Questionable bidding sparks outcry.
As detailed over at NamePros, it started with a question about bidding by domain investors Andy and James Booth. It appeared with Andy Booth was bidding on his own domain; he responded by saying that he no longer owned the domains even though he was listed as the owner in Whois. But if you take the time to read through the thread, it goes beyond just these bidders. There’s some questionable stuff that makes it look like some people are engaged in shenanigans.
Shill and unnatural bidding is a serious allegation. Trust in platforms is key to continued usage.
GoDaddy went through this when a number of apparently fake bidders didn’t pay for auctions they won. People stopped participating because they questioned if competitors pushing up the bids were really going to pay. The company implemented bidder verification and trust was mostly restored.
In the case of NameJet, it’s not clear how widespread the problem is. It appears that some people might have been bidding on auctions in which they had some sort of stake, or there was “friend bidding” involved. The responses to the allegations haven’t held water with many commenters on the thread.
Again, it’s not 100% clear at this point. NameJet released an initial statement but is continuing to investigate.
I spoke with NameJet GM Jonathan Tenenbaum this afternoon, and he reiterated that they are continuing to look into all of the allegations. He said the company takes the allegations seriously and is taking the time to fully investigate them. It will take action (both with individual bidders and to improve the platform) based on what it finds.
To NameJet’s credit, it has some features that make it possible to track questionable bidding. If it weren’t for the site’s use of bidder handles, no one would have spotted this behavior. GoDaddy still refers to people merely as a bidder number that changes from auction to auction.
Regardless of which allegations are true, I was disappointed in Andy Booth’s initial response for people to “Find something better to complain about” and James Booth’s statement that people should “Find something better to moan about”. The integrity of auction bidding is extremely important. It’s definitely something to complain and moan about, and it’s fair to demand a full and detailed response to any allegations.
More Golden boy names (more than 2) are going to be ruined after this is all said and done.
Over the course of many months now, there have been hundreds of domains having bidders numbered in the twenties, thirties, forties, etc.; absolutely bogus!
I don’t think that’s bogus at all.
Halverez strikes again!
“…[N]umbering…”
The Booth brothers bidding on the same domains like mgp.com is one thing, but what about all the accounts that are just pushing up prices like “hkdn” and the multiple other account handles of Oliver Hoger (seek). This is going on for years now and NJ really couldn’t care less. It is so obvious, I can’t believe it took so long for people to start complaining.
People have been complaining for a long time. Namejet won’t do anything unless it is widely publicized.
None of those particular one deserved it…
OK. I’d take a look at how many backordered it vs. bid in the auction. A lot of domains can get backordered just because someone else backordered it. Once the bidding begins the people evaluate it.
“…[O]nes…”
James Booth domainer is a crook, trust me in that one.
These guys operate out of Panama Gilbratar and the Philippines, I wonder why?
Thanks for the sharing of what can only be described as “disturbing information” Makes you wonder what people new to the industry think ?
Where does Booth brothers, Hoger, and Rossner operate out of? I rest my case!
I stopped buying names on Namejet years ago. When I did, I only back order names that were expiring, not names other domainers were dumping.
Which platforms are considered shill proof? For lack of a better way to say it. GoDaddy was mentioned in the article, others people like?
We’re going mad over this and now there is http://ShillGate.com !!!
Always wondered when this ongoing fraud would become a public scandal. About freaking time.
Andrew published an article I wrote about shill bidding at Flippa back in January 2015. And I would have kept going. I was gathering documentation on other sellers, including cases of shill bidding at Flippa and on other larger platforms.
Unfortunately, the domain industry / domainer community has little appetite for such negative articles.
Writing any exposé takes weeks of work, which cannot be adequately paid for. Publishing them means burning bridges with major advertisers within a very small field and risking legal liability for any allegation that is less than fully substantiated . So there was very little incentive for Andrew as a publisher.
And very little incentive for me as a researcher / writer. After the 1 piece on Flippa, I found myself sabotaged by bloggers and brokers (who had financial or professional ties to the company I was critiquing) as a “conspiracy theorist”. At best, I could make enemies, create hassle, and limit my own opportunities for selling domains.
This situation within the domain industry will never change. We are unregulated. Observers who see the problems can only lose by discussing them openly. Financial pressure inclines certain corners of the industry toward the formation of large shill bidding networks. And those who participate end up vastly more influential within this small industry than those who do not.
Corruption works! Whole nations function on that economic model. At least, the governments and business leaders do. Why or how? Lack of regulation.
Power imbalances. So it’s hardly surprising that certain pockets of the domain industry mirror this behavior.