Plans for catching post-June

[ian]

Interested to know what you are all planning to do post-June regarding catching .co.uk names. The way I'm seeing it, and may be wrong, but belong the launch of .uk, any .co.uk you catch won't be entitled to the .uk, so there is a considerable risk that the .uk will launch in a similar way to a falling .co.uk and no doubt being polled by plenty of competitors. If you don't catch both, surely part of the value of the .co.uk (or .uk) is lost.

I can't imagine it will prevent the catch anyway, but surely it is causing concern for some?

 

[Edwin]

Interested to know what you are all planning to do post-June regarding catching .co.uk names. The way I'm seeing it, and may be wrong, but belong the launch of .uk, any .co.uk you catch won't be entitled to the .uk, so there is a considerable risk that the .uk will launch in a similar way to a falling .co.uk and no doubt being polled by plenty of competitors. If you don't catch both, surely part of the value of the .co.uk (or .uk) is lost.

I can't imagine it will prevent the catch anyway, but surely it is causing concern for some?

As I understand it, the .uk becomes available to register the second that the blocking domain (whether .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk) that qualified for the .uk drops.

So there are potentially two separate domains to go after:
- the blocking domain (assuming it's a .co.uk)
- the .uk domain

It also means that more attention will need to be paid to .org.uk drops on the reasonably rare occasion that:
- .org.uk is the domain that's qualified for the .uk
AND
- .org.uk is a nice generic
(although in this scenario you'd only be going for the .uk so there's no "2 domain" problem)

Part of the strategy going forward will no doubt be deciding how to split the quota between the .uk and the "old" blocking domain.

 

[ian]

Thanks Edwin, that is what I thought, though does I guess leave catchers in the difficult position of polling for both, not expecting to get them both, which imo, damages the return on investment if unable to sell them both.

I was planning to go for a domain I was convinced would drop early next year, but with no right to the .uk, it weakens the .co.uk which is a shame.

 

[martin-s]

It's simpler than that I would have said. Poll for the co.uk and then grab the .uk if you're successful on the co.

You won't get 100% of them, but it's a better combo than wasting polling time.

 

[ian]

It's simpler than that I would have said. Poll for the co.uk and then grab the .uk if you're successful on the co.

You won't get 100% of them, but it's a better combo than wasting polling time.

How would that work, as surely you'll have no right to the .uk even if you catch the .co.uk (after June 10th), therefore the .uk will be available in much the same way as any drop?

 

[AssetDomains]

How would that work, as surely you'll have no right to the .uk even if you catch the .co.uk (after June 10th), therefore the .uk will be available in much the same way as any drop?

Assuming the .uk becomes available instant the co.uk drops I assume most scripts will be tweaked to fire of the registration request for each domain at the exact same time.

 

[Edwin]

Ah, but there may be optimisations to be wrung out of the change. Are the two processes going to happen "simultaneously" or will there be a fraction of a second delay between one dropping and the other being freed up? And if so, which way will the delay be and will it always be consistent?

And what about domains suspended before expiry that get dropped, for example if the Whois details are found to be wholly misleading or the company went out of business? These are dropped outside the normal drop cycle - will the .uk be freed up in exactly the same way?

I can see that the keener drop catchers are going to have a lot of testing and script polishing to do!

 

[diablo]

Hypothetical question. Both .co.uk and .uk of the same word are dropping, same day, same time and you can only poll for one, which are you going for?

Me, .uk.

 

[diablo]

I would have said the same once over but the longer I've had to consider it, the more I wonder if .co.uk is too well established for .uk to make any real impression. As obvious as it sounds, .uk really does look like a new extension rather than the new .co.uk

That's interesting because the longer I have been considering this - and the more I work with and see domain names in their .uk format - the more convinced I am that it will quickly become the leading UK extension. Time will tell!

 

[Retired_Member42]

Interested to know what you are all planning to do post-June regarding catching .co.uk names. The way I'm seeing it, and may be wrong, but belong the launch of .uk, any .co.uk you catch won't be entitled to the .uk, so there is a considerable risk that the .uk will launch in a similar way to a falling .co.uk and no doubt being polled by plenty of competitors. If you don't catch both, surely part of the value of the .co.uk (or .uk) is lost.

I can't imagine it will prevent the catch anyway, but surely it is causing concern for some?

I guess it depends on the intended usage. I'd still develop a site on a .co.uk or .uk if I didn't have the pair quite happily. If you're catching a premium/short, both have individual value which will be worth more than reg fee. If I pay £5 to catch domain.co.uk and somebody else gets domain.uk - my domain.co.uk is still worth more than the reg fee. Potentially there is an immediate buyer also who wants the pairing also.

 

[Edwin]

How would that work, as surely you'll have no right to the .uk even if you catch the .co.uk (after June 10th), therefore the .uk will be available in much the same way as any drop?

I think the idea is that if both drop simultaneously (not "nearly simultaneously" but at exactly the same time) then your script detects that the .co.uk is no longer registered, and fires off 2 registration requests - the one for the .co.uk goes a fraction of a millisecond ahead of the one for the .uk (if you have a preference for .co.uk) or vice versa (if you fancy the .uk more)

 

[Murray]

It feels like it's going to be a bit of a mess with dropping domains and different co.uk & .uk owners

I would have preferred the rights to continue with the caught .co.uk for the next 5 years..

Should we all just make a gentleman's agreement that we only chase the co.uk and whoever gets it gets the .uk?

 

[Retired_Member42]

I think the idea is that if both drop simultaneously (not "nearly simultaneously" but at exactly the same time) then your script detects that the .co.uk is no longer registered, and fires off 2 registration requests - the one for the .co.uk goes a fraction of a millisecond ahead of the one for the .uk (if you have a preference for .co.uk) or vice versa (if you fancy the .uk more)

Even if they did drop at exactly the same time. It only takes one person with a reasonable script to be using their quota solely on the .uk version and they'll get it quicker than you waiting for .co.uk available and sending a reg request for both. It's not uncommon for people to get a few domain available messages back and still not get the domain as the window between detection and registration in the scheme of things is absolutely huge.