Do registrars register names after you search for them?
A suspicion, tested. Every month, new unregistered, randomly generated names are searched on different registrars — or never — and then watched daily in the public registry data. Every result is published, whatever it shows.
kleoshq.com: searched, then found it already registered (not by me)
What this does — and doesn't — show
- It's one anecdote. There is no control group here, and a name can be registered shortly after a search by coincidence. That is exactly what the experiment below measures.
- The search is what counts. Names are grouped by where they were searched. The registrar of record is recorded for information only: a third party can register a name through any registrar, so it is never used to attribute a registration.
- Timing evidence. The search time is a browser-history entry for a visit to Namecheap's domain search page, so the exact search could have been a few minutes later.
Share of names registered, by group · November 2026
Each bar is one group of names. The control group — never searched anywhere — shows how often a name like these is registered anyway. Hover a bar for the numbers and the test against the control.
Table view
| Registrar | Action | Names | Registered | Rate | p vs. control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | Search + cart | 5 | 0 | 0.0% | 1.000 |
| Namecheap | Search only | 5 | 0 | 0.0% | 1.000 |
| GoDaddy | Search + cart | 5 | 0 | 0.0% | 1.000 |
| GoDaddy | Search only | 5 | 0 | 0.0% | 1.000 |
| IONOS | Search + cart | 5 | 0 | 0.0% | 1.000 |
| IONOS | Search only | 5 | 0 | 0.0% | 1.000 |
| Control | Never searched | 5 | 0 | 0.0% | — |
When do registrations happen? · November 2026
Cumulative registered names, by days elapsed since the search (or since monitoring started, for the control).
Table view
| Group | Names | Registered | Days after search |
|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | 10 | 0 | — |
| GoDaddy | 10 | 0 | — |
| IONOS | 10 | 0 | — |
| Control | 5 | 0 | — |
Registered names · November 2026
View all →None so far. This table fills in as the registry reports registrations.
Month by month
One cohort per month. Each is frozen into a published snapshot on the 1st of the following month.
How it works
Generate monthly
On the 1st, brand-like names that the registry itself says are free — 5 per group, every candidate logged. Each is randomly assigned to a group, and the assignment is fingerprinted.
Search
A real browser does one short search session a day, a few names at a time, like a person would — some also added to the cart, never purchased. Control names are never typed anywhere.
Watch & consolidate
Every day the public registry (RDAP) is asked about each name. A newly registered name is flagged against the registrar it was searched on. Each month is frozen into a snapshot.