Ad shows a domain I own.
[Updated: see update and probable answer at bottom.] You’ve probably come across a “re-targeted” ad on the web before. One day I searched for Puma shoes at Zappos. Later that day I visited a web site with an ad for the exact shoes I had searched for on Zappos. They’re highly targeted (and useful) ads.
But I came across one the other day that has me puzzled:
Needless to say, this ad caught my attention as I own ExecutivePay.com.
But how did the company cookie a page that shows what domains I own? Or did it just cookie a domain lookup?
I bought the domain on a drop a while back, so I thought perhaps it was originally at Register.com and I had been cookied there before transferring it to another registrar. But it turns out the domain name was previously at Network Solutions.
The text on the ad doesn’t necessarily suggest I already own the domain name. Instead it could be triggered based on a domain lookup I performed somewhere. For example, I may have looked up the whois or availability on a domain name and got cookied. Now Register.com is suggesting I register the domain before it’s too late (which of course it already is).
If advertising cookies are picking up your whois searches, that’s a problem.
Any other thoughts on where I might have picked up this cookie?
[Update: I recall now that I have done some lookups at Register.com recently to see how Afternic’s premium listings look. It’s likely how I got the cookied, which is much better than a third party whois passing it along. Technically the domain was “available” since it can be purchased as a premium domain at Register.]
I believe you picked it up from domain search at Network Solutions. It’s happening to me almost daily. It doesn’t what website I visit, it could be a Church or Synagogue, and I have Network Solutions ad flashing at me. So, your initial hunch was on the money.
@ Uzoma – except that this was an ad for Register.com. I don’t see NetSol sharing cookies with a competitor.
Where I have seen ads targeted based on geolocation or other related sites I have visited (e.g. in an industry vertical) I have not seen this.
Did you do a WHOIS search at NetSol? If so, it may be worth testing it out.
mp/m
Perhaps something (toolbar etc…) cookies all your domains while you were logged into your registrar account where the domain is. I’d keep visiting the same website that displayed that ad as an experiment to see if other of you domain names start showing up.
Ooops, Andrew! I meant to say ‘Register.com’, as mine is with Netsol. I was helping a client when I typed earlier… full of typos.
Anyways, let us know what you find out, thanks!
@ Uzoma – I think it’s the same thing. I now remember that I did a search for ExecutivePay.com at Register.com to see how my premium listing looked there. Because I have a premium listing, technically the domain name is “available” on Register.com, which is probably when I got the cookie.