Each day approximately twenty thousand domain names expire as a result of the current owner failing to pay the registration fees. A new product is availble to the expiring domain industry that allows the "average Joe" an opportunity to catch expiring domain names using their desktop computer.
Each day approximately twenty thousand domain names expire as a result of the current owner failing to pay the registration fees. Most of these domain names are quickly registered the minute they expire. Sitting behind computers are a countless number of “domain speculators” who anxiously wait for the domain names to drop. Most have completed their homework and have studied the past history on the domain names they are seeking. In a hope to cash in on the pre-existing web traffic, thousands of “domainers” are monitoring the same names. Each day at 2:00pm Eastern time, there is a mad rush to register expiring domain names as they become available once again to the public.
Many of these speculators rely on a backorder service such as Pool.com or Snapnames.com to help them acquire the domain names they are after. These names are acquired by the registrars and auctioned off to the highest bidder. The industry has commented that this practice is unfair, as the individual with the “deepest pockets” will win the domain name.
In an attempt to level the playing field, a new product was introduced to the industry several years ago. A company called Dnware.com markets a domain name grabbing program that allows anyone with a computer the opportunity to share in the domain name drop business. The program resides on the users computer and sends repeated requests to several registrars each second. The minute the domain names becomes available to the public, they are immediately registered using the software. Dnware.com has partnered with the registrar Moniker.com and eNom.com to offer this service. When asked how their product competes with a backorder service the developer Dan Rubin stated the following:
“We recognize there are thousands of members in the domain community competing for the same domain names. Often times our software does prevail over the back ordering companies, as they are monitoring large portfolios for their clients. If one average domain name is acquired using our software, the small purchase price is quickly justified. The more resources a domainer has working for them, the better their odds of obtaining the desired domain name. We wanted to give the “average Joe or Jane” a chance to take part in this exciting industry.”
