Domain Tasting

ICANN figures comparing the number of AGP deletes for the major gTLDs in June and July 2008 show a marked decrease in such deletes after the new AGP policy was introduced in June.

The policy is a stop-gap measure before full AGP limits are implemented. In short, the same monthly limits of 50 names or 10% of the overall registration volumes for a given registrar are enforced. But if registrars go over these limits, they only pay the 20 cent (US) ICANN fee per name. Once the full AGP limits are implemented, they will not be able to get any refund at all, i.e. they will not get the ICANN fee or the domain name registration fee back.

Curbing AGP deletes was ICANN's answer to the practice of "domain tasting" which had become rampant. Using the 5-day Add Grace Period which allows registrars to claim a full refund for a newly-registered names, "tasters" registered massive amounts of domain names and released them before the 5-day AGP was over. Only the names which proved valuable (i.e. provided good pay-per-click returns when pointed to a parking page) were kept. As a result, a huge number of names had been "tasted", or tried, at no cost.

Domain tasting had a negative impact on the domain market by eroding consumer confidence in the system. Those who wanted to register names that were tasted and then let go, or those that saw their trademarks usurped during a tasting campaign… all were adversely impacted by domain tasting.

ICANN's answer was to severely limit the number of AGP deletes that a registrar can request in a given month. The new policy does seem to work, with an overall drop in the number of AGP deletes of close to 85% from June to July. .COM saw a similar percentage drop, while .NET's was actually over 85%.

Remarkable numbers really, which seem to show that the new policy is the right one to fight domain tasting.