Organisations let domains expire for various reasons. Sometimes it’s an oversight – perhaps a payment method has lapsed, or the person responsible for renewing the domain has left the company. In other cases, the domain is simply no longer needed and is forgotten.
But when a domain expires, it can create serious risks for a company’s security and reputation. Once a domain becomes available, it can be snapped up by someone else. If the original owner didn’t intend to let it go, reclaiming it can be costly, complicated, or even impossible.
This isn’t just a problem for small businesses. In 2021, Google briefly lost control of its Argentina domain, which was purchased by a web designer for just £2. Although the domain was quickly returned and there was no malicious intent, the incident highlights how easily even major organisations can lose control of critical digital assets.
More recently, we’ve been involved in a case where a domain was allowed to expire and then a new registrant took over the domain years later. The original use of the domain was for an author of children’s books, who had the URL printed in his books at the time of publishing to take young readers to extra content for the series. However, years after the peak of popularity for the series, the domain was allowed to expire, and three years later someone else registered the domain and used it to host adult content.
The domain was likely purchased due to having a good reputation score. This meant the website could drive traffic, without the new registrant necessarily knowing why or what that traffic consisted of.
It’s uncommon and normal for individuals to register previously owned domains as a form of investment, or to generate traffic for a given purpose. These individuals often don’t know the reason for the traffic but will buy based on information like backlinks or SEO ratings.
While this domain was suspended for breaching our T&Cs, the Spydog story illustrates why it’s so important that registrants are encouraged to prevent their domain from expiring unless they really have no intent to use it in future.
what protects a domain from expiring?
There are several options available to secure a domain – and it is advised those looking to do so consult with their registrar or provider.
- Set your domain to auto-renew so it stays active unless you choose to cancel it. This prevents accidental expiry.
- Ensure payment information is up to date to ensure fees are paid
Some .UK registrars also offer additional layers of security to keep control of a domain – tools designed to stop hijacking, but can also prevent domain lapsing if used in combination with an auto renewal:
- Nominet Domain Lock – sometimes referred to as “registry lock”. It protects a registration these ways:
- Prevents nameservers from being changed
- Prevents the registrant’s name and/or address and contact details from being amended
- Prevents the domain from being transferred to another registrar
- Registrar lock. Will depend on .UK registrar – but can include additional security protections, like:
- Preventing the domain from being deleted
- Blocking unauthorised transfers
- Securing domain contact information from changes
- Prevent nameservers from being changed – if registrars apply the instruction clientUpdateProhibited this will stop the domain from being updated
These features only apply to the current registration of the domain – so enabling auto renew would help protect the domain.
can you get a domain back after it has expired?
If you want to challenge someone else’s registration of a domain name, instead of costly court action, Nominet offers a Dispute Resolution Service. To make a complaint through the DRS, the complainant must have rights like a trademark in a name that’s the same – or similar to the one reported. The DRS process does not guarantee a domain will be returned – as an independent legal expert runs this.
Stories like Spydog act as an important reminder for registrants to keep a close eye on expiry and renewal dates. Domain names may be a small cost but come with a huge impact if they lapse.