Is it the End of Domain Tasting?

Google has said that it would start work to help make domain tasting advertising workarounds far less lucrative. Resulting in more domain names being available on the market for legitimate buyers.

Domain tasting is an exploit of the domain name registration process. When you register a domain name, you are entitled to 5 days of grace to change the name, thus allowing for omissions like typing errors etc.

However what some have done, is to use this grace period to register hundreds, if not thousands of domain names, and then over the 5 days grace assess which domain names are more suitable for their business, i.e. which ones generate the most revenue.

This process literally holds up millions of domain names at any time, making it far harder for genuine buyers to purchase their desired domain.

To start combating this exploit, Google will start creating a list of the domain names that are registered and dropped within five days. As many domain tasters reuse the domains over and over, Google, using this list combined with their AdSense program, will be able to exclude the domains so that advertising revenue cannot be generated from them within the five days.

"We believe that this policy will have a positive impact for users and domain purchasers across the Web," Google spokesman Brandon McCormick said.

Yahoo has already been working on limiting the effects that domain tasting has on the industry and has already taken legal action against several domain name registration companies.