What Happens When You Are No Longer the Master of Your Domain?

Domain Name Series Part II

Last week, I discussed the merits of creating an effective domain name to claim your rightful space on the web. To get the most from the least, simplicity and identifying your industry and brand are paramount. If you include keywords that define you, congratulations. Your domain is prime real estate.

But suppose you’re late paying the lease and lose it? What happens when you are no longer the master of your domain?

When Your Domain Name Expires and Someone Else Takes It

It happens. Immediately. And not only to iconic brands. Like cyber thieves, there are people, bots and organizations that purchase your domain name as soon as it expires. This is not cybersquatting, which is the unauthorized registration and use of a domain name.

This is a close, dumpster-diving relative known as domain squatting. These opportunists don’t use the domain, they hold it for ransom because they know you love it.

Why My Obscure Domain?

Shawn Cable, owner of CodeBlackIT in Winter Park, Florida, explains that even though you think your site means nothing to anyone, it means something to you.

“The value is that you want it. If you’re willing to pay what they want to get it back, it’s worth the effort to them.”

Managed IT service providers such as CodeBlackIT will monitor domain subscriptions, but he strongly suggests “locking” your domain or setting auto-renew.

Do Your Own Diligence

James Thompson is the owner of Lake Mary, FL-based TechBay USA, which provides compliance, cybersecurity, and IT solutions.

“I’ve been doing this for twenty years. You have to be aware,” he warns. “Ignorance is no excuse. You do your own due diligence and step it up a notch.”

He explains that ICANN (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) gives domain holders a 30-day grace period once a domain expires.

“People should lock their domains with a code to prevent unauthorized domain transfers. That will [trigger] a warning to your registered email address.”

He reminds us that domains are leased and not owned, and that domain squatters take many shots in hopes of landing a big target.

“There is a combination of bots as well as manual,” he says, acknowledging it could be millions of entities searching for domains that fall through the cracks. “They do it on a regular basis just looking to eke out any value that they can.”

The Life of a Domain Squatter

Where do I find soon-to-expire domains? Start with your domain broker. GoDaddy or NameCheap offer domain auctions. ExpiredDomains.net or NameJet.com do the same with lists of thousands of recently expired or soon-to-expire domains.

It’s all perfectly legal and as honorable as attorneys chasing ambulances.

What Happens When You Are No Longer the Master of Your Domain

Personally, I’ve had it happen with three sites that got little to no traffic. Twice I received an email offer listing the asking price of about $1,300. Two of the sites I redirected to new domain names and within a year purchased them back from the broker at the normal ($11) price. The third was a dummy domain that I only needed temporarily.

What brokers were my old domains now registered with? The same ones I originally used: GoDaddy and NameCheap. Each domain name showed no existence before my creation and no traffic for the year I used it.

So, what if you forget to renew your domain? You can wait, find another, or pay. Lack of due diligence has cost celebrities, enterprises, and even nations millions of dollars and years of indignation.

How much is your domain worth to you?

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