My only concern with Bots is
*IF* they have more information than we get. Otherwise I just bid on domains as I normally would. It's not the fact they are bots that bugs me .. it's the fact the volume and prices were so high I couldn't be my usual stingy self by grabbing what I considered to be my usual steals (was too good to last I guess)! lol
But who knows if the bots API access have more info or not? I asked Joe and Nick (GoDaddy) in
another thread (
https://www.namepros.com/posts/6458702/) the full list of what
exactly the data fields they had access to were. And Joe seemed rather annoyed claiming he thought he already answered twice in another thread (which he actually didn't at all .. lol), and then only answered the question in part without specifying what EXACT datafields APIs have access to, other than just saying they don't have access to Proxy bid amounts.
I found it a little odd that he felt it was appropriate to ignore such a serious and straight forward question when he only "believed" he answered it in another thread? lol .. In fairness to him .. it did seem like the most important thing I wanted to know was if they could see proxy amounts .. but I also clearly said I wanted a list of every datafield .. that list was never given .. and is what's most important to me as I rarely proxy anyways.
But my main concern is if they can see number of watchers .. because I rarely ever place proxy bids except if I'm work. I'm concerned about this because new closeout pages now show how many people are "watching" a domain .. if bots see that data field at all times (even before auction) then they have a HUGE advantage. I spend hours a marking domains to watch, and then they just come in and only need to scan the domains I and other domainers are watching. Otherwise bots are simply quicker to bid and I don't mind competing against them since we do get 5 minutes to raise our bid.
One other gripe would be more with the closeout snipping .. but on domains I really want, I often just place a $12 bid 6 minutes before an auction ends (sometimes if I'm at "work" I'll have to place a bid an hour or two in advance and cross my fingers .. lol). GD has randomized the closeout times a bit .. but obviously a bot can just refresh every second automatically .. which is their only real advantage (although be it a HUGE one).
Also very curious if they can actually see the actual amount of proxy bids. I know Joe said no. And I totally believe that's what he believes to be true. But let's be honest in saying the GoDaddy platform is a colossal mess full of bugs, glitches and inefficiencies .. I'm not sure anybody truly knows for sure! lol
A couple of weeks ago I lost a solid domain because of a perfect storm of
THREE separate bugs/issues! It was very clear I had a much better understanding of the ins and outs of their platform than even my rep. I feel really bad for him .. he's always trying to be helpful .. but there are just too many bugs they aren't aware of on the platform .. it's almost impossible for them to really know more than power users like ourselves who go into every nook and cranny of their platform.
On a far more serious note ... There was a bug I found and reported a few times a few years ago (before I was really domaining) where you could get a backdoor mini-page that showed ALL bids ..
including proxy bids. This bug was present for many months if not longer (probably even more going back until I discovered it). Even after I reported it it wasn't fixed. The only reason that hole eventually got closed was because they revamped the platform themes at one point and the link was no longer accessible directly (although if someone knew the direct link it's entirely possible they still had access far longer .. and if it was openly available on a webpage .. it certainly was available to Bots).
That effectively would have allowed anybody listing an auction to shill and drive up the price if their domains to right below someone's supposedly secret proxy bid. I really wasn't buying much back then .. I was buying with intend to develop (which I never ended up doing in the years after my big site from 199 to the mid 2000's). I never bid on anything but expiration auctions. I personally used it to extend auctions hoping the other person would be long offline by the time I actually passed their bid. Or simply to keep bidding below the proxy to give me more time to think about if I really wanted the domain at the proxy price. Looking back I also guess I could have used that bug to save up to $4 by bidding just $1 over the proxy so as not be paying the $5 spread.
However .. I genuinely believe there is nobody at GD out to get us .. and I really believe they are genuine when saying they want to have a fair platform ... just about every person I've talked to at GD has been super nice and friendly and go as far as they can to help. But each and every time I report problems/issues/errors, things rarely change and I rarely hear back .. it all just gets swept under the rug and forgotten. It wouldn't surprise me if there were things about API access even the upper levels of GD just simply aren't aware of.
It would be great to get a clear straight answer of every single data field available to the APIs/Bots. But I've asked too many times and think the likely reason I never get an answer is because the people I ask quite simply don't even know themselves!