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Domain name tasting is the practice of registering domains temporarily to see whether their traffic can earn enough—often through pay-per-click ads—to justify keeping them. The registrant keeps names that appear profitable and deletes the rest during the applicable Add Grace Period (AGP), when registry rules may allow a credit or refund.
What does domain name tasting mean?
Domain tasting is not simply registering a domain and later cancelling it. The term refers to using a registration’s short reversal window to test the name’s earning potential, typically by directing visitors to advertising and measuring the resulting revenue. ICANN described this practice in its 2008 explanation of the AGP and the policy intended to limit it: ICANN’s AGP Limits Policy.
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How did domain tasting work?
- A registrant registered a batch of candidate domain names.
- Traffic reaching those names was sent to pages carrying relevant pay-per-click advertisements.
- The registrant assessed whether the advertising income appeared likely to exceed the cost of keeping each registration.
- Names judged worthwhile were retained; the others were deleted within the applicable grace period, where the registry terms allowed a credit or refund.
The distinctive feature was testing many names while limiting the cost of unsuccessful registrations. A domain deleted during a grace period for a typo or another genuine registration error is not, by that fact alone, an instance of tasting.
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The Add Grace Period is a period after a domain is initially registered during which a deletion may qualify for a registry credit to the registrar. Its purposes include giving registrants and registrars a way to correct typos and other registration errors, and to address certain fraudulent registrations. Because the same reversal mechanism could be used to test names at scale, systematic registration, monetization, and deletion became controversial.
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Terms depend on the registry agreement for the domain extension. In the .com agreement cited here, the AGP is five calendar days. A .com domain deleted within that period is removed from the registry and immediately becomes available for registration by another registrar. Those details are specific to the cited .com agreement; they should not be assumed to apply to every extension. See the .com registry agreement, Appendix 7. ICANN notes that an AGP exists in some, but not all, gTLD registry agreements.
What limits did ICANN put in place?
ICANN’s AGP Limits Policy, dated 2008, limits the refunds available to a registrar when its monthly AGP deletions exceed the greater of 10% of its net new registrations or 50 domain names. This is a limit on refundable deletes above the threshold, not a universal ban on deleting domains during an AGP and not the removal of all grace periods.
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The policy allows an operator to grant an exemption following a documented showing of extraordinary circumstances. The circumstances must have been outside the registrar’s control and not reasonably knowable when the deletions occurred. The threshold is a policy rule, not a measure of how many domains are tasted in the market.
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The cited policy and .com agreement establish the mechanism and the refund limits, but they do not establish that every extension currently has identical terms or implementation. To assess a particular extension, check its current registry agreement for the AGP length, whether a deletion can receive a credit, any limits or fees for unusually high deletion volumes, and the process for exceptions. The .com five-calendar-day term is an example, not a portfolio-wide rule.
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