My domain information is not protected.

I don't know if hostgator restricts transfer, if you manage to transfer elsewhere, as a rule there's no need to transfer it back to your host, you just set the nameserver settings in your namecheap account to the hostgator provided setting.

There are indications that Google gives better seo ranking to unprotected whois domains that are probably more trustworthy.

I don't think NameCheap does free WhoIS Gaurd for transfer domains.

I believe that what you are referring to is known as a "Proxy Registration". As webapex has alluded to, anonymous whois domains may be given less trust by the search engines. Irrespective of that fact, they are given less trust by consumers.

If you have ever read a review on "IM Report Card", you will notice that in every review, they refer to whether the Whois is public or private. If it is public they will state, "The Whois information for (Company) is public which is generally a good thing. This indicates the owner of this site has nothing to hide."

Thus, unless you have a compelling reason for doing so, I think it is best that you keep your "Whois" information public.

I doubt very much that Google is going to change the ranking of sites based on whether or not their whois information is displaying or not. Besides, anyone can register a domain and still have a false address or PO Box showing so it proves absolutely nothing at all. Google are not THAT stupid.

This is just another example of how ONE person makes one comment and all of a sudden everyone takes it as the law. I would love to know how people came up with that theory?

If you are worried then just get a PO Box. Unless you live in your PO Box no one can find you. And if you are breaking the law no protection is going to help you. The authorities are able to track you down very easily.

If you wish your domain information is protected, I think the fee for it is worth. Of course, you also can transfer your domain to another domain registrar who provide free whois protection.

Did you register your domain with Hostgator in the first place? Generally, advice is to separate registrar and host.

I don't think you need to get into this transfer merry-go-round. First of all, you pay for each transfer. Secondly, yes, Namecheap is pretty good and offers free WHOISGUARD for the first year. But note that it's paid after that at $2.88 per URL per year. I just started my round of year 2 payments and decided not to renew WHOISGUARD as this can add up unnecessarily. After what I have read here and elsewhere, I now agree with Brian that this sort of protection is not really necessary while the trust factor is an important argument NOT to have WHOISGUARD.

Just as an aside, I checked out Hostgator domain registration prices. You are paying 60% more with them compared to Namecheap. Don't forget to seach for Namecheap coupons before registering a new domain with or transferring your domain to them.

If you still insist on getting WHOISGUARD, I'd transfer to Namecheap, leave the domain registered there and buy hosting from Hostgator. That's my current set up and works pretty well.