Domain Tasting (AGP)

Domain tasting was the practice of registering large batches of domains and then cancelling them within the add grace period (AGP) — a few-day window after registration in which a registrar could get a full refund — to "taste" each name's type-in traffic and keep only the profitable ones for free. ICANN curbed it in 2008 by making registries charge a non-refundable fee on excessive AGP deletions, and the tactic largely collapsed. It is mostly history now, but it explains why the registry lifecycle has the safeguards it does. Domain tasting is a quirk of the traditional registration economics and has no bearing on tokenized ownership. Source: ICANN AGP Limits Policy.