Domain name sniping

A domain name isn't for life, you just rent it, probably for a year a two. And there's a posse of entrepreneurs waiting to scoop up your name if you fail to renew your name in time.

Domain name sniping is the practice of pouncing the instant a domain name registration lapses, buying the domain name up for one reason or another.

The purpose of this posting is not to educate snipers, but to help business owners understand the risks sniping raises for your business.

A legitimate reason to snipe is that you want a new domain name for your new business, or for your blog, or you want a keyword rich name for a site you're creating.

A less salubrious reason to snipe is to monetise the domain name, which means that ugly practice of automatically filling a web page with keyword advertising. (nb: I refuse to link to any of those services.) Another alternative is to speculate on reselling the name at a profit, perhaps with a view to selling back to the unwitting previous owner, of course at a highly inflated price.

Typically there are 40,000 or more domain names expiring every day, and we're talking big business.

How do snipers work? There are a number of websites which will provide you with a list of domain names due to expire, and enable you to place a back order for the names you want. The moment the name expires, the service automatically places the order, and just seconds later Bob's your uncle, you've got a domain name.

There are mixed reviews of the websites offering a sniping service, such as Pool and SnapNames. It appears sometimes these services work successfully, sometimes they don't.

To snipe a domain name costs about US$60. If more than one person is sniping for a name, then a 3 day auction ensues, with high bidder winning.

Once a domain name has been purchased, it can't be resold for 60 days.

So be warned: don't let your domain name expire, or it may get snapped up by a sniper!