical explanation for it!? lol

If the bot did have a daily spend then it would have triggered their red flag on Sunday during the day .. then again Monday (have to go back .. think Fri and Sat could have been big days as well .. not sure though).

 

[Arca]

Every single domain I've followed so far today have gotten a $10 bid at about 5:50, and at least in the past, large scale usage of $10 bids returned HugeDomains in the WHOIS after the auction completed. I also tracked some very low quality domains with valuations above $1500 by GD and they all got $10 bids towards the end. Haven't seen anything decent close without bids and go to closeouts.

Also, that $10 bidder, presumably still HugeDomains, seem to have changed their strategy to bid in $10 increments today rather than use high proxy bids. So if you bid $50, they place a $10 proxy bid, outbid you leaving current bid at $55, and when you place another bid at $60 they by default outbid you at $60 (i.e. you both have a $60 bid, leading to their earlier bid to "win" with both bidders at $60). So basically they will by default outbid you at the same amount as you bid on every other counter-bid if you make the normal $5 bid increments. Went back and forth with them up to $XXX on several domains in this way already today...