Domain Names

The term domain name has multiple related meanings:

• A name that identifies a computer or computers on the Internet. These names appear as a component of a Web site's URL, e.g. en.wikipedia.org. This type of domain name is also called a hostname.
• The product that domain name registrars provide to their customers. These names are often called registered domain names.
• Names used for other purposes in the Domain Name System (DNS), for example the special name which follows the @ sign in an email address, or the Top-level domain names like .com, or the names used by the Session Initiation Protocol (VoIP), or DomainKeys.
• They are sometimes colloquially (and incorrectly) referred to by marketers as "web addresses".

A domain name locates an organization or other entity on the Internet. For example, the domain name

www.cas483.com

locates an Internet address for "cas483.com" at Internet point 199.0.0.2 and a particular host server named "www". The "com" part of the domain name reflects the purpose of the organization or entity (in this example, "commercial") and is called the top-level domain name. The "cas483" part of the domain name defines the organization or entity and together with the top-level is called the second-level domain name. The second-level domain name maps to and can be thought of as the "readable" version of the Internet address.

On the Internet, a top-level domain (TLD) identifies the most general part of the domain name in an Internet address.

Companies:

GoDaddy.com

Misk.com

Domain Kiting

Domain kiting is the practice of repeatedly registering and deleting a domain name so that the registrant can, in effect, own the domain name without paying for it. Domain kiting, like domain tasting, exploits the five-day add grace period (AGP) in the domain name registration system. During the first five days after registering, a registrant can delete a given domain name without charge or penalty. ICANN, the organization responsible for the registration system, has proposed abolishment of the grace period as a means of making domain kiting and domain tasting unprofitable for the practitioner.

Domain Tasting

Domain tasting is the practice of purchasing numerous available domain names and then exploiting a five-day grace period to determine which names would be profitable to own. The usual intent is to resell domain names likely to command high prices, although there are a number of ways that domain tasters (sometimes called "domainers") make money from the practice.

As of March 2008, the cost to register a domain name is less than $10. Moreover, the registrant has five days, the add grace period (AGP), during which any money paid is refundable. Even a minimal transaction cost is waived. The AGP was originally intended to allow legitimate purchasers to return names registered in error (with a typo, for example) at a time when the cost per domain was considerably higher.

Domain tasters make money from the practice in a number of ways besides selling profitable domain names. In some cases, they repeatedly register and unregister domain names, in effect obtaining the use of the name for free. A domainer may also register a large number of domains and then set up Web sites containing nothing but advertising links. The domain taster monitors the activity on each site and keeps the domain names that generate the most clickthrough revenue or produce the highest clickthrough rates.