Determining Alternative Textual Identifiers Such as For Registered Domain Names

Abstract

A method, system, and computer-readable medium is described that determines alternatives to a specified textual identifier, such as a domain name, by identifying and using words and phrases that are related to the identifier. A variety of types of related words can be used, such as synonyms and translations, and the related words can be determined in a variety of ways. One situation in which alternatives can be generated is after a user has requested to use or acquire an unavailable textual identifier, such as a request to register an already registered domain name, and the determined alternatives can then be presented to the user as possibilities for use or acquisition. When multiple alternatives are presented to the user, they can also be ranked as to relevance and ordered in a variety of ways.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving a request from a user to register a specified domain name, the specified domain name including a top-level domain name portion and a second-level portion comprising a first word;   determining that the second-level portion is not available to be registered in a registry of the top-level domain name;   generating a plurality of alternatives for the second-level portion, the alternatives including a synonym of the first word, a translation of the first word into another language, or a combination thereof;   generating a plurality of alternative domain names, each of the alternative domain names having a second-level portion constructed from at least one of the alternatives for the second-level portion;   for each of the plurality of alternative domain names, determining whether the domain name is available to be registered in a registry for the domain name;   presenting a list of suggested alternative domain names to the user, the list of suggested alternative domain names comprising the domain names determined as available to be registered in the registry of the domain name;   receiving a request from the user to register at least one of the alternative domain names in the presented list; and   registering the selected at least one alternative domain name.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of determining whether the domain name is available comprises sending a query to the registry for the domain name. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the list of suggested alternative domain names presented to the user consists essentially of the domain names determined as available to be registered. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 providing the specified domain name to a third-party name suggestion service; and   receiving a list of third-party suggested alternative domain names from the suggestion service, each third-party suggested alternative domain name being an alternative to the specified domain name;   wherein the list of suggested alternative domain names further comprises the third-party suggested alternative domain names.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising ranking the list of suggested alternative domain names relative to the specified domain name. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 comparing the plurality of alternative domain names to preference information associated with the user;   wherein the list of suggested alternative domain names includes only alternative domain names that meet a criteria based on the preference information.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of alternatives for the second level portion include one or more of an antonym of the first word, a homophone of the first word, an idiom of the first word, a hypernym of the first word, a hyponym of the first word, a meronym of the first word, a holonym of the first word, a metonym of the first word, a morphological form of the first word, an acronym of the first word, or a combination thereof. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the specified domain name includes a third-level portion; the method further comprising generating an alternative for the second-level portion at least partially from the third-level portion. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising generating an alternative domain name having a top-level portion that is different than the top-level portion of the specified domain name. 
     
     
         10 . A computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
 receiving a request from a user to register a specified domain name, the specified domain name including a top-level domain name portion and a second-level portion comprising a first word;   determining that the second-level portion is not available to be registered in a registry of the top-level domain name;   generating a plurality of alternatives for the second-level portion, the alternatives including a synonym of the first word, a translation of the first word into another language, or a combination thereof;   generating a plurality of alternative domain names, each of the alternative domain names having a second-level portion constructed from at least one of the alternatives for the second-level portion;   for each of the plurality of alternative domain names, determining whether the domain name is available to be registered in a registry for the domain name;   presenting a list of suggested alternative domain names to the user, the list of suggested alternative domain names comprising the domain names determined as available to be registered in the registry of the domain name;   receiving a request from the user to register at least one of the alternative domain names in the presented list; and   registering the selected at least one alternative domain name.   
     
     
         11 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , wherein the list of suggested alternative domain names presented to the user consists essentially of the domain names determined as available to be registered. 
     
     
         12 . The computer-readable storage medium of  claim 10 , said method further comprising:
 providing the specified domain name to a third-party name suggestion service; and   receiving a list of third-party suggested alternative domain names from the suggestion service, each third-party suggested alternative domain name being an alternative to the specified domain name;   wherein the list of suggested alternative domain names further comprises the third-party suggested alternative domain names.   
     
     
         13 . An apparatus comprising:
 a processor;   a communication interface to receive a request from a user to register a specified domain name, the specified domain name including a top-level domain name portion and a second-level portion comprising a first word; and   a computer-readable storage medium storing a plurality of instructions which cause the processor to:
 determine that the second-level portion is not available to be registered in a registry of the top-level domain name; 
 generate a plurality of alternatives for the second-level portion, the alternatives including a synonym of the first word, a translation of the first word into another language, or a combination thereof; 
 generate a plurality of alternative domain names, each of the alternative domain names having a second-level portion constructed from at least one of the alternatives for the second-level portion; 
 for each of the plurality of alternative domain names, determine whether the domain name is available to be registered in a registry for the domain name; 
 present a list of suggested alternative domain names to the user, the list of suggested alternative domain names comprising the domain names determined as available to be registered in the registry of the domain name; and 
 responsive to receiving a request from the user to register at least one of the alternative domain names in the presented list, register the selected at least one alternative domain name. 
   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the list of suggested alternative domain names presented to the user consists essentially of the domain names determined as available to be registered. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , said instructions further causing the processor to:
 provide the specified domain name to a third-party name suggestion service; and   receive a list of third-party suggested alternative domain names from the suggestion service, each third-party suggested alternative domain name being an alternative to the specified domain name;   wherein the list of suggested alternative domain names further comprises the third-party suggested alternative domain names.   
     
     
         16 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 receiving a request from a user to register a specified domain name, the specified domain name including a top-level domain name portion and a second-level portion comprising a first word;   determining that the second-level portion is not available to be registered in a registry of the top-level domain name;   providing the specified domain name to a plurality of name suggestion services;   receiving a list of third-party suggested alternative domain names from the plurality of suggestion services, each third-party suggested alternative domain name being an alternative to the specified domain name;   presenting a list of suggested alternative domain names to the user, the list of suggested alternative domain names comprising the third-party suggested alternative domain names;   receiving a request from the user to register at least one of the alternative domain names in the presented list; and   registering the selected at least one alternative domain name.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising:
 generating a plurality of alternatives for the second-level portion,   generating a plurality of alternative domain names, each of the alternative domain names having a second-level portion constructed from at least one of the alternatives for the second-level portion; and   for each of the plurality of alternative domain names, determining whether the domain name is available to be registered in a registry for the domain name;   wherein the list of suggested alternative domain names presented to the user includes the alternative domain names available to be registered.