« Back to Domain Name Dictionary | Definition of Auction Sniping
Auction sniping is the process of watching a timed online auction (such as on eBay – or in the domain name world, Name), and placing a winning bid at the last possible moment (often seconds before the end of the auction), giving the other bidders no time to outbid the sniper.
The major domain auction houses – SnapNames, NameJet, Pool.com, and GoDaddy – prevent most cases of auction sniping by using a trigger which is invoked if a user attempts to bid within the auction’s final minutes. This trigger extends the domain name auction by several minutes, voiding the snipe attempt.
For example, Namejet prevents auction sniping in the following manner:
During the last 5 minutes of the auction, we begin our auction closing process. If we do not receive any bids during the auction closing process, we will close the auction.
If we do receive a bid during the auction closing process, we will extend the closing process for an additional 5 minutes past the time we receive the bid.
If we receive another bid within that time period, we will keep the auction open for yet another 5 minutes past the time we receive the bid. This process will continue until we stop receiving bids for a 5 minute period. At the conclusion of the closing process, the highest bidder will be awarded the name.
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