Domain Name Goldrush Part 1 - The Rules of Play

Welcome to Lee Hodgson’s epic, The Domain Name Goldrush.

This series spans years and tracks the evolution of the dropping names industry.

This, Part 1, explains the concept of the 6.30AM Domain Name Goldrush – how it came about, and what it means to industry players, both big and small.

In Part 2, Lee not only answers common questions about the domain drop, but also reveals some closely-guarded industry secrets in his explanation of how you can grab the best names.

Part 3 sees Lee reveal the David and Goliath battle for names, as large players in the industry caught onto the boom and did deals with registrars to allow them a greater chance of catching the dropping names. Suddenly, things weren’t so rosy for Average Joe Webmaster.

In Part 4 of the series, as things heated up, the registrars dropped a bombshell, putting the expiring domains industry on hold. There was speculation, there was uncertainty – the industry was in limbo.

Part 5 saw Lee give SitePoint the scoop on the biggest domain drop in history, including tips for catching the best names from the drop.

Part 6 of the series revealed the next step in the continually evolving industry – the introduction of subscriptions to dropping names.

Part 7 announces ICANN's approval of the long-awaited Waiting List Service. Lee explains what this means for the industry moguls -- and the little guys!

Enjoy -- and keep and eye out for future updates!

The 6.30AM Domain Name Goldrush

If you've tried to register a dot com domain name between 6.30 and 7.00 am (EST) recently, chances are you won't have been able to. What's going on? Is it because domain registration companies are too lazy to boot up the registration systems in the morning? No, it's something a lot more interesting. What's happening is that the world's domain speculators are playing a daily game, a game with big stakes; they are attempting to 'catch' dropping domains.

Dropping Names

So just what are 'dropping domains', and how do you go about 'catching' one? To understand fully, we first need to understand how the registration system for global domains (dot com, dot net, dot org) works:

1. A domain name is registered for a fixed period of time.

2. If the time period elapses and the original registrant has not paid to renew the registration, the name is put 'on-hold'. The original registrant is then given up to 60 days to pay for the name's renewal.

3. If this grace period expires without payment from the registrant, they lose the right to renew the name. Instead, the name is placed on a six-day countdown, and is given the status of 'soon to drop'.

4. At precisely 6.30 AM (EST) or up to 15 minutes thereafter on the 6th day after the name becomes 'soon to drop', the name is made available for anyone to register again i.e. it is dropped.

Here is an example from 'WHOIS' of a 'soon to drop' name, Sinners.com:

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