You may remember when we wrote about the shady dealings by the sneaky jerks over at Network Solutions.  For some time now, if you search with Network Solutions to see the availability of a domain name, the company registers it automatically and holds it for five days.  This means that you can’t buy it from anyone but them…for five days. 

There are a few problems with this.  First, Network Solutions is more expensive than most of their competitors.  So I should be able to search available domains at any of the registrar companies’ sites, and then choose to purchase said domain wherever I see fit.  But it’s not working that way over at Network Solutions.  They are the schoolyard bullies of the internet.  They steal your lunch and make you buy it back from them… at a premium.

Well, now they’re being sued for this shady practice.  And I think…well…it’s about time for this Network Solutions lawsuit to happen…maybe it’s even overdue. 

The lawfirm Kabateck Brown Kellner put out this press release announcing the suit.  From the release:

“Network Solutions has forced millions of people to buy Internet domain names from them instead of cheaper competitors through a scheme that’s netted the firm millions of dollars, a federal class action lawsuit filed today by Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP states.

Whenever someone searches for the availability of a domain name through Network Solutions’ website, the company immediately registers the name for itself, preventing other companies from selling it and forcing consumers to pay Network Solutions’ expensive fees.

If a consumer were to go to another, cheaper site to register the name, they would find the name is “unavailable.” Consumers are never informed that inquiring as to a name’s availability through Network Solutions results in the company holding a monopoly on selling that name.”

ICANN, the nonprofit that oversees domain name purchases, is also named in the suit because they aren’t doing anything to stop Network Solutions. 

Look, we said this before and we’re not afraid to say it again–until all our clients know to avoid the schoolyard bullies–don’t search for domain names through Network Solutions.  Oh, and also, don’t do business with them period.  Why would you want to after knowing this? 

Even if they reverse their policy, there are still plenty of reasons to avoid them.  Their domains are nearly four times as expensive, that’s been covered.  But they also have a difficult-to-navigate administrative control panel.  It’s hard to figure out how to do things with your domain, whereas the other registrars like Bulk Register make it intuitive and easy. 

And forget about transfering a domain name out of Network Solutions.  I mean, sure, it can be done.  But the second you change the domain status from ‘locked’ to ‘unlocked’, which is required before you can transfer it, Network Solutions puts the domain in a “transfer lock status”.  That’s right.  They take it out of “domain lock” only to put it in “transfer lock.”  Gee, thanks.  Then they hold the domain in stasis for 60 days just because you changed some of your administrative contact information or asked for the domain to be unlocked. 

As they did with the domain-stealing bit, Network Solutions claims that this “transfer lock status” is to protect you…and keep some hacker from logging in and stealing your domain without your knowledge.  But then why do none of the other registrars feel the need to do this?  I’ll tell you why.  Because they aren’t sneaky jerks and schoolyard bullies.  Network Solutions’ only reason for this transfer lock is so that you can have 60 more days to contemplate whether or not you really want to leave their service.  They’re hoping–I’m sure–that by the time 60 days have passed, that you’ll forget all about the fact that you even wanted to transfer the name in the first place. 

I’m not a mean guy.  I have no interest in bashing companies just for the sake of it–you can read through this blog and see that we rarely do that.  But there’s just so much going on at Network Solutions that we feel we need to warn our clients.  It seems they care WAY more about squeezing every dime out of you than they do about you.   And that’s what’s led to this Network Solutions lawsuit. 

For the record, we recommend you use Bulk Register, or GoDaddy, or just call us and we’ll take care of it for you.  But unless you enjoy forced overcharges and unnecessary hassles, don’t search for or buy a domain name through Network Solutions. 

This post is not for the seasoned Googler.  If you are an SEO or a web designer, if you use Google on a daily basis, or–heck–if you’re under the age of 25… chances are that you already know most of what I’m going to talk about here.  But we have a lot of clients that are still novices in the world of the web.  So this post is for them.  

So….”Why can’t I ever find what I’m looking for on Google?”  I get that question a lot.  More than you know.  And it used to puzzle me to no end, because I am able to very consistently find what I’m looking for on Google. 

I used to think that maybe the people who say they can’t were just searching for different things than I am.  But I guess I spend more time working with search engines than the average person, and that might be giving me an unfair advantage.  Perhaps the biggest reason you might not be able to find what you want is that you’re doing it wrong. 

Sorry, let me back up.  Google’s search algorithm is the most sophisticated of all the engines.  It’s very, very smart.  But we still need to help it along now and then by better describing what we’re searching for. 

1. Drill Down

Let’s talk first about how many words you’re including in your search.  As we discussed in this previous post, one-word searches are a thing of the past.  If you’re only using one word in your Google query, then chances are you’re going to struggle mightily to find what you need.  Here’s a good rule of thumb:  The more information you give Google on what you need, the better the odds are that they’ll return a result that helps you. 

If what you’re really searching for is a how-to guide on setting up your surround sound home theater system, you wouldn’t want to search for just the word “sound”.  Go ahead and try it… I’ll wait.  See, what you get for that search on Google isn’t helpful for your true need.  You get some definitions of “sound,” some official sites for radio stations or company’s with “sound” in their name, some free sound effects sites, and more stuff that won’t actually help you install that new killer sound system in your living room. 

So we need to drill down.  How about typing “surround sound system?”  This query is more specific, so Google returns results that are a bit more pertinent… but still not helpful for what you ultimately need.  You get sites that want to sell you a “surround sound system,” you get sites that explain how surround sound works, you get some buying guides, and one site that claims to tell you “how to buy and set up” a surround sound system. 

Good.  We’re getting closer. 

But we don’t want to buy one–we already bought the thing.  We don’t need to know how surround sound works (the science behind it)… we just want to hear it. 

So let’s just tell Google what we want to do, in as specific a way as possible.  Type “how to set up surround sound home theater system.”  Viola!  Like magic Google returns 10 listings on the first page of results that offer assistance in setting up a home theater system.  Awesome.  Great job, Google! 

But you see how we had to help them get there, right?  We were too vague at first.  So the first rule of finding what you want on Google is to be as specific as possible. 

Helpful Tip:  Another great way to drill down is to type a location name, particularly if you’re searching for a local service such as a CPA, mechanic, or dentist.  Typing “dentist” won’t help you find one nearby, but typing “dentist Nashville” will–assuming you live in Nashville, obviously.  So use place-names.  They are terribly helpful for getting accurate results.

2. Operators

Google’s search engine can take special commands.  Operators are commands in your query that tell Google to only return a certain kind of result.  A lot of them you probably know already. 

• For instance, the “+” character.  This operator forces words to be coupled together in a query.  So if you’re searching for chocolate animals, and you put the “+” character between the two words, your results will consist only of sites that have both those words on the page. 
• You can also use the “+” sign to have Google calculate basic arithmetic for you.  Typing 3654 + 7557 yields the actual sum of 11211–click here to see it yourself. Replace the plus sign with an “x” and you’ll get the total of those two numbers multiplied together–it’s 27,613,278 if you’re too lazy to click the link. 
• The minus character (”-”) eliminates certain words from results.  So if you want to know about bass–the fish–and want to filter out any results related to the musical version of the word “bass”, you could type “bass -music” into Google and get a list of results for pages containing the word “bass” but not the word “music.” 
• How about quotes?  Do you use quotes when you search?  You should, particularly if you want to find a site that has the exact phrase you type verbatim.  A great example of this is finding the name for a song you know only a partial lyric for.  I do this all the time.  Maybe you remember those commercials a few months back for the Apple Video iPod Nano, where the singer in the video sang, “1, 2, 3, 4, tell me that you love me more?”  So type in “1, 2, 3, 4, tell me that you love me more” into Google and guess what?  Every result is related to that song, the singer, or the commercial.  I was able to find out right away what the song was called (it’s called “1 2 3 4″) and who sang it (a new artist named Feist) in a matter of seconds.  And lots of people did this, by the way.  That song was the number one iTunes download in a matter of a week or so after the commercial started airing. 
• Use the “or” operator to cover multiple versions of the same word or phrase.  This is especially helpful when a word has more than one spelling (like “donut” or “doughnut”) or when someone or something has multiple names (like “Puff Daddy” or “P Diddy“). 

3. Advanced Operators

Google will give you all kinds of information if you just know how to ask for it. 

• Want to see how many websites link to yours?  Type “link:yourwebsitedomain.com” (obviously, you’ll want to replace “yourwebsitedomain” with your actual website domain).  Here, let’s try it with our official company website.  Typing “link:www.kbsweb.com” in the Google search box returns only sites that link to ours.  Looks like there are 502 websites linking to ours.  Hey–that’s more than I would have guessed. Want to see something neat?  Try the link command with Google’s website, typing “link:www.google.com” and see what you get.  Yup.  Over 3 million pages that link to Google’s home page.  Boy have we got some catching up to do, eh?
• What if you want to search only on one specific website.  For instance, Yahoo.  You can use the “site:” operator to restrict the Google results to a specific root URL.  So typing “sports site:www.yahoo.com” will only return results that are Yahoo pages that deal with sports. 
• Use Google as a dictionary, and find definitions for new words in a snap.  Maybe you need to know the definition of “hypothyroidism.”  If so, type “define: hypothyroidism” into Google and you’ll get a list of multiple definitions. 
• The “related” operator is handy for finding sites that are similar to one you already know.  So, you know Google is a search engine.  Say you want to find some more search engines, maybe some you’ve never heard of.  Just type “related:www.google.com” and you’ll get a whole list.  So nice of Google to provide a list of their competitors, don’t you think?
• Do you trade in the stock market?  The “stocks:” operator will treat everything that follows it as stock ticker symbols.  So typing “stock:yhoo” yields all sorts of information about Yahoo’s stock. 
• Find movie reviews and show-times with the “movie:” operator.  Type “movie:cloverfield” as an example, or just click here. 
• How about weather?  Yup.  Just type the word “weather” and add a city name or a zip code to see the latest forecast. 
• You can use Google for currency conversions.  Want to know how many U.S. Dollars you can get for your 500 Euros?  You can.  Just type “500 Euros to Dollars” into the search box and you’ll have your answer.  ($739.80 if you don’t feel like clicking). 

There are tons of operators other than the ones I mention here.  In fact, here’s a very handy site that has a huge list of all the various ways you can search for information on Google.  Or you can go to Google’s own official help center.

I hope this article helps you feel empowered to be a better Googler.  I hope that these tips will help you get more accurate results so that you never again have to say “Why can’t I ever find what I’m looking for on Google?”  Perhaps instead you’ll be saying, “Why am I so awesome at finding whatever I need on Google?”  I know I ask myself that question every morning when I look in the mirror.  Now, you can be just as awesome. 

So go.  Spread the news.  Google is a powerful tool, standing by night and day to assist in connecting you with the very information you need.  Sometimes we just need to provide better information up front to help it along.  Your training is complete, grasshopper. 

While GoDaddy and Register.com have grown huge customer bases by offering cheap domain names, Network Solutions has steadfastly held to their more expensive pricing structure.  Now they found a way to keep you from buying from the cheaper guys, and a host of technology experts are crying “Foul.” 

Whenever you go to Network Solutions to search for domain names–to see if the name you want is available–the company now registers that name for themselves, immediately.  Then, let’s say you decide later to buy the domain you searched, only from one of the cheaper places.  You go there and search the name, only to be told that Network Solutions now owns it.  Nice.  We tested this, by the way, with several ridiculous domains we’d never want to own anyway….we typed them in the search box at Network Solutions, and were told the domains were available.  Then when we went to GoDaddy to buy them, we were told Network Solutions owned them. 

Jerks.

Sure, Network Solutions will still let you buy it…for the premium price…and only from them. 

It all hinges on a little protection clause that was built in to protect the big domain registrar companies from fraudulent purchases.  There is a five-day window before the registrar company has to pay for registered domain names.  That allows them to make sure you’re not using a stolen credit card before getting burned on the charges. 

But now Network Solutions wants to use that five-day waiting period to beat down the average user, and hold your preferred domain name hostage.  The company is, of course, claiming that they are looking out for you:

To thwart the efforts of these sneaky individuals, Network Solutions reserves unregistered domains for up to four days from the date they are searched on our Web site. This customer protection feature provides our customers the opportunity to register names at a later date without fear that the name will be registered by the “Front Runners.” If the domain you searched is available and one that you really want, we suggest that you register it immediately to ensure that you will not lose the name.

They’re saying that there are sneaky jerks out there who want to snatch up your domain before you have a chance, and that they are only registering your searched domain themselves to protect you from these sneaky jerks.  It’s the old “I’m stealing from you to keep someone else from stealing from you” argument that, to my knowledge, has never been proven logical.  By registering names as soon as they are searched, Network Solutions is engaging in the very act they say they’re protecting you against.  Sheesh.  It’s circular logic on acid! 

So to sum up, Network Solutions will steal your domain in the name of protecting you, and then will offer to sell it to you at a rate three times what you’d pay elsewhere.  Make no mistake: there are definitely some sneaky jerks out there waiting to steal your domain name, and you can call them Network Solutions.  Shady stuff.  If you want to search for available domain names, go to a reputable registrar, or just give us a call and we’ll search it for you.