Domaining Guide

Domain tasting

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Domain tasting, also known as domain kiting, is a practice of registrants using the five-day "grace period" at the beginning of a domain registration for ICANN-regulated generic top-level domains to test the marketability of a domain name. During this period, when a registration must be fully refunded by the domain registry, a cost-benefit analysis is conducted by the registrant on the viability of deriving income from advertisements being placed on the domain's web site.

Domains that are deemed "successes" and retained in registrant's portfolio often represent domains that were previously used and have since expired, misspellings of other popular sites, or generic terms that may receive type-in traffic. These domains are usually still active in search engines and other hyperlinks and therefore derive enough traffic such that advertising revenue exceed the cost of the registration. The registrant may also derive revenue from eventual sale of the domain, at a premium, to a third party.

Controversy

The practice is controversial as practitioners typically register many hundreds of thousands of domain names under this practice, with these temporary registrations far exceeding the number of domain names actually licensed.

In April 2006, out of 35 million registrations, only a little more than 2 million were permanent or actually purchased. By February 2007, the CEO of GoDaddy reported that of 55.1 million domain names registered, 51.5 million were canceled and refunded just before the 5 day grace period expired and only 3.6 million domain names were actually kept. [1]

Some claim domain name registries such as VeriSign and the Public Interest Registry have turned a blind eye to the practice as it has dramatically increased the number of registrations secured and renewed. However, this claim is inconsistent with proposals by registries to introduce measures that would reduce or eliminate the practice.^[1]

References

External links

• Domain Name Marketplace Workshop - Global policy forum held to discuss domain tasting issues
• Domain tasting - ICANN Wiki on domain tasting, March 2006
• The Closing Window: A Historical Analysis of Domain Tasting - CircledID featured article on domain tasting
• Entrepreneurs profit from internet domain loophole - CBC.ca article on domain tasting

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Domain name registrar
Domain name drop list
Domain tasting
Reverse domain hijacking
Domain name warehousing

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