A domain name I'm interested in just "expired" 5 days ago according to its WHOIS record. However, all the registrars I've tried say that the domain is unavailable. Is there some kind of grace period for this? What's the best way for me to know if/when it actually becomes available? Any way for me to grab it right now? BTW there's nothing hosted there, and it appears to be owned by a squatter. Obviously I'm not looking to pay squatter prices here.
posted by scarabic on Nov 20, 2009 - 8 answers

I'm thinking about making a website but it's years since I last did this, what are the best registrars, hosts, and insidey bits nowadays? I'm in the UK. [more inside]
posted by SebastianKnight on Oct 11, 2009 - 11 answers

What are some examples of a large company or brand not owning or using the "obvious" domain name like company.com or brand.com? Examples from the past would also be useful.
posted by smackfu on Sep 24, 2009 - 45 answers

I have a product I'm building and I found a great name for it - but the .com is taken. Is it worth purchasing, or should I just come up with something else? [more inside]
posted by twiggy on Sep 3, 2009 - 27 answers

I need a tool (web-based or software) to create and easily update a web site that will be hosted in a subdirectory of a domain that I don't own (i.e. myemployer.ca/myname). [more inside]
posted by If only I had a penguin... on Jun 19, 2009 - 10 answers

How important is it to purchase all available domain extensions? [more inside]
posted by scarello on Mar 22, 2009 - 12 answers

What is the best process for back-ordering a .CA domain? [more inside]
posted by chudmonkey on Mar 5, 2009 - 4 answers

I backordered an expiring domain name with its current registrar, but someone else got it. Does/should its registrar (& thus by extension, me) have had first dibs on it, if its owner let it expire? [more inside]
posted by niloticus on Apr 27, 2008 - 3 answers

Was I scammed by a domain name registrar? Should I legally be able to get my money back for unavailable domains despite not having read their terms & conditions? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Mar 24, 2008 - 3 answers

Is there such a thing as a domain name agent? Like a real estate agent, but for .com (or other) domains instead of chunks of land? [more inside]
posted by yoga on Mar 6, 2008 - 4 answers

I looked up a domain name at networksolutions on February 19, 2008. The .com and the rest of the suffixes (suffi?) were available. I checked back today to find that the .com version had been purchased on the same day that I researched it. It's now hosted at "reserveddomains". 1. Who bought it? Network Solutions? 2. Whatta the odds?
posted by Kibbutz on Feb 22, 2008 - 20 answers

Hi, I'm Wendell, and I'm a Domain Name addict. And I just registered DRINKSYOURMILKSHAKE.COM with the intent of setting up something like isyournewbicycle.com but I'm open to other ideas. Feel free to aim your long straw at me...
posted by wendell on Feb 21, 2008 - 22 answers

I renewed two domain names with Registerfly on January 28, 2006 and never received renewal notices. Their system has been so screwed up that I've had to make multiple requests for renewals. In early February I received a notice from Enom that they were no longer registering names for Registerfly and offering to transfer my names from Registerfly to Enom, an offer I accepted. The other day I signed into my Enom account and discovered that the two names had expired. One name they said I could renew now for $9.95, but the other they said would cost me $160! These were both normal .com registrations. [more inside]
posted by pkreutzer on Mar 5, 2007 - 6 answers

A client has a domain registered through a registrar that is (at best) unresponsive. We need to transfer it away from this registrar, but cannot get authorization. What now? [more inside]
posted by disclaimer on Jan 11, 2007 - 12 answers

If a domain name reseller (eg Lycos UK) is doing a really crappy job at the basics (letting you renew your own domains, letting you unlock your domain to transfer to another company, being contactable at all) is there anyone higher up to complain to to get something done? We're talking about a .com address here.
posted by cillit bang on May 3, 2006 - 3 answers

I'm looking for recent research on Web site names, looking at both branding and domain name selection, especially concerning non-standard (not .com, .net or .org) domains. [more inside]
posted by grrarrgh00 on Feb 24, 2006 - 7 answers

Hi, hoping some MS Excel or HTML wizards can help me out with this. The goal is as follows; format a list of domain names so I can publish them on a webpage with hyperlinks to their individual addresses (currently they are all in Excel with each domain occupying a single cell in a single row; they are currently formatted like this: "domain.com"). There are just to many to go through and add this to each one. [more inside]
posted by Jhaus on Feb 21, 2006 - 8 answers

How best to migrate from one domain to another? [more inside]
posted by AmbroseChapel on Nov 11, 2005 - 6 answers

Transfering a domain from NetSol to GoDaddy. Approximately how long will the email addresses associated with the domain be non-functional? [more inside]
posted by anathema on Apr 1, 2005 - 6 answers

How do you value a domain name? More specifically I am a member of a webmaster newsboard that has domain names for sale. When I inquired about a certain domain I was told the owner was looking in the $X,XXX range for it. Yet I don't see how a domain could be valued at that price range when I see sites with full content selling for less than that. Is a domain really that valuable anymore? I don't think it is. Yes a .com is better than a .net or .org or whatever, but to ask for $1,000+ for a domain is just kinda pricey I think when the domain hasn't been doing anything other than pointing to another url.
posted by thebwit on Jul 5, 2004 - 5 answers

I am in the process of purchasing a domain from it's current owner. What's the easiest way to transfer it to my own account?
posted by renyoj on May 7, 2004 - 4 answers

Is it possible to register domains with the Cuban .cu suffix? My searches online have come up with nothing, but I can't tell if this is because the market is dominated by American companies.
posted by twine42 on Mar 5, 2004 - 4 answers

Domain-amania! (part one)
A little less than a year ago, when I thought I was on the road to recovery, I had a shopping spree on GoDaddy, getting more than a dozen domain names I intended to turn into a network of cool sites. Nearly all of them have lain fallow since then, and now it's time to renew or relinquish and "thin out the herd". Over the next several days, I'll be Asking MeFi what names are worth keeping and what site ideas are worth pursuing. [more-on inside] [more inside]
posted by wendell on Feb 9, 2004 - 4 answers

I've always thought jezebel.com would make a great URL for a porn site. And after 8 years of using it for photos, desktop backgrounds and postcards, I'm ready to sell it off to the highest bidder in order to finance my upcoming wedding. So I'm looking for two wholly serious pieces of advice: a) high-level contacts in the adult industry and b) a sense of what the current market is like for domain name sales.
posted by heather on Jan 29, 2004 - 13 answers

What's the most effective and cheapest way you know of to "back-order" a domain (one that's expired, but still on hold)?
posted by luser on Jan 22, 2004 - 5 answers

While shopping around for domain names/ registration, I continually come across "already owned" names that are generating generic pages on domain registration sites. ie: "dotster" or "buydomains.com". My question - is there a way to buy these obviously un-used domains? Am I supposed to contact the hosting page? Are these domains , in fact, for sale?
posted by BrodieShadeTree on Jan 8, 2004 - 9 answers

I'd like to get my own domain. I assume I'd pretty quickly get a cease-and-desist letter from these guys, and that I really wouldn't have a leg to stand on, legally, even though my site contents have nothing to do with their flagship product. Are my assumptions well founded?
posted by MrMoonPie on Dec 19, 2003 - 9 answers