How often do you go to a domain registrar's website and search for a domain name to see if it's available? I do it quite often, when an inspiration hits me or I have an idea for a new site. But I don't always register the ones that I find are available right away.

Have you ever wondered whether the domain registrars track these searches and grab the good ones for themselves?

Well, according to this story about Network Solutions from PC World, they are doing just that - grabbing domains that are searched for on their site in their own name. They'll sell them to you at the normal price, but they essentially lock you into buying from them because as far as any other registrar is concerned, the domain is now taken.

They claim this is a way to fight "domain tasting" which is one way domainers make money - register a ton of domain names, find which ones get type-in traffic and then release the rest within the 5 day window you have to release new domains without having to pay for them.

Unfortunately, if the PC World article is accurate, Network Solutions has come up with a solution that's no better than the problem.

They charge $34.99 for a one year .com registration. Compare that to the $8-10 you'll pay at Godaddy, Namecheap and many others. You'll see why it's a bad idea to have a domain locked in at Network Solutions.

I tested this today by doing several searches on Network Solutions and then checking them on Namecheap. After several hours, the domains are still showing as available, so I don't know if this is happening all the time or just in certain cases (or maybe not at all).

Regardless, I'll be avoiding Network Solutions for my searches for new domains.