TBR Drop - Jan 14, 2026 (9.Viewing)

DomainRecap · 2026-01-15T12:41:06-0500

LCM said:
Over $50,000 was spent to buy the domains below, and none are gambling sites - just relaunched copies of the old site

Am I missing something?????

This is just the first stage where Mr Gambler recreates the old site from a defunct business, thus giving Google the impression that it's relaunched and can get reindexed for searches. After that's complete, Mr Gambler then inserts gambling affiliate links throughout the site and watches the money roll in.

How many "new" gamblers can you find?

Online gambling is a true epidemic in North America and apparently there is no end to the number of people you can hook. Over 90% of young males gamble online and addiction levels are way out of control. It's hooked an entire generation that will soon be lost, uneducated, penniless, and without hope.

The house always wins in the end.

Artashes · 2026-01-15T14:45:52-0500

Legalnonconforming said:
This all comes down to the backlink profile and domain authority, thats it. These guys grab old sites, rebuild them just enough to look alive, then start jamming links straight into the content.

Placing links into content that is not relevant to the target website makes very weak SEO play. That's not to say they do not do it, it's just there is very little value in it.

Spex · 2026-01-15T15:17:08-0500

Anybody having issues pulling up the WHC auctions for this week? The page is blank for me

domains · 2026-01-15T15:41:21-0500

Do people really visit a site like energypoverty.ca hoping to find information relevant to that, then see a bunch of unrelated gambling site links and click on those and start gambling? I mean the successful click through rate must be miniscule.

theinvestor · 2026-01-15T17:47:45-0500

Gambling is like porn. When you see it you’re always tempted to keep looking.

Artashes · 2026-01-16T08:36:05-0500

Spex said:
Anybody having issues pulling up the WHC auctions for this week? The page is blank for me

Still an ongoing issue for me, too.

MapleDots · 2026-01-16T08:39:36-0500

@MarineN

Legalnonconforming · 2026-01-16T09:00:24-0500

domains said:
Do people really visit a site like energypoverty.ca hoping to find information relevant to that, then see a bunch of unrelated gambling site links and click on those and start gambling? I mean the successful click through rate must be miniscule.

No. It’s for SEO. That’s it. Google has a master list of sites it trusts. The closer your site is to this master list, the more it trusts you and your site ranks higher in the results. So canada.ca links to a provincial site. That provincial site links out to a local program or org, something like autismspeaks.ca. That domain expires. Mr gambler picks it up and suddenly it’s linking to gambling.ca or wherever. The link graph is still intact, so the trust flows right through it. Google mostly shrugs and moves on. Now gambling.ca ranks higher in the results than their competitor who doesn't have as strong of a link profile.

There is a lot more to ranking than this, but it's always been one of the strongest signals for google. Every backlink is a vote of trust.

MarineN · 2026-01-16T09:15:13-0500

Spex said:
Anybody having issues pulling up the WHC auctions for this week? The page is blank for me

Artashes said:
Still an ongoing issue for me, too.

Thank you for reporting this! I’m going to check internally with our team

MapleDots · 2026-01-16T09:25:55-0500

MarineN said:
Thank you for reporting this! I’m going to check internally with our team

@MarineN it only happens when you log in via the control panel and then auctions

Visiting the link below directly works as expected.
.CA Domain Auctions | Web Hosting Canada

MapleDots · 2026-01-16T09:26:38-0500

Via the control panel you get the above

jaydub · 2026-01-16T09:55:14-0500

Same as above for me.
I placed a bid but can no longer see what I have bid on

MarineN · 2026-01-16T10:40:55-0500

Our team is looking into this and we’re working on it. I will keep you posted

DomainRecap · 2026-01-16T10:46:13-0500

Legalnonconforming said:
No. It’s for SEO. That’s it.

It depends on the site, but many of them are totally reconstructed and then gambling links are inserted later, after Google reindexes the URL.

I remember one (it was a site for a Canadian track and field event) sold and was immediately reconstructed almost exactly as it was. The main pages were mostly the same, but if you clicked on "Results" for any event, it would load a page of gambling sites, ranked by some weird metric.

Sometimes it's SEO for forwards and links, but other times, these guys want you to think you're on the actual site, then hammer you with gambling links.

Eby · 2026-01-16T11:28:57-0500

LCM said:
Over $50,000 was spent to buy the domains below, and none are gambling sites - just relaunched copies of the old site
artscapegibraltarpoint.ca
takeanewapproach.ca
ppgreview.ca
energypoverty.ca
thelinkottawa.ca
vignettesyeg.ca
houseofwheels.ca
naturespickins.ca

Am I missing something?????

...not that it matters, since I'm not expending too much energy trying to figure it out - just mildly curious/disturbed.

My point too

MarineN · 2026-01-16T11:45:17-0500

Our Auctions page is now fixed! Thank you for your patience!

DomainRecap · 2026-01-16T15:38:50-0500

MarineN said:
Our Auctions page is now fixed! Thank you for your patience!

Thanks for the update, so I guess it's back to business as usual.

TBR Drop - Jan 14, 2026 (9.Viewing)

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