Namecheap employees hustlin side job?

[PurpleSublime]

I had an inkling that domain registrars might be tracking searched domain names for availability, but I never imagined it was actually a common practice. A few months ago, I spent hours searching for the perfect domain name on Namecheap and found five potential options, three of which were really great and one that was exceptionally suitable for my niche. However, I procrastinated on registering them and got sidetracked with other tasks. Two weeks later, I checked the availability of all five domains again on Namecheap, only to find out that three of them had already been registered on GoDaddy, which frustrated me to the point of abandoning the entire niche. Lesson learned: if you find an available domain, register it right away to avoid losing it to competitors who might be tracking it too.

 

[Ringer]

Both Namecheap and GoDaddy have been tracking searched domain names for years, and it can be a frustrating experience. To avoid this, I now search for domain names on Namesilo.

 

[Ratnt]

Years ago, I experienced a similar situation with Easyspace, which I found to be really unfair. As a result, I would never use their services again.

 

[Prierty]

That's happened to me too! I was searching for a great expired domain name online and finally found one that was available for purchase on GoDaddy. But when I checked back a few weeks later, it was already listed as a premium domain name for sale, priced at over a thousand USD.

 

[PersonInterest]

I discovered this practice years ago, but unfortunately, I still made the same mistake recently. I searched for some domains that I planned to use in the future, only to find out a week later that the best ones had already been registered.

 

[KinSilver]

This practice is not the work of a single or a few employees, but rather an institutionalized form of theft at the site level that has been happening for as long as I can remember. In some cases, you don't even have to wait a week or just a few days - a domain that was available one moment could be gone the next, without any explanation.

 

[KlugTeen]

I find it hard to believe that Godaddy would register domains based on availability checks alone, given the sheer number of checks that are conducted every day. With millions of checks being made, how could they possibly single out one domain among the thousands that are searched? It's a valid question to consider.

 

[Leinet]

I find it hard to believe that Godaddy would register domains based on availability checks alone, given the sheer number of checks that are conducted every day. With millions of checks being made, how could they possibly single out one domain among the thousands that are searched? It's a valid question to consider.

someone with common sense, at last.

 

[LocalSk8r]

I'm not surprised by this practice - after all, it's all about business at the end of the day. It's possible that companies like Godaddy have their own software that runs continuously and tracks what people are searching for, registering the most searched domains within a certain timeframe. While it may not be 100,000 domains per day, it could be anywhere from 100 to 1,000 domains, perhaps even more..

 

[Olympitt]

I find it hard to believe that Godaddy would register domains based on availability checks alone, given the sheer number of checks that are conducted every day. With millions of checks being made, how could they possibly single out one domain among the thousands that are searched? It's a valid question to consider.

I would assume that implementing a rule for one or two-word domains, domains with less than X characters, and the frequency of domain searches could be a simple way to filter for "valuable" domains. Although I imagine that the domain industry is more complex than this, given that Godaddy earned 2.9 billion in revenue last year, and as a registrar, pays less than $1 (I believe $0.20) per domain, this possibility is not entirely implausible.

I personally have not experienced this, but two of my friends who wanted to enter internet marketing had a domain they searched for on Godaddy taken a week later. When I checked back on those domains, I found that no website was ever built on them, but they were always up for bid. It's possible that this was just a coincidence, but it's enough for me to register domains as soon as I find one that I like.

 

[Number1Bad]

I find it hard to believe that Godaddy would register domains based on availability checks alone, given the sheer number of checks that are conducted every day. With millions of checks being made, how could they possibly single out one domain among the thousands that are searched? It's a valid question to consider.

It's possible that all it takes is a script embedded in their site.

 

[Nicend]

I think its more like you have paranoia and not namecheap or godaddy

 

[IzSound]

I find it hard to believe that Godaddy would register domains based on availability checks alone, given the sheer number of checks that are conducted every day. With millions of checks being made, how could they possibly single out one domain among the thousands that are searched? It's a valid question to consider.

I disagree because I have personally saw this happening on Godaddy's website.

 

[Heallyon]

This practice is not the work of a single or a few employees, but rather an institutionalized form of theft at the site level that has been happening for as long as I can remember. In some cases, you don't even have to wait a week or just a few days - a domain that was available one moment could be gone the next, without any explanation.

The same thing happened to me when I found a short and desirable domain on Namecheap. The website indicated that the domain was available, so I attempted to search for a different variation of the name. However, when I returned to register the original domain, it had already been taken. While I can't recall the specific name, I do remember it was short and I was quite surprised to see it available. It's possible that this was a technical error, but considering similar threads that I've come across on Reddit and other platforms, you never really know.

 

[HeadChari]

One might argue that this practice should be illegal since it's similar to insider trading in the stock market. It could be viewed as unethical for companies like Godaddy to spy on their customers and inflate prices for domain names by suggesting that they are no longer available unless the searcher bids on them. However, it's ultimately up to lawmakers and regulatory bodies to determine if this practice should be penalized and what kind of penalties would be appropriate.

 

[Hammerg]

One might argue that this practice should be illegal since it's similar to insider trading in the stock market. It could be viewed as unethical for companies like Godaddy to spy on their customers and inflate prices for domain names by suggesting that they are no longer available unless the searcher bids on them. However, it's ultimately up to lawmakers and regulatory bodies to determine if this practice should be penalized and what kind of penalties would be appropriate.

It's possible to argue that while this practice may not be ethical, it may not necessarily be illegal. In a way, it's comparable to buying tickets for a Justin Bieber concert at a low price and then reselling them at a higher price in the aftermarket. If we were in a similar position, we may be inclined to do the same thing.

 

[GeniusArticle]

If true, that is extremely ugly.

 

[FrogPat]

I have a habit of removing domain names from my cart whenever I search for them but don't immediately purchase them. I only keep them in my cart when I'm ready to make the purchase.

 

[Endurgy]

Both Namecheap and GoDaddy have been tracking searched domain names for years, and it can be a frustrating experience. To avoid this, I now search for domain names on Namesilo.

Yes I also heard same thing, especially for Godaddy, but one Namecheap staff claim they don't do this, I quoted his as below:

I cannot speak to GoDaddy's practices. However, I can say that for Namecheap, this is not something we would ever even consider doing. In my experience though, lookups are more complex than most think. We are querying so many different sources to give you availability status, some of which are less reliable than others. For example, with smaller TLDs like .ai or .is, lookups may be less reliable than a well-oiled machine like Verisign, which operates the .com and .net TLDs, among others. As a result, sometimes with a less reliable registry, there can be false positives, resulting in the registrar showing a domain as "available" when it is actually registered. In addition to registry connection reliability, there are also many different aftermarket sources that registrars often pull from. You know when you see a Premium domain (registered and usually higher priced) in search? That could be coming from any number of 3rd party aftermarket platforms, which also can have varying reliability and/or stale listings. Lastly, you have to consider that some registrars handle the "drop window" differently than others. If a domain deletes and is removed from the zone, ergo, becoming available again, some registrars have a buffer period before they show it as available again.

I trust namecheap, but what about sh*tdaddy? Never ever, never ever...

 

[EditorProphecy]

Namecheap employees are actually working lizards. Not humans" and "Bill Gates invented COVID to make more cash" are not true and are simply conspiracy theories without any factual basis.

Same happend for me but I think its just some sort of bug or something..