by Das Brain
If you are unfamiliar with the term “domain tasting” than this is the post or article will help shed some light on the subject. Basically, domain tasting is when an individual or a business purchases a large amount of domains and parks them right away to test to see if there is any traffic on the domain name and also to see if the traffic can be converted into clicks which generate revenue. The two things they are looking for is “type-in” traffic and high “click-through-ratio (CTR). If the domain names they register makes more than what the domain name cost, then they keep the domain names, however if they don’t then of course the obvious route is to cancel the domain names.
A large internet business or internet registrar (ICANN accredited) usually have an advantage over an individual registering bulk domain names. A large internet business or registrar can take advantage of rules that allow them to bulk register let’s say 1000 domain names and test or domain taste them for a few days, I believe the rule is 5 days, and if certain domain names don’t have much traffic then they can cancel those domain names and get a full refund on those names.
Unfortunately, if you are an individual registrant who registers 300 domain names and domain park them you cannot get a full refund on the domains that don’t do very well while parked for 4 days. The refund only apply to certain internet businesses that have agreements with internet registrars or registrars themselves. You as the registrant are not eligible as far I know, the registrar who I register my domains with do not give the refund.
Recently I cancelled 53 domains that were not earning their keep in domain parking with NAMEDRIVE. They were parked for a minimum of 6 months and it was done as part of my on going initiative to reduce cost. 53 domains x $6 per domain = $318. This was on top of 38 domains cancelled earlier in the year at a cost of 38 domains X $6 = $228, the total cost cut is $546 USD. It was domain tasting the expensive way, but this will make a big difference in the bottom line of my web business going forward.
My goal this year is to cancel even more domain names that didn’t earn their registration costs and to start developing out a few more websites. Currently, I have 3 fully developed websites including this blog which currently makes a few hundred dollars a year. The remaining domains are parked or made into micro-websites which bring in about $1500 USD a year in revenue. What I have found is that the fully developed websites definitely bring in more Google adsense revenue than parked or micro-websites. I will be writing a post on this at a later date. In conclusion, if as a small business person I was eligible for full refunds on domain names after 4 or 5 business days of domain tasting, I would have saved myself quite a bit of money.
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