When I first found out that Network Solutions had begun the practice of reserving all domain names that had been searched for five days after the original search, I was shocked.
I had been working with a client to search for available domain names for their start-up, and minutes after we’d made a list of available possibilities, we found that when we searched these possibilities a second time on Network Solutions, all of the domain names we’d just searched for were now gone! Nor was it possible to register these domain names using another service like GoDaddy or Register.com.
After talking with a representative from GoDaddy.com, I learned that Network Solutions was doing something called domain name front running, essentially reserving the names searched as “unavailable” for five days after the search. This practice is very controversial, and is related to the practice of domain tasting, in which a registrant uses the five-day grace period to “taste” the marketability of the domain before the actual purchase.
If this happens to you, call Network Solutions and verify that the domain name you wanted to purchase became listed as unavailable before you had a chance to buy it. Network Solutions will then release the name, and then you can make the purchase.
For more information, see Wikipedia’s entry on domain tasting.
