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Re:Never Buy A .online Domain by dizhn on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @09:17AM (#47151787)
That is the bit that jumped at me immediately too. Why would a registrar take it upon itself to suspend a domain that another entity entirely blacklisted as part of their own completely opaque process? Who is Google? God?

On the flip side of the coin I cannot get a site removed that is a blatant rip off of one of our websites being actively used for invoice redirection fraud.

Re:Never Buy A .online Domain by avaer on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @09:34AM (#47152036)
It's like being unable to get a passport because Microsoft has you on The List, and Microsoft needs to see your passport to check why you're on the list.

Considering that getting a domain is a normal part of business these days, this kind of thing should be illegal. Not to mention, why does Google have any say in this?

Re:Never Buy A .online Domain by riddlemethat on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @10:03AM (#47152472)
You know it's getting bad out there when corporations act like the government.
Re:Never Buy A .online Domain by dizhn on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @10:06AM (#47152526)
It's like the domain registrar is acting like a vassal state. I don't think Google actually has any say in their decision.
Re:Never Buy A .online Domain by bandrami on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @10:17AM (#47152681)
> Why would a registrar take it upon itself to

Because keeping Google happy or at least not bothered is an existential priority for registrars

Re:Never Buy A .online Domain by dizhn on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @10:34AM (#47152933)
I am suspecting something like this too but what is the mechanism by which Google would have influence on the registrar? As far as they are concerned the domain is gone from their index.
Re:Never Buy A .online Domain by rustyhancock on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @10:01AM (#47152446)
Well until a human can verify.

Which likely is slow without a poke it's reasonable to base the decision on whats available.

That's just how reputation works.

Re:Never Buy A .online Domain by dizhn on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @10:05AM (#47152509)
It doesn't sound reasonable to me at all. Why would we think that the reasons google blacklists a domain would align perfectly with reasons a domain name would be suspended? In the end they don't seem to agree already since the domain was unsuspended. Who knows why it was blacklisted by google? Even the decision to unsuspend it looks arbitrary.
Re:Never Buy A .online Domain by redeeman on Wednesday February 25, 2026 @10:06AM (#47152512)
and anyone that trusts googles judgement here clearly needs a reputation of their own