Does Google peek into confidential Whois data?

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jake321

jake321

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I understand Google is an ICANN Registrar and that being so enables to get the real Whois info.

Can the domainer experts comment on this, can they do it automatically on each site their robots examine?

If so, it would kinda low the multi site/IP cluster games.
 


hey, i am not a domain expert, just trying to learn more about the internet industry. if u dont mind, from what i understand, once a domain owner purchases their domain they can set their WHOIS info private, so how can Google peek into it?
 
jake321 said:
I understand Google is an ICANN Registrar and that being so enables to get the real Whois info.

Can the domainer experts comment on this, can they do it automatically on each site their robots examine?

If so, it would kinda low the multi site/IP cluster games.
Click to expand...

I think that while they can, it would be illegal to do such if not one of their own domains. Also a private whois doesn't mean 100% private, it just doesn't show your actual info to the automated processes.
 
BaNaNaS said:
hey, i am not a domain expert, just trying to learn more about the internet industry. if u dont mind, from what i understand, once a domain owner purchases their domain they can set their WHOIS info private, so how can Google peek into it?
Click to expand...

They don't just "set to private", but rather you pay the registrar to put up their own contact info in place of yours with a user id (which law enforcement or other folks could request the real identity from the registrar). As mentioned by the OP Google is their own top level ICANN registrar, which means they have a bit more privilege to records than the general public or robots would have. All WhoIS data is supposed to be public anyways as per icann rules, be it your own information or a representative (ie: the registrar selling privacy).

Some offer the privacy included, but you're still *cough* required *cough* to enter in your real contact information.
 
kblessinggr said:
They don't just "set to private", but rather you pay the registrar to put up their own contact info in place of yours with a user id (which law enforcement or other folks could request the real identity from the registrar). As mentioned by the OP Google is their own top level ICANN registrar, which means they have a bit more privilege to records than the general public or robots would have. All WhoIS data is supposed to be public anyways as per icann rules, be it your own information or a representative (ie: the registrar selling privacy).

Some offer the privacy included, but you're still *cough* required *cough* to enter in your real contact information.
Click to expand...


ahh, i see. so what would be the purpose for Goolge to peek into this registry information? to buy the domains which are not theirs?
 
Google wants to know all?

BaNaNaS said:
ahh, i see. so what would be the purpose for Goolge to peek into this registry information? to buy the domains which are not theirs?
Click to expand...

People set up seemingly unrelated sites on different domains & host/IP to pump up ranking by linking them all to a target site. Examining the Whois to find the domains share the same owner would depreciate the value of the links, likewise if it's not really private Whois.



Once you sign up for a Google membership, they could watch your ip show up on any site with analytics installed, yas know just for marketing research.
 
jake321 said:
Once you sign up for a Google membership, they could watch your ip show up on any site with analytics installed, yas know just for marketing research.
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I wonder if they sell that information? ie: The browsing trend of various folks from different regions and which analytics-installed websites they've visited, and if they have a google account then attach their demographic (age, etc) to those trends.
 
jake321 said:
People set up seemingly unrelated sites on different domains & host/IP to pump up ranking by linking them all to a target site. Examining the Whois to find the domains share the same owner would depreciate the value of the links, likewise if it's not really private Whois.



Once you sign up for a Google membership, they could watch your ip show up on any site with analytics installed, yas know just for marketing research.
Click to expand...

ok ok , it is more clear now. so lets say someone is trying to boost their ratings on google by linking all of these unrelated sites to the target site, would google want to interfere or can they, if the person is trying to do this organically? or what would be the reason that google would even care that affiliates are doing this?

btw i really appreciate your knowledge. :)
 
jake321 said:
People set up seemingly unrelated sites on different domains & host/IP to pump up ranking by linking them all to a target site. Examining the Whois to find the domains share the same owner would depreciate the value of the links, likewise if it's not really private Whois.



Once you sign up for a Google membership, they could watch your ip show up on any site with analytics installed, yas know just for marketing research.
Click to expand...


I hope you guys read this twice, esp the analytics bit. There are even services out there that will track all your sites by your analytics ID and you can buy a report for as little as $9.99 (and it is all legit). Just be aware of this.....
 
riddarhusetgal said:
I hope you guys read this twice, esp the analytics bit. There are even services out there that will track all your sites by your analytics ID and you can buy a report for as little as $9.99 (and it is all legit). Just be aware of this.....
Click to expand...

Some information you opt-in just simply by signing up for google analytics. For more in depth information you have to opt in the settings to be shared with google's "partners". Which they claim is anonymous.
 
I really wouldnt be surprised. I mean they are real into data mining so doing who is on every domain name is prob just another one of the thousands of services they do
 
I too have always wondered about this. Google can check the whois data for your domain and may be they have hidden racist algorithms that always rank US-based sites higher. I have come across instances where European or Asian English content was always ranked lower by Google even though the content was better.
 
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