Imagine you're the owner of a successful Web site, but when you logon
one day all you get is an error message. Or worse yet, the domain name
now points to a site full of advertisements. That's right. You're out
of business.
This happens every day because of a perfectly legitimate process known
as "drop catching," where people quickly snag the domain names owners
have let expire and try to resell them or use the links associated
with the names, which could be extensive, to create Web sites loaded
with advertisements. You can easily avoid becoming a victim of a drop
catcher by better understanding how the domain registration system
works to protect your domain name.
Your Web site, with all the content you have so painstakingly added,
sits on a computer with a unique address called an IP address, which
is simply a series of numbers. A domain name is an address forwarding
service that directs visitors to the site using this IP address.
Domain names are used instead of numbers because most people find it
easier to remember a name rather than a bunch of numbers. It's as if
you could dial your friend's name into the telephone instead of his
phone number.
You can purchase a domain name by registering it with a provider of
domain services such as GoDaddy.com , the largest on the Web, or any
number of other registrars. The name can be registered for just one
year, for about $10, or for as long as ten years, for around $80. Many
register for only one year because it's cheaper, or they only want the
site for a limited time.
At the end of the year, the registrar usually sends an email renewal
notice to the owner. If the owner doesn't respond to the renewal
notice, the domain name will eventually be made available for purchase
by someone else. Roughly 20,000 domain names become available every
day because the owners allowed them to expire, or the owners didn't
realize that their domain name was up for renewal
According to the rules established by the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers(ICANN), domain registrars have 45 days
after the expiration date to notify the owner that their domain name
is going to be dropped from the registry. If the name is dropped, the
guidelines then call for a 30-day grace period during which the owner
can still claim the name. After this grace period and then another
five-day holding period, the name is dropped from the registry and
anyone can claim it.
Since 2004, however, a number of domain service providers, starting
with SnapName.com, have created an auction process for expired names
which bypasses the original drop process and makes the names available
in as little as thirty days. GoDaddy.com begins the auction process
even before the names have officially expired, although it does warn
the auction participants that the owner could still claim their name.
These providers of domain services each have tools on their sites to
make it easier to grab expired names. They provide constantly updated
lists of expired names, various auction services, search engines, and
other free tools for anyone to quickly and easily find available
domain names. Some sites also offer software for sale that further
simplifies the search for expired and soon to be expired names.
With the surge in online advertising, drop catchers will continue to
seek out domain names from sites with good traffic, anxious to exploit
the established links. Protect your site and your business by checking
the expiration date of your domain name. Relying on the registrar to
send a renewal notice that could easily be sent to an old email
address or get lost in the spam catcher, could cost you years of hard
work.
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