There's an update to this story at the end of the article
If you go to Network Solutions (I can't even bring myself to provide a link to their site anymore) and look up the availability of a domain, and if it's available, they will register it! This is unbelievable and incredibly unethical. I first read about it on Bill Hartzer's blog (via Marketing Pilgrim) and had to find out for myself. So I went to Network Solution's website and looked up networksolutionscanbiteme.com. As you can see below, the domain name was available.
Then, within seconds of submitting that request, they had already registered it. How do I know that? All I had to do was go to the domain I had just queried and this is what I got.
I smell a class action lawsuit coming on. My advice to you, stay very far away from Network Solutions. Chris Dohman has more details about it on this Sphinn comment.
My biggest problem with this practice has to do with imposing this so-called customer protection service on users that aren't customers yet. For example, what if I stumbled upon Network Solutions and wanted to look up the availability of a domain name. Then, after finding a domain name I liked, I saw their fees and wanted to look elsewhere for registering my domain. Well, I couldn't (for the time being) and I would be held hostage by Network Solutions. I don't like the service for other reasons too, but that's my main beef. Fortunately, there's already some concessions that are being made. Shashi Bellamkonda who works with Network Solutions has posted the following changes that they plan to make within the next week or two.
- We have changed the current webpage to which reserved domain names resolve to a general under construction page. Additionally, all new reserved names after tonight will not resolve to any page at all.
- This week, we will be making enhancements that will address the concerns related to disclosure of zone file and DNS server information of the reserved names. This should address some of the concerns recently raised.
- Very soon we will remove our customer protection measure from our WHOIS search page, so that no domains searched on this page will be reserved. We will continue to reserve, however, domains searched from our homepage.
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I first heard about Moniker.com at a PubCon conference several years ago. Although I've never used them — for a variety of reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of their service — they've been a high profile sponsor of PubCon events and have steadily become one of the top three fastest growing ICANN-accredited registrars.
Most recently, they held a domain name auction at the PubCon conference in Las Vegas that raked in $326,650. The highlights of the auction were:
- SoccerTV.com for $80,000
- Grandpa.com for $55,000
- FamilyServices.com for $45,000
- BlindDating.com for $14,000
TechCrunch reported that moniker.com has become a leader in the continually growing second domain names market. Moniker.com's industry reputation, growing services and niche approach to the industry is probably what made them a desirable acquisition for Oversee.net
The Oversee.net $65 million acquisition of moniker.com came just six months after their acquisition of SnapNames. Oversee.net already has plans to quickly utilized both companies in a complimentary fashion. Their first duo use of the moniker.com and SnapNames services will at DOMAINFest Global later this month. They plan to use moniker.com for valuation and escrow services, in conjunction with their SnapNames Live domain name auction.
Oversee.net's public plans for moniker.com include more integrated services, such as:
- Deepening Moniker's continuing commitment to its auction partners through the use of the SnapNames Live technology in Moniker-managed auctions
- The addition of DomainSponsor as an available option in Moniker's TrafficClub monetization service
- Availability of Moniker's registrar services for SnapNames and DomainSponsor customers
- Inclusion of traffic and monetization history as data for domain name auctions
- A complete set of Domain Asset Management services that offer domain owners all the tools necessary to profitably manage their domains
Commenting on the transaction, Moniker CEO Cahn said:
"Oversee's advanced technology platform and strong financial resources give us the capability to focus on further expanding our market opportunity. This is a dynamic industry, and our collaboration with SnapNames puts Oversee well ahead of any competitor. This is a tremendous opportunity for Oversee and Moniker."
Ultimately, it will be interesting to see how Oversee.net grows this domain registrar acquisition, and if we can ever expect to see them compete more in the consumer and small business market with the likes of GoDaddy.
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