Last Call to Make Money From Nothing: Google to Kill Domain Tasting

Posted on January 27th, 2008. Written by Rico.

In the ever-changing online world, it’s an ancient formula: register some domains, slap some ads on them, and get enough people to click on the ads. Before the five-day grace period (see our glossary entry on domain tasting) ends, cancel the registration and get the registration fee back. Practically no money is spent while millions are made, if enough domains are tasted the same time.

Much of this depended on Google’s ad service, as AdSense is a popular and easy-to-apply option for those who make money off domain tasting. And now that a “confidential informant says Google will stop monetizing all domains if they are less then five days old,” perhaps the game will change. The rumored end will come “before the end of February.” (source)

What’s more interesting for us are the following questions:

1. Is monetizing domain tasting, a process that takes advantages of the current systems’ loopholes, unethical?
2. Obviously, these tasted domains are simple moneymaking machines. Does this mean that Google, being partially responsible for these sites’ visibility, has failed in its mission to give informative content more exposure?
3. Does this also mean that AdSense advertisers are responsible for financing the operations of for-money domain tasters?
4. Are domain registrars responsible for letting this monetized-driven aspect of domain tasting flourish?
5. And last but not least: how will Google determine which of the millions of domains are younger than five days old? Will they get this information from domain registrars?

We’d love to hear what you have to say.