Pocket SEO » Domains

Is Rook Analytics Metapredict?

Josh — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 08:38:45 +0000

RookAnalytics.com was mentioned in a comment on my Metapredict post (essential reading for anyone who has ever bought a domain name). Basically, they are a company that swipes peoples’ domain names right after they are searched for. They also do business as Ultrarpm.

Here is what the home page of RookAnalytics.com says:

Rook Analytics is a next generation, predictive data analysis company. Rook Analytics seeks to use its proprietary algorithms to identify and create higher ROI online marketing opportunities.

We cater to large volume customers who value hands on service. To be considered as a potential client, please contact us with your anticipated volume, and any special needs you may have. Someone will respond to you soon.

It’s similar wording to Ultrarpm.com’s Web site:

UltraRPM is a next generation, predictive data analysis company. UltraRPM seeks to use its proprietary algorithms to identify and create higher ROI online marketing opportunities.

Read more about domaining and the end of domain tasting.

UPDATE: I found a domain registered by Rook Analytics and it looks like they are based in Germany? I think this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Registrant:
Rook Analytics
Feringastr. 6
85774 Unterfoehring
Germany
+49 (0) 89 99216 476 (v)
+49 (0) 89 99216 170 (f)

Domain Name: unicief.com
Created on: 2007-12-04 12:21:49
Expires on: 2008-12-04 12:21:49

Administrative Contact:
Administrator, Domain
Rook Analytics
Feringastr. 6
85774 Unterfoehring
Germany
+49 (0) 89 99216 476 (v)
+49 (0) 89 99216 170 (f)

Technical Contact:
Administrator, Domain
Rook Analytics
Feringastr. 6
85774 Unterfoehring
Germany
+49 (0) 89 99216 476 (v)
+49 (0) 89 99216 170 (f)

Domain servers in listed order:
SK.S1.NS1.NS178.CNOMY.COM
SK.S1.NS2.NS178.CNOMY.COM

The email address in the registration info is admin@rookanalytics.com so it appears to be the same company.

Network Solutions Domain Tasting Customers Domain Names

Josh — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:15:50 +0000

I’ve been watching the issue of domain tasting ever since metapredict.com stole my friend’s domain name.

The Register just reported that Network Solution is now domain tasting, with the dubious excuse that they are “protecting their customers”.

Network Solutions began self-registering domains in early January. Basically, if you search its website for a particular domain but don’t immediately buy it, the company registers the domain on its own and holds onto it for the next four days (under current ICANN rules, it can do so without paying a registration fee). This means that you can still purchase the address from Network Solutions, but you can’t purchase it from any other registrar.

You could argue that this likely to boost the company’s profits. But Network Solutions continues to insist that it’s simply trying to protect its customers from certain unnamed miscreants who’ve found a way to monitor searches on its site. If customers show interest in domains without actually purchasing, the company says, these unnamed front runners are sure to snap them up. So Network Solutions is snapping them up instead.

Network Solutions referred to a “secret proof” that other companies were snatching up their customers’ domain names:

Though ICANN pointed out that it sees no evidence of domain front running, Nevett continued to insist that customers are constantly complaining about the practice. He even said that some front runners are attempting to squeeze some extra dough from his customers.

“We also had some complaints where the customer said they looked at a name, they didn’t purchase it, and then they got a phone call a day later, asking if they want to purchase the name at a highly inflated price.”

Is Network Solutions’ secret proof Metapredict.com? Metapredict is the company that is stealing/tasting a lot of domain names at the moment.

The full story is on the Register’s Network Solutions domain tasting article.

The End of Domain Tasting

Josh — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:38:04 +0000

Domain tasting is a serious problem and has led to issues like the ones mentioned in my article on metapredict.com.

More about the end of domain tasting/kiting at the New York Times and zdnet.

Verizon Overrides Internet Searches

Josh — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 04:59:07 +0000

“Subscribers to Verizonâ€™s high-powered fiber-optic Internet service (FiOS) are reporting that when they mistype a Web site address, they get redirected to Verizonâ€™s own search engine page â€” even if they donâ€™t have Verizonâ€™s search page set as their default.”

Frank Schilling comments on Verizon’s hijacking of mistyped domains:

Whatâ€™s funny is that Verizon has been at the forefront of litigating against domain registrants who take over typo domain names like VeriznPhones.com.. Most error-traffic is comprised of typo-variants of existing websites, so one could argue that Verizon has now become a typosquatter themselves, taking over inactive searches (non resolving urls) and selling advertising on the backs of these wayward visitors as it â€œhelpsâ€ them navigate elsewhere.

The original article about Verizon is here.

UltraRPM – Profiting From Madeleine McCann Tragedy?

Josh — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 17:17:27 +0000

I’ve gotten a large response from my original post on UltraRPM, and wanted to write a little more about what I’ve found in my research on this company.

The Daily Mail has a story called Sick web hijackers cash in on Madeleine that mentions UltraRPM:

So-called ‘typosquatting’ is a growing menace on the Internet and involves registering domain names similar to those of popular websites.

Some bogus sites are set up to imitate the original with the intention of fraudulently obtaining personal details, such as bank account numbers.

Others simply aim to increase traffic to their own services or sell advertising space.

One of the companies exploiting the popularity of Madeleine’s website is California-based UltraRPM.

The firm registered at least three domain names similar to the official site this week, one with just a single letter missing.

It then used a ‘domain parking’ company called Trafficz.com to manage the site and fill it with adverts from mainly British companies whose advertising agencies pay a fee for each visitor who clicks on the links.

The fees are usually no more than about a penny a click, but can rise up to Â£40 in some cases.

UltraRPM also does business as Metapredict.com.

Who Is UltraRPM?

A comment from August 13, 2007 on the Domain Tools Blog says:

In the last four days my Domain Tools Mark Alert reports have been off the wall. ALL of the traffic is from exactly one Registrar UltraRPM, Inc. and its front organization MetaPredict which is just another name for UltraRPM. What UltraRPM is doing is not even Domain Squatting, it is Domain Extortion!

When is ICANN going to pull the plug on UltraRPM? Only a licensed Registrar could pull this off.

There is a clue that possibly links UltraRPM with another registrar called OnlineNIC.com which appears to be associated with some Chinese Web sites.

If you have information on UltraRPM, Metapredict, or a possible connection with OnlineNIC, please leave a comment below.

Metapredict.com – Stealing Domain Names?

Josh — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:46:34 +0000

As mentioned in my previous post, Is Spyware Stealing Your Domain Names?, Metapredict.com / UltraRPM.com is a company that is mysteriously registering people’s domain names right after they have been searched for.

When I wrote the original article, Metapredict.com did not resolve to a Web site. Metapredict.com now has a site online:

Like UltraRPM.com, Metapredict.com has a domain search box on their home page. Many people who end up there probably don’t know about Metapredict’s history of registering people’s domain names just after they are typed into domain search boxes.

If your domain has been taken by UltraRPM (dba Metapredict.com) their contact information can be found on Metapredict.com (trent@metapredict.com) or on ICANN.org which gives Metapredict.com contact information as: Trent Cooper +1-626-796-1004.

Do not try to get your domain name back until after the 5-day grace period is over. Metapredict.com practices “domain kiting” or “domain tasting” which means that they register a domain for a 5-day trial and probably only keep the domains that look like there is interest in. Wait until at least 5 days after your domain name has been taken to see if it becomes available again. If it doesn’t become available, then you could contact Metapredict / UltraRPM.

I wish readers the best of luck in getting your domains back.

DomainRenewalOnline.com Scam

Josh — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:47:19 +0000

Continuing in the series on domain scams is the story of DomainRenewOnline.com.

I recently received the following email from reminder@domainrenewalonline.com:
(click on the thumbnail for full-size image)

It is time to renew your domain name www.——————–

————————–
Your domain name www.——————— will expire within 90 days.
You may renew your domain automatically with Domain Renewal. Click on the link in this
e-mail to renew the domain for another year. You should renew your domain as soon as
possible in order for it to continue to be registered in your name.

Click here if you wish to renew your domain
——–> http://www.domainrenewalonline.com/for.php?d=———————

As soon as we have received your payment, you will receive a confirmation that your domain
has been renewed.

————————–
Services and information about Domain Renewal
Domain Renewal maintains domain addresses, and registers and consults companies in
relation to Internet domain ownership. We inform businesses about which domains are
registered, and remind them if a domain is due to expire, or when it is time to renew a domain.
If you want Domain Renewal to extend the domain for you, we ask you to click on the link in
this e-mail. If you do not wish to use your domain after the due date for renewal, you may
disregard this e-mail. When Domain Renewal extends your domain no information will be
changed in the â€œWhoisâ€ information section. The domain will be extended for 1 year. You will
therefore continue with your current supplier. You may also request your Internet Service
Provider to renew the domain for you. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate
to contact our customer service centre by sending an e-mail to
support@domainrenewalonline.com

My domain name is not registered with DomainRenewalOnline.com and I’ve never heard of the company until now. They try to make it seem as if they are your domain name provider—even writing (in image-embedded text) that they are “Your Domain Name Provider”.

This practice is similar to what Domain Registry of America (DROA) was doing:

DROA is a re-seller of domain name registration services for a company called eNom, Inc. (eNom), an accredited registrar of Internet domain names. It allegedly conducts business by sending mass-marketed direct mail to U.S. consumers, soliciting them to transfer their domain name registrations from their current Internet domain name registrar to eNom. According to the FTC, DROAâ€™s mail solicitations to consumers appear to be renewal notices or invoices from the consumersâ€™ current registrars, advising them that their domain names are about to expire, and requesting payment for â€œrenewalâ€ of the domain name registration….

According to the Commissionâ€™s complaint, in marketing its domain name registration services, DROA has violated the FTC Act in several ways. First, it allegedly uses notices/invoices that mislead consumers into thinking that they are renewing their registrations with their current registrar when, instead, they are transferring their registrations to DROAâ€™s registrar, eNom.

Have any readers received a similar email from DomainRenewalOnline.com or similar company?

Is Spyware Stealing Your Domain Names?

Josh — Mon, 21 May 2007 10:09:22 +0000

A friend recently looked into buying a domain name. She typed the domain into Internet Explorer and nothing came up. She typed the domain name into the search box at GoDaddy.com and the domain was available. But she didn’t buy it right away.

When checking the domain again the next day we saw that the domain had been registered by someone else just a few hours after she had searched for it. Because the name did not contain any English words (or real words in any language) we knew that it could not have been a coincidence.

My first thought was that GoDaddy had stolen the domain name and was kiting it — which would have been hypocritical because the CEO of GoDaddy had written a criticism of the practice on his blog. Further research indicated that domains were being stolen even without typing them into GoDaddy, so that ruled out GoDaddy.

The ICANN Wiki explains "domain kiting" or "domain tasting":

Because there is a 5 day grace period which for returning and receiving a refund on a domain, registrants are utilizing this to register domains, test them for traffic and keep the domains which are monetizable. This approach has the potential to be particularly lucrative and low risk because these businesses can test the residual traffic of a domain name before paying for it. In addition, the registrant can benefit from any residual income from the traffic received during the five day period even if the domain is refunded.

Sure enough, 5 days after the domain was stolen it was released and my friend was able to register it. We had already begun to investigate the issue of who stole her domain name.

The company that appears to have stolen her domain name and “tasted” it is called UltraRPM.com.

This is a screenshot of their home page:

The UltraRPM.com home page says:

UltraRPM is a next generation, predictive data analysis company. UltraRPM seeks to use its proprietary algorithms to identify and create higher ROI online marketing opportunities.

Our products are still under development so please check back for more information once we have launched.

Internic shows that UltraRPM does business as Metapredict.com, but Metapredict.com does not resolve when typing it into a browser.

We began testing other domain names to see if they would be stolen and "tasted". For the first test, I booted up Damn Small Linux and and typed a domain into GoDaddy’s search box. I wanted to try it on a clean operating system. The test was not 100% clean though because my friend had also typed the domain into the address bar of Internet Explorer on her computer. Sure enough, the domain was registered by UltraRPM a few hours after searching for it.

In my research I came across a blog post on domaintools.com about stealing domain names. The article mentioned that ISPs sell Non-eXistent Domain (NDX) data to people. I began to suspect that my ISP might be stealing the domain names.

The DomainTools article didn’t seem to think that spyware was a common issue:

For any browser plug-in that is free, ask yourself why is it free and whether they send data back to a server. Avoid software on computers that reports data back to the Internet. Of course this is the most obvious advice, but I need to mention it. The likelihood of someone datamining domain name research from spyware is small. If they have spyware on your computer, itâ€™s more likely they are going after credit cards numbers and social security numbers instead of domain research.

To test this, I typed a few non-existent domain names into my browser in Linux on the same Internet connection. Those domains were not registered and kited like the previous ones. That seemed to indicate that the ISP was not responsible. I recommended that my friend run AVG Anti-Spyware which is the strongest spyware/trojan scanner that I’ve found. AVG-Anti Spyware found many problems on her computer including a trojan. I didn’t see the list of scanned items though so I don’t know exactly what spyware was on the computer and whether it could have been responsible for stealing her domain names as she typed them into the address bar of Internet Explorer.

The original suspects in this case were GoDaddy, my ISP, and spyware. GoDaddy and the ISP seem to have been eliminated through my non-scientific experiments. At the moment I am suspecting that spyware may have been the problem in this case.

It would be great if readers could perform similar tests on their own computers. I recommend running your tests as follows:

Experiment with only one domain at a time
Don’t use dashes in the domains
Make up a domain that sounds like a brand name, possibly with a component that is not a real word.

The only other mention I’ve found of UltraRPM is on an article about companies who are exploiting the popularity of Madeleine McCann’s Web site (a child abducted in Portugal).

If you find anything interesting or have more information about UltraRPM and Metapredict, please leave a comment below. I’m also interested in more information about domain tasting and what is being done to stop it.

UPDATE: Thanks for the many comments. If this has happened to you and you are using Windows, please run the free trial of AVG Anti-Spyware on your computer and send me the log of any malware that the program finds. Finding a common piece of spyware (or lack of one) across many incidents it might shed some light onto this issue. To contact me, please use the contact form.

UPDATE: I’ve written additional articles about Metapredict.com and UltraRPM.