Domain tasting

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Domain tasting is a practice of registrants using the five-day "grace period" at the beginning of a domain registration for ICANN-regulated generic top-level domains to test the marketability of a domain name. During this period, when a registration can be fully refunded by the domain registry, a cost-benefit analysis is conducted by the registrant on the viability of deriving income from advertisements being placed on the domain's web site.

Domains that are deemed "successes" and retained in registrant's portfolio often represent domains that were previously used and have since expired, misspellings of other popular sites, or generic terms that may receive type-in traffic. These domains are usually still active in search engines and other hyperlinks and therefore derive enough traffic such that advertising revenue exceed the cost of the registration. The registrant may also derive revenue from eventual sale of the domain, at a premium, to a third party.

1 Controversy
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Controversy

The practice is controversial as practitioners typically register many hundreds of thousands of domain names under this practice, with these temporary registrations far exceeding the number of domain names actually licensed. In April 2006, out of 35 million registrations, only a little more than 2 million were permanent or actually purchased.

Some claim domain name registries such as VeriSign and the Public Interest Registry have turned a blind eye to the practice as it has dramatically increased the number of registrations secured and renewed. However, this claim is inconsistent with proposals by registries to introduce measures that would reduce or eliminate the practice.^[1]