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User Contributed - Domain Kiting

Posted By Eli On December 19, 2006 @ 4:53 pm In User Contributed | 44 Comments

This one isn’t so much a contribution as it was me begging to post it. :)
Its a great article from Phil at [1] here. He promised he’ll post more great articles like it so be sure to check out his site in the future.
Domain Kiting
I’m going to let some secrets out of the bag about Domain Kiting

So for those that don’t know what this is, listen up. You can register a domain name and cancel it within 5 days of purchase. It USED to be that the registrars would let you do this for free. Now most registars charge between $0.25 and $2 per canceled domain. See I would register hundreds of domains a week and cancel about 99% of them, just keeping the good ones that got traffic in the 5 day period. I would reg the domains and then change the DNS over to a parking page (like sedo.com) then I would be able to easily see how much direct navigation (type in traffic) I got.

Here is the formula for figuring out which domains to keep:

1. (Amount of type-ins in 5 days) * (365/5) = amount of traffic you could reasonably expect in a year. Now a good parking page will get ~20% click through rate, so take your clicks per year * 20% = number of clicks that you get paid on.

note: keep in mind seasonality…so if you register xmas domains expect to see higher numbers in December.

2. Find out the average CPC via the overture tool by taking the top 5 bids and averaging them so this formula is: bid1 + bid2 + bid3 + bid4 +bid5 / 5

3. Now take that average bid per click price and divide that by 2. This is the rough amount per click that you can expect from a PPC program on a parking site or Google Adsense, Yahoo Publisher Network, etc…

4. Next take the price you paid to reg the domain / average PPC from step 2 =# of clicks you’ll need in a year to break even on your domain.

5. So, if the # from step 1 is > # from step 4 then you are in the black.

Let me do some real numbers to highlight this again.

1. So I got 4 clicks in 5 days during my domain testing period. Take that number times 73 (73 is from 365/5) that that equals 292 clicks per year. Take clicks per year 292 * 20% and you get = ~58

2. Now by doing keyword research we find that advertisers are paying $0.34 a click.

3. Divide $0.34 by 2 to get your estimated earnings per click at $0.17

4. Let’s say I register a domain name for $7.00 per year divide that by $0.17 and you get ~41. So you will need 41 clicks a year to break even on your domain.

5. So you estimate that you can get roughly 58 clicks and you break even at 41 clicks. So u in da black.

Conclusion:

So imagine what happens when you find one that gets a TON of clicks and advertisers are willing to pay BIG $$$ for each click…Booya! Or, think economies of scale, it takes you very little time to register these domains and if you do them by the hundreds or thousands then the profits add up quick.

Disclaimer/Pitfalls:

Start slow and ease into this. This formula is an estimate only, the variable that will put you in the red are:

1. Conversion rate on the parking/landing page: I see ~20% on most of mine, some higher some lower, it all depends on the matching for your keywords. To get a good idea of what this might be look at the ads that appear with your domain keyword, Are they relevant? Would you click on it?
2. Advertiser CPC, seasonality and advertisers just pulling out will affect how accurately you can predict what they are willing to pay per click.
3. Your individual cut from the parking program or contextual advertising program, this number will vary as well.

Enjoy!

Thanks Phil for the great article! 


44 Comments To "User Contributed - Domain Kiting"

#1 Comment By Leecher in bluehatseo.com On December 19, 2006 @ 5:13 pm

I’ve heard such trick before,but it’s about ccTLD.
PS:which register allow us to cancel it within 5 days of purchase?I can’t find some.

#2 Comment By Lucas On December 19, 2006 @ 6:44 pm

So, what do you know about WHOIS Hijacking? Does it actually occur? It certainly seems to from my experience. Here is an article that discusses it:

[2] http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1991365,00.asp

How are these big domainers able to intercept the WHOIS queries that are requested by other people? Or, is it just by chance that these “coincidences” occur since there are over 1 million domains registered per day using these methods?

#3 Comment By Eli On December 19, 2006 @ 6:57 pm

lucas,
I’ve been wondering about that!
Its shocking, I buy tons of domains in bulk on a regular basis and i’ll find that quite often a few got registered minutes before i did.

My first instincts are usually did someone know that i was going to buy it?
I can’t confirm or deny that it exists but i’m on a mission to figure it all out.

#4 Trackback By Monetize Traffic On December 19, 2006 @ 7:05 pm

Try Before You Buy Domain Names

Have you ever wanted to give a domain a test drive before you sunk $9 into buying it for a year? Pool.com just released a new service allowing you to do just that. With their new Catch & Release program, you can register a domain name for 4.5 day…

#5 Comment By afmatt On December 20, 2006 @ 3:10 am

[3] http://www.pool.com/help/faq.aspx#Catch&Release
Full details on the C&R program at pool can be found at the above link, only $0.20 to try a domain for 4.5 days? Oh I have PLANS for this one :D (three day domain auctions on ebay/sitepoint/ETC anyone?) ;)

#6 Comment By Karolis On December 20, 2006 @ 6:52 am

You really have to have a huge list of domains to make something worth your time and initial investment. With example above it’s ~$3 per year or ~$0.25 per month. To make one thousand dollars per month doing it, you must have 4000 such domains. This needs 4000 * $7 = $28,000 initial investment. Give me that money and I’ll make more than $1k / month with equal amount of work, promise!

Of course you could get lucky and have a bunch of good money makers or you could raise your standards and take only good money makers, just more testing. But the huge initial investment is a block for most of us folks.

#7 Comment By Jason Rodriguez On December 20, 2006 @ 11:01 am

Domain Kiting is an interesting topic, and it has been brushed off for years. It’s surprising that ICANN hasn’t put a stop to it.

#8 Comment By Eli On December 20, 2006 @ 12:06 pm

I just looked this up.
Technically any reseller of ENom can do it. Although it may differ from reseller to reseller on whether or not they are willing to do it.

Here is eNom’s policy that talks about the 5 day grace period

Bottom of: [4] http://www.enom.com/resellers/faq_resellers.asp

What if my customer makes a mistake? Can a domain be deleted after it is registered?
Yes, many TLDs have a 5 day grace period during which a domain can be deleted and refunded. Deletions can be performed using the DeleteRegistration API command. For more details about which TLDs can be deleted with this command, see the TLD Overview.
Note: ClubDrop domains cannot be deleted. Names must be deleted from the same account in which they were purchased.

#9 Comment By Gskrilla On December 20, 2006 @ 11:46 pm

Bob parson write a good article about it on his blog! It’s old but informative

[5] http://www.bobparsons.com/MayKiting.html

#10 Comment By phil On December 22, 2006 @ 10:27 am

Registrars that publically allow the 5 day grace period:

Godaddy.com - charge u 2$ per canceled domain, negociate this down, else don’t do business with them.

Moniker.com - rates vary, but they have a system built around this 5 day grace period to tell you how much time your domains have left.

Others - I’m sure most do in the fine print.

I would just call them up and tell them exactly what your plan is and if they allow for this…that is exactly what I did. I told them point blank that I was going to register tons of domains and cancel 99% of them.

#11 Comment By Eli On December 22, 2006 @ 3:14 pm

Nice phil!
I called godaddy and the lady said sure. Then i asked where it was in the agreement and she said it didn’t exist in the agreement. So it must be a defacto rule. Nice loophole you found :)

#12 Comment By Colin Newcomer On December 22, 2006 @ 9:41 pm

“Godaddy.com - charge u 2$ per canceled domain, negociate this down, else don’t do business with them.”

How do you get take advantage of the 5 day grace period with GoDaddy, I can’t find it on the site

#13 Comment By Dave Naffziger On January 30, 2007 @ 6:32 pm

The real way to domain kite is to start your own registrar. As I understand it, Registrars aren’t charged anything for releasing domains within the grace period.

You register a domain and test it. If it gets any traffic at all, keep it for 5 days and let it go. Then re-register it.

#14 Comment By Pay Per Install On April 16, 2007 @ 6:18 am

I was trying this and I was in + but it was because I sold some domains also. It is hard to find expired domains with traffic anyway. So if you know where to easy get them post it here.

#15 Comment By Diabetes Resource On April 16, 2007 @ 1:31 pm

Eli- great link for “mature naked friends” above my comment. How’d that get through the filter? Anyway, this is some great information and I will say that go daddy will allow you to do it for much less that the $2 indicated in some of the comments. I have been able to do it with them for the $0.25 ICANN fee for months. You just have to call and negotiate with them first.

#16 Trackback By wellbutrin On April 26, 2007 @ 1:07 am

wellbutrin

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#17 Comment By david deangelo On January 31, 2008 @ 9:54 am

Interesting technique. However to earn anything decent you would need to register loads of domains which would take alot of time and effort. Isn’t it better just to make a good website and moneterise it?

#18 Comment By Free Online Poker Software On October 1, 2008 @ 5:13 am

Hi Eli

You use godaddy for regging domains. But what about private registration? I guess you dont bother with that? I can imagine what technique you use :)

#19 Comment By Payday Uk On October 9, 2009 @ 3:18 am

Your blog is called as technique by the advent visitors. I am really too much impressed.

#20 Comment By MBT Shoes Clearance On June 17, 2010 @ 6:06 pm

Others - I’m sure most do in the fine print.

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Doesn’t even work unless you speak russian and can guess PR in advance.

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#23 Comment By SEO Miami On November 28, 2010 @ 12:28 pm

I was wondering when people where going to figure this out!

#24 Comment By Скачать фильм On January 15, 2011 @ 4:50 am

The real way to domain kite is to start your own registrar. As I understand it, Registrars aren’t charged anything for releasing domains within the grace period.

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#27 Comment By commando 2 On October 2, 2011 @ 7:24 am

Domain Kiting is an interesting topic, and it has been brushed off for years. It’s surprising that ICANN hasn’t put a stop to it.

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#30 Comment By Nitish On January 6, 2012 @ 12:59 pm

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#32 Comment By Nitish On January 6, 2012 @ 1:00 pm

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#33 Comment By Nitish On January 6, 2012 @ 1:00 pm

We all know you didnt bothered to read the full post and acting like you actually did xD lol

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#40 Comment By HealthWrong On March 20, 2012 @ 10:14 pm

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#41 Comment By Life Insurance Over 85 Years Old On April 5, 2012 @ 7:02 pm

Why do people like to hijack WHOIS? What are the benefits of doing so?

#42 Comment By Life Insurance Over 85 Years Old On April 5, 2012 @ 7:02 pm

why not?

#43 Comment By Life Insurance Over 85 Years Old On April 5, 2012 @ 7:05 pm

ICANN has recently passed down a rule to put a stop on this

#44 Comment By thong cong On September 2, 2012 @ 11:07 pm

Bob parson write a good article about it on his blog! It’s old but informative


Article printed from Blue Hat SEO-Advanced SEO Tactics: http://www.BlueHatSEO.com

URL to article: http://www.BlueHatSEO.com/user-contributed-domain-kiting/

URLs in this post:
[1] here: http://helpwebmasters.com/info/domain-kiting-secrets-revealed-my-formula-for-success
[2] http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1991365,00.asp: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1991365,00.asp
[3] http://www.pool.com/help/faq.aspx#Catch&Release: http://www.pool.com/help/faq.aspx#Catch&Release
[4] http://www.enom.com/resellers/faq_resellers.asp: http://www.enom.com/resellers/faq_resellers.asp
[5] http://www.bobparsons.com/MayKiting.html: http://www.bobparsons.com/MayKiting.html

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