The not-quite-domain-name-slamming school of marketing

My daughter has a Web site. This week she received by mail an official looking "Domain Name Expiration Notice" from Liberty Names of America stating that it was time to renew her domain name. But this wasn't really a domain name renewal bill:  It was a veiled attempt to get her to  switch to Liberty as her domain name registrar.

That's explained in the body of the letter, but the tear off payment "stub" looks just like a regular bill. A consumer who is not paying close attention could look at the top of the letter, tear off the stub and unwittingly transfer their domain name to a new registrar. In this case the "bill" nearly made it into my in box. After further scrutiny, however, I routed it directly to the trash.

I knew something was amiss because my daughter's domain name is automatically renewed by her Web hosting company at no charge. Liberty Names wants $29 per year. In return it offers the "great benefits" of renewing her domain name registration and providing "free" DNS, URL and e-mail forwarding. (They don't mention that other registrars, such as Godaddy.com, will do this and more for less than $10 a year.)

You still have to send the form in, so it's not exactly domain name slamming. But it is sleazy marketing. Generally I won't respond to a company that sends this type of solicitation, even if the product or service is reputable and the price is competitive. I must be in the minority, however, because these types of solicitations just keep on coming.