On the other side though be careful using private registration because some registrars may also hide the information from the WHOIS database but also make it very uncomfortable for you to transfer the domains, since the automatic email from registrar to administrative or registrant contact will go directly to the losing registrars private registration email box.

This means that you have to ask the right questions before you submit your transfers, turn off my domain lock and turn off my private registration.

I hope that helps anyone that has experienced this before. If you would like to learn more you can email me.

If you need any other domain infomation, you have my email. I’d be happy to provide it (or speak directly to someone who can).

I don’t think a lot of people have really grasped why Google became a registrar quite yet. When buying old domains, people will have to be careful not to set off potential triggers in their new system.

No problem. Ok, when you get agent status with a Registry they assign you access to their API as part of the deal. Think of it like getting a API code from Google. This allows you to carry out more queries on their services, WHOIS queries or domain registrations for example. Depending on your importance you will get more channels or a higher priority. Public connections are way down the list.

This is how the ‘drop-name’ services work. They lease the channels from other Registrars for this period (11am and 2pm Pacific time) which gives them the best chance of securing the domains. You may be plugging away on your laptop, but if your Registrar has leased a large amount of their API power to a drop-name company, you don’t have a chance.

So a good reason for Google becoming a registrar would be to secure some of these API channels for their own applications. With the level of queries they would be running, they would need this level of partnership with the Registries.

>Can google find if you own a bunch of sites if they are registered with “whois protection”?

Apparently not. I have this on good authority from Ross Radar, Head of Research and Innovation at Tucows. Individual registrars can only have access to the data relating to their own clients. Google has exactly the same access as anyone else with a WHOIS tool (taking on board what I wrote above).

However we all know Google is building up a lot of data on domain names at the moment. They have said as much. If you are registering a new domain, then WHOIS protection can keep it off the radar. For a domain with history, it would be more complicated. In the profile Google builds up, I’m sure they would be asking questions like:

Did the domain expire?
Has the registrar changed? (All the WHOIS protection services I have seen still list the Registrar)
Have the nameservers changed from the previous values?

With their new database they could probably make some pretty sensible guesses if this domain changed hands or whether it just tried to go off the radar.

Can google find if you own a bunch of sites if they are registered with “whois protection”?

Registrars *only* have access to the details of the domains registered through them. Google (as any registrar) does not have access to a ‘master list’. They do however, as a registrar have direct channels to the TLD Registries (Verisign et al.) which will allow them to carry out better queries on WHOIS data.

Send me an email at e3internet - I’ll be happy to give you a quote. We’re a small group but on the plus side, you can get hold of me anytime on IM. We register direct through Tucows, so you have the security/backup you need.

Best

Nick

I’ve been very happy using them - great bunch of people over there.

Rob Higgins
Urbana, Illinois