Reading Room

How developments in the online world can help you get more from your online business



Front Running Needs to be Exposed

People are innocently taking the initiative for their organizations and are getting burned by small-time (and sometimes big-time) registrars.

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When clients come to us, they're often proud of their efforts to jump-start their new, or growing online venture by registering new domain names. Of course we're happy that they've taken the initiative, if only because it shows a certain degree of attention to detail and commitment – something that's always welcome.

Unfortunately, from time to time we'll run into various horror stories that remind me of the old saying, "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is". Someone will have researched and researched by entering their candidate-names into a domain-query engine on a site promising all sorts of great things including possibly tremendously low prices; then when they're all ready and excited because they found their perfect name is available, the click to purchase and lo and behold, someone has - just that second - snapped up the exact name.

Now, the internet is a big place, doubling in size every several years by all estimations. But it's not that big. This isn't a coincidence.

"Front Running", or "Domain Front Running" (the name adapted from the illegal stock broker practice) is the practice of data mining user queries (searches) but haven't registered yet, and then somehow impeding your ability to either register that name here or elsewhere by either telling you it's taken, or held somehow. A number of registrars have been accused of this, some very recently, the general idea being, that the registrar, being in a privileged position, can use the knowledge of your domain query to either hold the domain for itself or hold it so that it can only be registered through that registrar, and not the open market for a period of time.

You can read the ICANN advisory here.  

This really does make the internet feel like the old Wild West - with lawless goons preying on homesteaders just trying to make their way. And all dramatics aside, it's really not much different. For us, we've spent a great deal of time researching and working with various registrars based on all sorts of criteria – no "Front Running", of course being one of many that ensure we have honesty, openness plus top notch control and technical domain expertise at our fingertips.

So if you have not yet determined your domain future and are uncertain of where you were going to turn next, let us at least guide you to tools known to be friendly and not storing and using your own searches against you. 

Jason