Domain tasting

What is domain tasting?

Domain tasting is the practice of registering domains for up to five days to "taste" them or to see how they perform before deciding whether to commit to a year of registration for the domains. The practice of domain tasting is typically for one of these reasons:

• If the domain is to sell pay-per-click (PPC) ads, to see how many clicks ads on a page for that domain get (often previously registered domains)
• If the domain is a variant of another domain, to find out which variants get the most traffic
• If the domain was searched for recently, to be able to charge a higher registration fee from the person who was searching for that domain

History of domain tasting

During a period from 2001 to 2002 and again from 2004 to 2008, it was possible for domain name registrars and serious domain registrants to register large numbers of domains at once, keep only the ones they wanted, and then delete the remaining domains within five days without any cost to them for the deleted domains. This practice enabled domain registrants and registrars to choose only domains that would bring them revenue without having to pay to test the domains. As domain tasting became more common, up to 99 percent of new registrations were in the domain tasting category, registered on speculation.

For everyone else, however, it meant that up to hundreds of thousands of domains were unavailable at any given time, including domains that they might want to register. The whois records for domains during this period were unclear enough for the average person not to be able to determine whether the domain might be available within a few days. If anyone made an offer on a domain during the domain tasting period, the temporary registrant would probably ask for much more than the standard registration fee. And if registrants accidentally allowed a good domain to expire, chances are that they'd have to deal with domain tasters to get it back.

In June 2008, ICANN changed their policy. An explanation from the ICANN site [1]:

While domain tasting still takes place, the rate of AGP deletes (domains deleted during the five-day Add Grace Period) declined by 99.7 percent between April 2008 and August 2009. [2]

How not to lose a domain to domain tasters

Despite the above changes, some people still say that a domain they searched for more than once was registered shortly after they searched for it. While this happening may be coincidence, these steps can help prevent domain tasting:

• If you know you want the domain when you find an available one that you like, register it right away.
• If you aren't sure when you find a domain if you want to register it, go to a different site if you check later to see if it's still available.
• If you discuss a domain with other people before registering it, ask them not to search for the domain while they're considering it.

See also

• Domain names
• Domain name registrar
• Backordering domains
• Domain name appraisals
• The dos and don'ts of domain registration