Private WHOIS?

[seeker]

This topic keeps coming back every once in a while, so I'd like to take this opportunity to bring it back myself

Do you use Private whois?
What is your experience with it?
I use to use it very frequently in the past, but now I just divide the domains into different companies that I own with their own registrant info.
While it does offer some competitive edges (to use Private whois), the lack of communication from a potential buyer is too large to miss.
I don't want my competition to know how many domains I own in a certain category

 

[accurate]

If you want to sell why use it?

 

[Commerce]

Private whois has its place, but I think it is best used by a small niche. Any business that uses it kind of screams out scam to me, however, others may feel differently. Bottom line, using a PO Box makes more sense to me for privacy and cost reasons. As to not having folks know which domains you hold, I'm not sure that really matters. Since I may well be missing something enormous, why do you think it matters?

 

[seeker]

Here is an example.
I own and developed a high traffic blog under my company name. I want to promote a product(s) I am selling that is on another site, and in order to attract advertisers (multiple income sources) I don't want the audience to know that I am promoting my own site so I have the second site's whois show a different company I own.
That's just a small example.

 

[seeker]

Here is another example that applies not only to married people...
So you are going through a divorce settlement and your wife wants half of your domains.
Either going "dark" by private whois or by spreading the domains into 3 or 4 companies, the greedy soon to be x-wife wont know what domains you have

 

[durdom]

I use privacy whois for specific domains only where i don't want to be bothered i also offer it to clients who want to keep their domain info private have come across quite a bit in the gaming industry who like to swat people ( swat means call the police on people for false reasons)

 

[dynadot]

It just depends on the nature of your work. *I* (my personal opinion) tend to agree that it looks bad when a company uses it. It is different for private citizens. *I* do use it on my personal domains. Without it, I would get tons of phone calls at all hours of the day and emails from marketers telling me they could build my website, they could do SEO, etc etc.

Samuel L Dotson

 

[hostsdepot]

I like private whois. It will block a lot of spammers.