Hello,

I have a requrement to monitor a few domains, the more in TLD types
the better, and register them as soon as possible.

I know of services that exist out there, but the issue is they charge
up front for the whole service and not seperate the registration
process from the monitoring process and would therefore be expensive
to go beyond the domains you absolutly need.

I'm interested in building something similar, though on a smaller
scale and with lesser means, but does the job simiar to the more
mainstream service.

I would like to find premium whois services which would allow my
application to check on names as much as needed, without necessarily
getting access to the contact information, but more importantly the
registration, update and expiration date fields.

I'm also interested in advice on how to approach and grab names which
are about to expire in order to successfuly achieve a clean takeover.

Thank you.

/Lizardnation

Hi there,

   If you want to build a system yourself, you have to get API access
to one or several registrars by becoming a reseller. Then you create
an application that will continually check if certain domains are
available, and register them if they are. Checking the registration,
update and expiration dates can be achieved using the same method, but
it's not something that has to be continually checked. Once you have
the expiration date of a domain, there is nothing you can do but wait
until that date, and then run the "grabbing" application if it is not
renewed.
   Having success in registering a dropping domain is pretty much a
matter of luck. If the domain is unpopular, not a common word,
something that only matters to you for some reason, then you have a
good chance of getting it. But if the domain is a common word, a two-
or three-letter combination, etc, it's much like winning the lottery.
I know of individuals and companies that have server farms and
high-speed connections exclusively dedicated to grabbing valuable
domains to resell them later. And then you have the commercial
services like SnapNames and NameWinner. A good domain that's about to
drop will have millions of queries being done constantly in an attempt
to register it.
   Hope that helps. Let me know if I can help any further. Cheers! :)

Thanks Ironcito for the information in your comment.

I wonder, would my queries at the registrar, mine is bulkregister and
I'm seeking the integration API they have to use it for this, cause
the owner or registrar of that domain to notice traffic?

Would checking on a domain be a good idea just in case it gets
cancelled instead of expiring?  very unlikely I would imagine. :-)

/Lizardnation

Hello again,

   The owner of the domain has no idea about who is doing queries on
his domain. Anyway, someone who would monitor a domain so closely is
very unlikely to let it expire.
   The registrar that currently holds the domain that you are
querying, if different from the registrar that you are using, can't
notice the traffic.
   The registrar that you are using CAN notice the traffic, but it's
not against their rules to query a domain within reasonable levels.
They could protest, however, if you generate so much traffic that it
bogs down their systems, their connections, and their access to the
registry.
   Concerning your second question, I don't think it is possible for a
domain to become available before the expiration date. The registry
has been paid for that domain by the registrar until the expiration
date, independently of what happens between the registrar and the
registrant. I believe (not sure) that it could become available if the
registrant expressly cancelled the domain, which is very unlikely
since it's already been paid and there are no refunds. Anyone who is
no longer interested in a domain would just let it expire, and even
that is unlikely for an interesting domain.
   I hope you understood everything... it becomes very confusing with
the terms registry, registrar and registrant being so alike! Let me
know if I can help any further. Cheers! :)

Hello Ironito,

Laud and clear, couldn't be explained better than this.  Thanks! :-)

If I have anymore questions, I know where to look.

/Lizardnation