Domain investors often use shorthand and terms that might not make sense to the uninitiated. Here are some examples of common jargon used by domainers when talking about their domain investments and the process of registration.
Aftermarket – This is a catchall term for buying and selling domains that are already registered.
Auth Code – Short for authorization code, this is the code needed to transfer a domain name. When you buy or sell a domain, an authorization code is usually required to transfer the domain. This is sometimes referred to as an EPP code.
Backorder – Some expired domain catching services require you to register your interest in a domain name before it expires. This is called a backorder. If more than one person backorders an expiring domain, there’s usually an auction to determine who gets the domain.
BIN, Make Offer – These terms refer to the two different ways people sell domains. BIN is short for “buy it now”. A domain investor who sets a BIN price agrees to sell the domain at that price. The alternative is to set a domain to “make offer”, which means the domain isn’t priced and the domain owner wants prospective buyers to make the initial offer.
Cybersquatting – Cybersquatting is registering a domain name to take advantage of a trademark or brand name. Domain investing is not cybersquatting because domain investors focus on non-infringing domain names.
Domain Hack – A domain that uses both the left and right sides of the dot to form a word, phrase, or shortened version of a word.
GeoDomain – A domain that refers to a location. This could be the name of a city, state, county, or country by itself, or in combination with another word (such as cityPlumber.com).
Hand reg – A hand registration, often shortened to “hand reg”, is a domain that’s available for registration at regular prices. When you hand reg a domain, it means you go to a domain registrar like Zname and register the domain rather than buying it from someone who already registered it.
Parking – Domain parking is when a domain owner “parks” a domain with a simple landing page. Usually, this refers to a landing page with ads on it, but the term can also refer to other types of landing pages.
PPC – Short for pay-per-click, this is the primary type of monetization on parked domain names. The page has ads that generate revenue for each click.
Reverse Domain Name Hijacking – When a trademark owner files a cybersquatting case in bad faith to get a domain that is not cybersquatting, they are said to have attempted reverse domain name hijacking.