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PSA: .io Domains can be deleted three days BEFORE expiration
Main Post:
One of my .io domains was first registered with Google Domains on July 3rd, 2015 at 12:14:19 UTC. It was set to expire on July 3rd, 2017 12:14:19 UTC. I have my google domains set for auto renewal and had no problem last year from what I recall. Well this year I received emails saying my domain was set to auto renew on May 29th and June 21st.
On June 29th at 2:30 PM UTC I received an email that there was a problem renewing my domain.
Google Domains Registration Alert
We’re unable to automatically renew <domain>.io
Whoops! Something went wrong when we tried to automatically renew your domain, and we need your help. Click the button above or follow these steps to renew your domain now:
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Navigate to your domain settings page (you may be prompted to log in)
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Under ‘Registration,’ select ‘Add years’ and choose how many years you’d like to add
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Click ‘Add’ and follow the on-screen payment instructions
Act fast to make sure your domain stays active and stays yours (if your registration isn’t renewed in 30 days, it will be deleted). It’s usually a very simple fix. See you online, The Google Domains team
I've received this email before for other domains, and usually it's credit card info. I was traveling across country on the 29th and thought I would get to it the next day (June 30th). Bad mistake...
On June 30th at 8 PM UTC I went to manually renew and update what I assumed was out of date credit card. I saw this instead:
This domain expired on Jul 3, 2017 and was deleted on Jun 30, 2017. You can restore it until Sep 29, 2017. Dismiss domain.
The "restore it" link sends me to a purchase page to pay $120, $60 for restoring the domain and $60 for renewing the registration for a year. Instant confusion. What the hell is restoring a domain and why does it say it was deleted today and expires July 3rd.
I went immediately to the chat support to find out what was happening. After about 20 minutes they figured out that .io domains are automatically deleted 3 days before expiration and informed me of this. It is the domain policy so they went up the chain to see if they could do anything about it for me. Well the answer was no, multiple times. Restoring a domain is non-refundable, and they would not credit me anything. I then called into their phone support, explained the chat conversation, and they disappeared up the authority chain and came back with the same answer. No help, fork over the additional $60 if you want your domain back.
Sure, it was my ignorance that led to the situation. I had updated my CC in google domains for a domain that expired and failed to auto-renew on June 14th. That was a .com though so apparently they are a bit more "cushy" with their auto-renewal timeline. As far as I know, I have the same CC on both accounts, but I can no longer check on the soon-to-be-expired domain since it has been "deleted". The kicker is my CC on file for other domains doesn't expire until 2018.
I really like Google Domains and the feature set. They have a very clean interface. I even transferred over another 3 domains last month. Sure it's my fault at the root, but the misleading email, and ridiculous timing and their lack of support is making me re-think that.
tl;dr .io domains will be deleted 3 days before they expire so they can extort you for double payment. Google's auto renew is about 24 hours before this date.
Top Comment:
What the heck is a restoration fee? You telling me it costs them $60 more to register a domain that was recently deleted than to register it new? Right...
.io vs .co vs .net?
Main Post:
Hi guys!
.com domain for my website is taken so I'm debating between .co, .net, and .io.
My website is not really about tech, but I think .io is still a good option.
Which one do you think is the best?
Top Comment: Hi guys! .com domain for my website is taken so I'm debating between .co, .net, and .io. My website is not really about tech, but I think .io is…
How is the market for .io ?
Main Post:
I remember for a while the .io domain name was in and in demand.
A lot of big tech companies used the .io domain and still do.
What do you think ? Are you.io domains valuable ? Or was it just a fad ?
I also recently hear that the .ai domains were registering hundreds each 3 minutes or something crazy like that.
Top Comment:
I see .io becoming more common especially in tech. Even Krystal hosting is moving from .uk to .io
What are the benefits of a .io domain?
Main Post:
The domain I want for my startup is available, so obviously I'm going to take it. But the .io domain is ~325% more expensive. Are these domains in such high demand that it justifies a premium price? Or is there a real benefit that I'm unaware of that makes it worth it?
Top Comment:
It's short and looks cool/techy.
Why do people these days choose a .io domain instead of .com domain for their web apps?
Main Post:
I have seen this a lot recently. Is there a reason behind it?
Top Comment:
Because the .com is taken
Help! I own a .io domain that I actually use and a big company with 60 employees says they own the trademark of the word.. What should I do?
Main Post:
Before I get started, let me just say that I'm not squatting this domain. I'm building a startup that uses the ____.io domain and it already has 600 pre-launch signups..
I got an email in December from this big company's law firm and back in December it was still a new site so I decided to tell them I would be willing to sell them the domain for $7k because I hadn't fully committed to the name and I could redo the marketing/design.
They tell me they think $7k is too much but they'll think about it, and that was the last I heard.. until today, 5 months later.
They wrote me another email saying:
We have spoken with our client about your offer to sell the domain name. Given our client’s established rights in the _____ mark, we are not ruling out pursuing legal action, but we believe that a reasonable economic solution can be still be reached at this stage.
Would you be available for a call later today?
So, obviously it's a little scary, I don't want to get caught in a legal battle, but do I hold any cards? Surely "pursuing legal action" is more expensive than $7k... how much should I ask for? I don't have the resources to go up against them.
Any thoughts? Thanks!
Edit: It's a word that is misspelled instead of an e it's an i..
For instance (this isn't the word), but instead of entourage it's intourage...
So I looked at the trademark and what the trademark is for accroding to http://tsdr.uspto.gov and it has vague similarities but their trademark is for downloadable content on mobile devices, and mine is a desktop application...
Also, I just realized the company raised a total of $60m in funding!
Edit 2: Thanks for the feedback everyone, ended up settling for $7k... could've probably gotten more but I'm 22 and they had 2 highly experienced lawyers on the phone and they were definitely scary! Not bad for a domain I bought for $20 6 months ago!
Top Comment:
And consider the 5 months work you've done as part of that price.
For example, lets say in 5 months you spent 1000 man hours acquiring those 600 signups, that cost you 15$/hour on pay roll, that's 15K more that that domain may be worth to you (that's how much you've already invested and would therefore have to spend again rebranding, etc.).
.com or .io - any downsides to io?
Main Post:
Hey, folks.
I'm working on setting up a website but, unfortunately, my chosen .com name reroutes to another website altogether. A .io link was recommended but I'm unsure if that would cause confusion amongst readers.
Are there any downsides to using a .io address?
Top Comment:
.io is fine, the downside is cost. I think the cheapest I've seen is $35. It's a gccTLD so no issues with SEO there. The only issue that you could face would be people typing in .com and being taken to that other site, which is a valid consideration but not necessarily a dealbreaker
What's the deal with the .io domain?
Main Post:
I am preparing a lesson plan for middle schoolers about domains and I just can't wrap my head around this one- I guess I didn't pay attention to the creation and evolution of it like I did the other ones.
I'm trying to research it and I'm getting that it's good for games, that the games are bad... it's less expensive, it's more expensive, and mostly all the sources are trying to sell website names so it's biased.
All I know for sure is that my students are obsessed with playing the .io games but they aren't allowed to in school because chatting and user names are super inappropriate. Is it a good domain or is it sketchy?
Top Comment:
The .io domain is the domain assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory. just like you can register a domain with .us or .uk, the .io is for the British Indian Ocean territory.
A lot of tech based companies have started using the .io domain because it looks cool and techy, that's really all it is.
ELI5: What does “.io” mean that is attached to the end of some video games titles and website titles?
Main Post: ELI5: What does “.io” mean that is attached to the end of some video games titles and website titles?
Top Comment: Some domains are related to countries. "domain.uk" is United Kingdom, and "domain.cn" is China, and "domain.tm" is Turkmenistan. "io" stands for "Indian Ocean", as in the "British Indian Ocean Territory". Approximately 1000 islands south of India. Mostly inhabited by military people, and the ...
Benefits of a .io TLD?
Main Post:
Hey all - posted in here before asking about .io and I'm doing it again!
Obviously .io has sort of become this catch-all domain for startups, gaming etc, so it obviously has easy recognition for this, but I'm wondering what the benefits of it are?
Top Comment:
The benefits are that it sounds techy