Why domain name services are not all equal
By Wendy on Wednesday 22 October 2008, 16:47 - General - Permalink
We believe in domain ethics – your domain is more than just a name, it’s your online presence, your company, profile or project. It should be protected and you should get what you want and what you expect with no tricks. But, you say, surely all domain names are the same? Why should it matter who you buy a domain from as they all come from the same place anyway, right? Well no, unfortunately that’s not true. There are many reasons why different domain providers offer better or worse deals, and it's not just price.
Not all domain offers are what they seem. Different domain name providers allow you to do different things with your domain. Some have service restrictions and sneaky pricing. It's not just the restrictions on the domain that can be limiting, it's the little surprises you might find out after you've paid. Sometimes you only find out about a bad deal once you've been caught by it, but we've put together a list of a few things to watch out for in the tricky domain market.
1. Sneaky pricing - Different pricing for register (buy now £0.99 per year!) and renewal (oops it costs more next year) - Different pricing for transfers out (oh, you want to leave, that'll be £xx) - The cost of a .co.uk at the registry is £2.50 per year. Companies selling below this have an ulterior motive!
2. Service restrictions - Can't get full DNS control - pay more for additional services
3. Front running/'sniffing' - Using your domain search data to buy domains before you do, or selling your domain search data. More references.
4. Account lockins - Locking your account for a period following changes, prevents transfer outs. More by Slashdot.
5. Domain ownership - Not the owner of your domain, some companies buy it on your behalf and then rent it to you.
6. Privacy - Selling your whois data/customer data
Gandi offers full DNS control, no sneaky pricing, no front running and no account lock ins. Our prices are fair, but profitable, so we have no incentive to constantly upsell things you don't need and bombard you with marketing messages. As one of our customers Miconian writes, ‘I used to see gandi as a discount registrar, but I now see them as offering a premium service: the implicit agreement to leave me the hell alone and let me register my domains in peace.’ We make sure you own your domain, this was one of the early reasons for Gandi's success. We do not sell your data and offer protection from whois spam and the ability to hide personal details.
We talk about domain ethics but do we follow through? We think so but what do you think?
Gandi UK Team
Have a read of this follow up article talking about other dodgy registrar practices.
Comments
Gandi is in my opinion the best registrar/ISP around. They consistently provide fabulous service at an excellent price. They never have problems and if they do they are on the ball and get it fixed. Since joining Gandi and setting up our clients domains etc we have never looked back.
Well done all at Gandi!! Keep up the fantastic work!.
Joe.
Hi Joe, thanks for your very kind comments (and great name). It almost looks like I've written this myself!
Anyway, thanks again, and we hope to continue to bring you and your clients great products and services for many years to come. Take care,
Joe
I love Gandi. I think you are one of the best registrar. Excellent service and support.
Also I love how you communicate with your customers, using Gandibar blog. It give me update on "what happen".
Keep up the wonderful work!
Hi Zhangjia, glad to hear it. We want to keep our customers up to date with what we're doing, and get their feedback and comments so we can make sure we're on the right track. So please do post and let us know when you find something interesting. Thanks,
Joe
Talk about peace of mind using Gandi. I've heard stories on what happened to a fellow who owned a domain name: someone who was offended at his website content called the registrar with a highly dubious legal claim or whatnot, and that registrar (one of the top registrars, the man who runs it is weird right-wing loudmouth) instantly disabled/locked the domain and froze the account of the domain owner without any regard to due process. I don't ask a registrar be a potential haven for criminal or unethical activity, but at least I know Gandi will stand for due process and my rights as a world citizen (should MY website rub the wrong person the wrong way and they attempt to take revenge).
Hear hear, Gandi is probably the best registrar I've used. Unfortunately, I can no longer use Gandi for various reasons, and finding a decent alternative is proving quite difficult. I wonder if you Gandi guys and gals can provide any recommendations?
@ ret, yes we do try to make sure we represent the customer interests rather than bowing to pressure from comanpies to block domains on even the smallest issue. A claim should be proved and substantiated, and action take as appropriate, not guity until proven innocent.
@ jakob, I'm sorry to hear you can't use us anymore (sounds intriguing). There are other good registrars out there. The smaller companies can offer good value and good terms, just make sure you check the details before you buy!
Thanks,
Joe
@joe , I'd be happy to tell you the story. Feel free to email me at the email address I used to post my last comment (putting jakob together with mentalized.net works).
I am sure you'll also be able to pull up the story from your support system if you search for that email address
Wow. Very informative post. Until now, I had been looking at registrars with the lowest prices. This really opened my eyes.
Well, I've just completed transfer of my two personal domain names (mine and my wife's) from another registrar to Gandi. The previous registrar didn't try to rip me off, but its administrative interface was a usability hell ridden with bugs, and any DNS change was really, really painful to complete.
I went to Gandi because I already knew it, for it is the registrar of my workplace's professional domain names, and I knew the service is good.
Please keep it this way!
hm, interesting explanation! never thought about these reasons... I thought it is just a question of prestige and price... And how do you think, if there will appear a new country who will give it the domain name?
wow......
I just noticed that miconian.com (Mentioned at your post) just changed their registrar to Dreamhost.