Registering the B166er.com domain

The domain b166er.com was registered on April 27, 2004 through Dotster . Not that I had any special plans for it , just seemed like a nice idea to own a domain name(d ) after the one robot that just didn’t want to die, the robot that has initiated the chain reaction that brought the human race to it’s knees in the Matrix series.

Loosing the B166er.com domain

A year has passed, I haven’t done anything with the domain, but I was in a rather complex situation personally and financially, and simply forgot to renew the domain, effectively losing it to one of those domain-hoarding companies that monetize such names by putting ads and directories on the expired domain’s pages. It’s a rather big industry , fitting somewhere between typosquatting and domain parking. It my eyes, it’s a sort of legitimate Cybersquatting, they get to use the domain name after it expires, and sometimes get to cash in when someone wants to either purchase or the original owner wants to get it back from them.

Getting It Back

Time has passed, and I decided I want my domain name back. I checked the WhoIs records , and to my very pleasant surprise, the domain record was pending deletition(PendingDelete) and there was nothing on its homepage.
I wanted to make sure I get the domain as soon as it becomes available. Having no idea how to do this, I turned to what seemed like professionals, GoDaddy Inc, and place the following order:

Sounds cool, doesn’t it? DomainAlert Promonitoring, and costs a whooping 19$, more than a two-year domain registration. Not a high price to pay to get my domain back at all, and I don’t even have to waste my time on emails or negotiations, pay and forget kind of service . Too bad it didn’t work.

“This notification is generated automatically as a service to you because you subscribe to DomainAlert®.
We’re sorry, but the following domain name(s) that you backordered was not captured successfully:“

And there was no refund.

I apologize the backorder attempt has failed. Currently the backorder as submitted as requested therefore it is not eligable for a refund. You may change the backorder for another domain if you would like.

The easiest 18.99$ GoDaddy ever made.
Not giving up, I went to seek an advice on the Digital Point forums, asking if someone could point me in the right direction so I will get my domain name back. And point they did – A good man named BlitzOnline pointed me to

And they were actually having an auction for this domain name. Being taught the GoDaddy lesson, I read the not-so-small print first:

• No Up-front Cost: All fees are due on delivery. Bidding is free.
  
• Simple, Least-Cost Bidding: Set the most you are willing to pay, and our system will bid for you, entering the least amount necessary to maintain your winning status, but never more than your limit.
  
• Automatic Notification: You will be notified by email about each important event, such as auction won, auction starting, or if you are outbid.

So I went in, placed the lowest possible initial bid of 30$, and just 48 hours later and without any other interaction, received an email containing some helpful domain management information and the following notification:

Congratulations! You have successfully acquired the domain name b166er.com.

We have debited your account $30.00, the amount of your winning bid.

Fees for your first year of registration were included in the cost of your purchase.

And this is how I got the B166er.com domain name back.
Hopefully this story will help others make the right decisions when it comes to domain acquisition and backordering. And most important of all, I want to thank the Digital Point community for providing the priceless free advice.
Asking my questions earlier could have saved me 18.99$.

Useful Links : Domain Status Types, SnapNames Partners

Bookmark to:

http://services.google.com/websiteoptimizer/

Demo is availible here – explanations , with voice :

http://services.google.com/websiteop…iew/index.html

From what I see , the tool is geared toward real commercial sites , with set conversion goals . It’s good to see that Google is also providing tools for the real internet economy(like the Google Checkout and this) and not just the content niche . I personally use Adwords and Analytics on a daily basis , so the Optimizer will be a nice addition to the Google arsenal for Webmasters.

Bookmark to: