Google is said to be considering banning newly registered domain names from participating in the Google for Domain Names program, severely hampering the practice of domain tasting. According to Jay Westerdal at Domain Tools, Google would block all domains if they are less then five days old. In Jay’s words, “This potential new policy change by […]
Google is stated to be considering banning newly registered domain names from participating in the Google for Domain Names program, severely hampering the practice of domain tasting.
According to Jay Westerdal at Domain Tools, Google would block all domains if they are less then five days old. In Jay’s words, “This potential new policy change by Google could stop all Domain Tasting in its tracks.”
Domain tasting, for those not familiar with it, is the practice of registrants using the five-day grace period at the beginning of a domain registration to test the marketability of a domain name (full Wikipedia entry here).
I’m a tiny hesitant in suggesting that Google’s move will completely wipe out domain testing, because there are no shortage of alternative advertising programs for domains, however Westerdal is a heavily involved in the industry, and he would advocate that Google is where most domain tasters are generating revenue:
It was disclosed in court that one partner that Google had was generating as much as $3 million dollars a month from the practice and that was after Google’s revenue share. Oversee.net and other companies have been using this practice for years and it will have a direct impact on them. The gravy train of free money might be coming to a stop very fast. This policy change at Google should be announced to the channel partners soon and it will have a huge echoing impact on the Industry….I think this is a return of the “Be Good” motto Google had a few years ago. Google has been quietly enabling this practice for years now. This is a smart policy move on Google’s part to ward off impending litigation that might have hit them in the coming months.
An example of a Google Adsense for Domains page below, as demonstrated by Google.
Crunch Network: CrunchBoard because it’s time for you to find a new Job2.0
Popularity: 2% [?]
The chart to the right, which shows the stock price of the New York Times Company over the last five years, is somewhat representative of the state of print journalism in general. They’re getting their lunch eaten on the revenue end by Craigslist and (to a lesser extent) on the page view end by blogs and other alternative news sources. 
By Andrew Liszewski
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