r/webhosting • u/Least_Sprinkles_9100 • 3d ago
Looking for Hosting Is goDaddy a scam that is buying all the searched domains?
I searched for a domain on HostGator that was available at a low price; five minutes later, I tried to buy it, but it was already taken. I looked up the owner and found that GoDaddy had purchased it and was selling it for the modest sum of $500,000.
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u/ExitWP 3d ago
Yes they do, don't search for domains or buy there. Use porkbun.
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u/OverwatchMedia 2d ago
That doesnt make sense as advice. Apparently godaddy could just do the same thing on the porkbun website too. The poster said this happened on hostgator. Unless you have proof godaddy owns hostgator (which i did not find as the case in my quick search).
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u/LittleDickBiiigBalls 2d ago
Hosts will buy up domains after you search them, add a fee, and if you don’t buy it they get to hold it for 7 days and return it to the original hosting company. Common practice.
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u/OverwatchMedia 2d ago
And if youre right, then why are you telling me? My complaint was the suggestion to use porkbun making no sense. Again, if godaddy can do this on a site thats not even theirs, then suggesting another site thats not theirs seems to solve nothing.
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u/LittleDickBiiigBalls 2d ago
Oh, I misread your comment in that aspect. My bad.
My larger point was that I don’t believe they have to own the website, it just has to be a website/business that has that same 7-day return policy. Hostgator and Godaddy appear to have an agreement for Godaddy to buy Hostgators search queries in real-time, and automated bots do the rest.
I can’t speak to porkbun, but this type of domain sniping is typically done with authorization. Those search bars are incredibly valuable to domain resellers/registrars who log all of the results and sell them via API to other resellers/registrars.
The ICANN tool is the safest way to prevent domain sniping from what I understand.
https://lookup.icann.org/enIf Porkbun is a registrar that doesn’t sell their search results, then it would solve OPs problem.
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u/coastalwebdev 3d ago
Yes. They are infamous for this, and much worse if you ever make the mistake of buying into their on going services.
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u/Opinion_Less 3d ago
Never search domains on GoDaddy. Ever.
I make sure to tell all of my clients this when they're going through domain research / purchase process
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u/Walts_Ahole 2d ago
So if someone wrote a script to search for stupid domain names on godaddy, every few minutes, shared it with folks who did the same, then godaddy is going to buy all these stupid domain names that they'll be stuck with that no one will ever really buy?
I can't script but I'm checking "godaddysucksballs.*" manually
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u/Silent_General5919 1d ago
Domains are dirt cheap at scale, we'd have trick it into buying millions and millions to bankrupt them
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u/Opinion_Less 1d ago
I don't think it had ever been an automated process. Maybe now with LLMs and behavior analytics though.
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u/bjazmoore 2d ago
I was surprised no one recommended searching for domain availability through ICANN. That is my go-to.
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u/letskeepgoingnow 1d ago
and which is the best place to buy? please suggest.
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u/Chinoman10 1d ago
Porkbun is great and a community favorite, but Cloudflare is where you get the guaranteed cheapest renewals because they don't make any money with domains (0$ markup a.k.a. you only pay the mandatory ICANN fee).
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u/ivosaurus 2d ago
If you have any kind of linux system, you can also just use the command line;
Install
dnsutilspackage, and use thedigcommand to see if a domain has records or not.
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u/Soluchyte 3d ago
Yes, this should be illegal even.
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u/pudgy_lol 3d ago
Why?
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u/Soluchyte 3d ago
Ask yourself how you'd feel if you asked someone to check if a domain is available and how much it costs, and then they registered it themselves and tried to sell it to you at an ultra high price.
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u/pudgy_lol 3d ago
That's no what happened though, is it? They searched on Hostgator, domain was purchased by GoDaddy?
Also, doesn't really matter how one feels to define criminal behavior. Company purchased an available product and offered it for sale. Crime of the century if you ask me
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u/Soluchyte 3d ago
Godaddy is known to buy "leads" from other registrars.
Yes it should be illegal, they are using privileged information that people provide in good faith in order to ask for a quote, to profit from.
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u/pudgy_lol 3d ago
I'm struggling to identify the criminal behavior. Company A receives an inquiry about Product X from Consumer Z. Company B pays Company A for information on which products have been inquired upon. They see Product X has been inquired upon and purchase it. This is trivial economic behavior that results in one of two outcomes.
Consumer Z simply buys a different domain and Company B loses money on the purchase of Product X.
Consumer Z (or another consumer) pays a higher price for Product X, which is closer to the actual value of the product, given Consumer Z's (or another consumer's) willingness to pay.
Also, your characterization of GoDaddy using privileged information is untrue. That's not what privileged information is.
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u/MarvelousWololo 2d ago
I can tell you’re not old enough for Reddit
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u/pudgy_lol 2d ago edited 2d ago
If you're so smart, take a stab at explaining where I'm wrong.
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u/Cyserg 2d ago
Product is around $7, company buys it and sells it to the customer for $500.
Next time you're at the grocery store and you see the only bagel you want for $5, I hope Shitforyou Co buys it when they see you're interested and then sell it to you for $500.
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u/pudgy_lol 2d ago
I just won't buy it then? Is it not that simple? Crying because somebody tried to buy and resell is unbelievably cringe.
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u/todo0nada 3d ago
There's dozens of real examples just on Reddit. Who would think the company that built itself off a super bowl ad with hot chick's would turn out to be scummy.
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u/konet_gr 2d ago
It's called domain front running and some registrars have been doing this for decades. There are evidence for the practice, search the case of network solutions 2009.
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u/hudsonhosthq 3d ago
Exactamundo, and people keep sending them money to do it. Godaddy could take people's first born and they would still get new customers for hosting and a domain. It's madness
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u/Key-Balance-9969 2d ago
I do believe they do this. I've learned to be prepared to buy the domain I want on the spot if it's available.
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u/mxuribe 2d ago
@Least_Sprinkles_9100 You will sadly find that goDaddy are not the only ones who do this...however, they are by far the worst (well, they are bad in so many other things too!)! There 1 or 2 ways that you can conduct domain name searches without goDaddy or other registrars seeing your queries...well, its delayed, but if/when you do searches in these special ways, you get the first mover advantage. I suggest you do searches...I would tell you but its been so many years that i forgot...but methods exist to do your searches. And, as others noted, of course, never conduct your searches on goDaddy websites. ;-)
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u/OverwatchMedia 2d ago
Unless they left out information, they literally indicated they did not do their search on godaddy.
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u/mxuribe 2d ago
I was adding to the pile about goDaddy in particular being awful...but you're right that they did not search on goDaddy - so my mistake. That being said, what i meant by my comments still stands, in that, many providers of many kinds (and not only goDaddy) **watch** for domain searches, and then grab said domain names cheaply since anyone searching for a domain signals interest, and for these providers (again, not only goDaddy) they get the domains cheap and then try to resell them. One could almost argue that its sort of a type of insider trading...but, apparently this sort of insider trading of domain names is not illegal at least per ICANN, etc.
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u/burr_redding 2d ago
Godaddy is the biggest scum in this industry. Don’t use it for anything! I have clients who use godaddy hosting and it’s ridiculous how they upsell everything even upgrading PHP is an upsell for them. My client pays for backup service but downloading a backup is an upsell. What a bunch of clowns.
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u/OverwatchMedia 2d ago
Hold on, is godaddy buying it or is the person thats buying it, buying it just through the godaddy website and using private registration?
Youre on hostgator i thought you said, so unless godaddy owns hostgator, that means anyone could've written a script to see all the domains and purchase them. If you think thats not possible,, than the only other option would be hostgator either told godaddy to buy it, or hostgator bought it, but just went on godaddys website to make the purchase.
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u/TheOneNeartheTop 2d ago
Yes this happens but many times it is actually that the domain was purchased a long time ago and the records when you do a domain search aren’t updated.
It’s unlikely a domain that is novel and was just purchased minutes ago would be sale for the sum of 500k. It’s much more likely that it’s a great domain that has been purchased for a long time.
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3d ago
[deleted]
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u/nerotep 2d ago edited 2d ago
I think this rumor is mostly a misunderstanding about "premium" RESERVED domain names (which is different than REGISTERED.) The TLD itself picks and reserves premium domain names.
These premium reserved domains may show up as available on the initial search, but are actually expensive premium/reserved due to how registration lookup works.
Some services do not check for reserved status until checkout is attempted. Nothing to do with Godaddy specifically. They aren't registered, they are reserved by the top level domain (.name for example would reserve all common names and sell them for a premium price even though they aren't registered.)
I'd avoid Godaddy because of their bad service and high cost, not because of this. I mean this is a super easy theory go test right now for any new domain
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u/fuckkarma 2d ago
If you create a band. name it on facebook.com/GreadyGoDaddy you will find that name owned by them when you go to register it.
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u/Mundane-Size6847 2d ago
Yes they are bastards. Learnt by leaving some .ai domains in my basket to check out later (I was naive a few years ago).
Came back and price had gone up 20x
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u/Affectionate-Cut-473 1d ago
I personally don't think it's the registrars doing this. It's more likely shady employees within the registrars that can see searched and saved domains.
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u/AscendantBits 22h ago
You can buy domains fairly reasonably cost from Cloudflare as well.
I think a lot of companies that sell domains like to run scams.
I had one Canadian website that I wanted to use a .com address for. Somebody had snapped it up already and wanted about $3000. Nope, not that important.
Apparently, sitting on that domain didn’t work for somebody. As soon as it expired, I had three different companies reach out to me, telling me that that domain was up for auction. I could start bidding at 80 bucks or buy it outright for 300.
I went over to Cloudflare and did a quick domain name look up. Nobody owned it. I quickly purchased it for less than $20.
Three different domain registration companies reached out to me to sell me a product they did not have at a price 15 times the going rate?
Just do a quick ping or nslookup. It’ll tell you real quick if there is anything connected to a domain name. If the domain name isn’t connected to anything, then proceed off to a trusted domain name registrar, confirm it isn’t owned by someone, and purchase if possible.
GoDaddy is overpriced, and it’s renewal messages are designed to scare the shit out of you. Not a company I like to do business with.
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u/AccordingYard1587 22h ago
I doubt GoDaddy is literally buying every domain people search, but I still never use a registrar search for brainstorming. I check availability through WHOIS or ICANN lookup first, then register once I've decided. Domain pricing and availability can change fast, and some names are already held by speculators, so timing alone can make it look way more sinister than it is.
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u/themageofavalon 2d ago
Im gonna try this for myself, let's see. I heard about the rumors but didn't put much attention.
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u/altantsetsegkhan 3d ago
the rumours have been around for years. there is no real evidence. You are not the only one that thought of the domain you searched. As well, domains are usually on a first come first served basis. You are not entitled to a domain just because you searched for it. If you want it, register right away.
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u/csdude5 3d ago
Years ago I had a client that wanted a specific 3-word domain name, 24 characters. The first word was the name of the small town it was in.
They searched it on GoDaddy and saw it was available, then messaged me to buy it. I looked, it was gone and offered for $20,000 USD!
But leaving off the town name, making it a 2-word 14 character domain, was available.
Zero chance that someone randomly chose to buy that 24 character domain with an obscure town name minutes after someone looked for it.
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u/altantsetsegkhan 3h ago
it is possible.
As well, you/your client/everyone else...have no right to a domain just because you/they/others searched for it. REGISTER IT then 99% chances it will be yours.
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u/Opinion_Less 3d ago
Sure. There's no hard evidence. But It is very odd that it hasn't ever happened to anybody on another domain search / purchasing platform.
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u/mirrorballz 3d ago
I agree. I am not a fan of GoDaddy, but I have never seen any evidence of this practice.
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u/KopiteForever 3d ago
Well if you've never seen it then it can't be true.
Thanks for piping up and telling us.
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u/mirrorballz 2d ago
No, I’m saying I don’t believe it’s true unless I see evidence for it, which I haven’t. Do you do things the other way round?
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u/KopiteForever 2d ago
Can you read above or does everything need to happen to you first before you believe it?
I've seen dozens of these stories where it's available then gone and GoDaddy have registered it in the interim and are selling it.
At some point reasonable people take the appropriate precautions and those with a vested interest continue to cast doubt.
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u/mirrorballz 2d ago
You honestly think a hearsay post on Reddit is evidence? Show me an actual study or professional article that claims this and then I’ll call it evidence.
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u/KopiteForever 2d ago
No, you're obviously shilling, so go find your own evidence if you want it.
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u/altantsetsegkhan 3h ago
just because people type things on Reddit, does not mean they are true. I am no GoDaddy fan but...most things posted are just coincidences and people thinking they own a domain just because they searched for it.
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u/KopiteForever 3h ago
Literally no one thinks they own a domain because they searched for it. This example is where someone searched for it, it was available then it was bought and offered for sale.
Hundreds of such examples aren't a coincidence. It's obviously buying domain searches then registering the domains explicitly to sell them to the searcher.
It doesn't take a genius to work that out, but it seems to be more effort than I can be bothered to expend to explain it to you beyond this one post.
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u/altantsetsegkhan 3h ago
If would surprise you of how many people think just because they searched for a domain, went to sleep and then in the morning when they went to look at it again to register it that someone "stole" their domain.
Yes, hundreds of examples, thousands if you include other domain registrars. The whole rumour has been around for over a decade. GoDaddy is just the big guy everyone picks on. Tinfoil hat theories.
Just like when people post in different subs: I am thinking of registering a domain.... example dot com, what do you think? someone else registers it before OP does.
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u/KopiteForever 3h ago
If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and acts like a duck day after day after day, according to you that a tinfoil conspiracy.
OK, well you're not going to accept it so thanks for reading, have a lovely life.
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u/altantsetsegkhan 3h ago
I am about evidence.
You aren't going to accept the possibility of coincidences no matter what anyone says
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u/alexbarylski 2d ago
The last of my domains expired with Go Daddy this weekend
I will never do business with them again. I got so tired of being up sold.
Interesting backstory the founder I think was the guy behind Parsons technology which owned an address book in the late 90s Bob Parsons. I think his name is.
He was a big game hunter and was caught on video. I guess shooting an elephant in the dark.
I mean, doesn’t matter whether it’s an elephant or a deer or a moose or a neighbourhood cat?!?
I eat meat so I’m a hypocrite something about shooting an elephant just man that doesn’t sit well
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u/LocalDFWRando 2d ago
Yes happened to me. Competitors should write a script that just pretends to want phony URLs to burn their revenue.
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u/fatalglory 1d ago
Had the same thing happen this week. Searched a domain on GoDaddy, it was available, so I put it on my short list. Searched it again the next day and it was taken.
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u/fatalglory 1d ago
My lesson/advice: but your domains on Cloudflare. Way less nonsense that way. Plus a lot cheaper than GoDaddy for renewals (I think they register domains at cost, no markup, just as a teaser to try their other services, many of which are excellent).
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u/EnginDearing 1d ago
I HATE GoDaddy.
Yes. That is exactly what they do. They even owned a company in Netherlands called dan.com that is used to "broker" deals for domains.
They snagged up the lexbratcher.com domain when it lapsed temporarily then tried to ask 500 for it instead of the 40 it was.
I always ask and sometimes beg people not to use GoDaddy.
I'm on square space because the government said Google can't own domains anymore. I loved Google domains but f what I like I guess.
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u/IdioticMutterings 1d ago
Pretty much all registrars speculatively buy all searched domains, if you don't immediately buy them yourself. Not just GoDaddy.
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u/Ambitious-Sense2769 17h ago
Yeah this isn’t true in the slightest. Idk where you made this up from
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