Domain name tasting left a bitter flavor in Google’s mouth, and it vows to take serious action against offenders…
“Domain tasting – also known as domain kiting – an underhanded exploitation of a loophole in domain name registration rules that allows unscrupulous SEO ad jockeys to grab a domain name and make money off of it without paying for it…”
Google Inc. said Friday that it will place a detection system on one of its advertising programs in an effort to make it less lucrative to tie up millions of Internet addresses using a loophole and keep those domain names from legitimate individuals and businesses.
“In January 2007, the top ten registrars engaged in domain tasting accounted for 95% of all deleted .com and .net domain names, according to VeriSign.”
Over the next few weeks, Google intends to introduce a system to detect a form of domain registration abuse known as “domain kiting,” and start looking for domain names that are repeatedly registered and dropped within a five-day grace period for full refunds.
Registrants of Internet domains generally have a five-day grace period that exists when registering domain names with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the group that oversees the registry of domain names and the time payment for the domain is due.
Google’s AdSense program would exclude those names so no one can generate advertising revenue from claiming them temporarily, a practice known as “domain name tasting” — the online equivalent of buying expensive clothes on a charge card only to return them for a full refund after wearing them to a party.
“In so doing, the company stands to lose millions in advertising revenue, though it may gain far more in user trust and goodwill.”
This practice has grown in to many folds as they both make advertiser revenue, and examine interest in the domains. The process has become largely automated, and millions of domain names lie in the hands of a small group of entrepreneurs at any given time.
Critics complain that the grace period, once used to safeguard legitimate users from mistakes such as domain name misspellings, is now put to use for gross abuse of the online system. However, with automation and a burgeoning online advertising market, entrepreneurs have generated big bucks exploiting the policy to test hoards domain of names, keeping just the ones that turn out to generate the most revenue.
“Many claim that this abusive practice eats up all the good domain names, so honest users are left with few options.”
“We believe that this policy will have a positive impact for users and domain purchasers across the Web,” Google spokesman Brandon McCormick said.
“Warnings of the new policy were sent out to AdSense customers via e-mail last Thursday.”
Google’s ban on tasted addresses should make domain name tasting far less lucrative, said Jay Westerdal, who earlier wrote about Google’s change on his DomainTools blog. Google’s chief rival, Yahoo, already tries to ban tasted addresses that infringe on trademarks and account for much of the problem, he noted.
“We have long discouraged domain kiting as a practice,” Google said in an e-mailed statement. “In order to more effectively deter it, we are launching a new domain kiting detection system. If we determine that a domain is being kited, we will not allow Google ads to appear on the site.
In June, the (ICANN) issued a report on the possible consequences of domain tasting, including the destabilization of the domain name system, greater consumer confusion, increased costs and burdens on legitimate registrants, and the facilitation of trademark abuse and criminal activity.
Two months later, ICANN solicited feedback from the Internet community about domain tasting, an inquiry that hinted at possible willingness to curb abuses.
“If Google and Yahoo are not monetizing these types of sites, I think domain tasting as we know it will come to a screeching halt,” Westerdal said. “The alternative advertising is just not as effective.”
In October, Yahoo sued several domain name registration companies over tasting, accusing them of targeting trademarks owned by Yahoo and other leading brands. The lawsuit is pending in US District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Dell Inc. and BMW have filed similar federal lawsuits in Florida.
Google is famous for their accurate algorithms and this is expected to be no exception. When the new detection system finds evidence that a site is a domain taster site, Google will now pull the AdSense for Domains ads from it. Once the source of revenue is gone for the scammers, the site should start to dry up, in theory.
Google has had to contend with the problems ICANN foresaw. Having stepped up its involvement over the past two years in keeping its index free of spam sites, malware sites, and trademark exploiters of various sorts, Google appears to have finally come to the conclusion that the revenue generated by catering to domain profiteers is not worth the cost.
The operators in control of the “.org” suffix have already changed its rules so that companies are charged for multiple returns. This has led to a sharp decrease in returns. In only a month the number of deletions went from 2.4 million in May of last year to 152,000 in June, once the policy was enacted.
“As of Feb. 11, Google plans to begin blocking AdSense for Domains ads from appearing on kited domains. The company did not provide further details about how its kiting detection system will work.”
These new rules along with the extension of the Internet tax ban in U.S. should help to make the Internet more free and accessible to the legitimate users and businesses.
Google and ICANN both hope that better control of domain kiting and domain tasting will help stabilize the domain naming system. Currently the system is under duress from the stress of domain kiting and other money making schemes, and has been battling a loss of consumer trust and reliability.
“In related news, ICANN has begun a push to be freed from its tied to the government, a move which may add another layer of strength to the fight against internet scammers.”