I know domains name are big business, even having the right typo domain can make you big money, but the practice of sniffing what people are searching, and jumping in and registering it before they can is just down right wrong!

This happened to me 3 times now (luckily I've managed to the domains name each time, but that's not the point).

It has been happening for a while, but for those of you that don't know, here's the nitty gritty.

My Every 5 Weeks project has expanded my domain portfolio somewhat, but trying to decide on a name for the latest site involves checking what is available, before picking the winner.

I'll often grab the thesaurus, and try some alternative words, as the popular one are usually taken. I'll make a list of the domains that sound good, then give it a day or two to see if one jumps out at me, or just begins to feel right.

It seems though, that someone is watching what I (and I assume others) are searching for, and if you don't jump in and register the domain right away before you know it the domain is registered by someone else. You might think it was just a coincidence, after all there are many many people registering domains everyday, they might just have been searching for the same domain as you. The first time this happened that was exactly what I thought, and give myself a big kick on the backside for letting a great domain get away.

Imagine my surprise 5 days later, when the domain that had seemingly slipped thru my fingers was mysteriously available once again! You see there is a little loop hole in the domain registration process that is being exploited more and more each day. It's called "Domain Tasting". Buyers are allowed a five day trial of their domain, intended to allow mistaken purchases to be returned, but is being used by the smart or unscrupulous (I'll let you decide) to test the value of a domain. Basically they automate the process of registering domains (made up of random, and apparently not so random words), put up an ad filled site, and check the traffic and any advertising revenue. If they deem the domain worthwhile they keep it, and if not they cancel the purchase and owe nothing. To make matters worse there is nothing in the system that stops them doing this repeatedly with the same domains.

I put it down to coincidence though, that one of the domains that I was looking at was tasted just as I was looking to buy it, but it happened, again and again.

I guess the moral of the story here, is watch where you check the availability of domain names. I'm not going to name names, as I don't know for sure they are to blame, but I've written my own app to helping my domain registration process, cutting out the middle man and possible sniffing.

I wonder if coming upon a site registered in the past 5 days (there must be browser plug in that can tell me that) with no real website, if it's worth reloading the page a few times, just to give the impression that the site might be worth more than it actually is. Wasting a little money might get these scammers out of the system.