Don’t be like Rod Blagojevich.
You’re probably wondering why I am suggesting this, to not be like the impeached and shamed former governor of Illinois. But I am not talking about the corrupt way he ran the Land of Lincoln, rather I am warning about the missed opportunity when the domain name for his new Web site was registered.
It was announced over this past weekend that Blago had a new Web site at GovernorRod.com. Note I provide the link but I also advise caution in clicking over to it, especially for those whose morals are on the high end, but I digress. When I heard the Web site URL, the first thing that popped into my mind, as a domain name consultant and someone who thinks about domain names more than I should, is if he – or his PR people – bought the common misspelling of the domain name, governorod.com, which only has one “r” in it. As I am writing this, you can guess they did not.
Many domain names are the combination of words or names. When you have one of those words ending with the same letter as the next word begins with, it is common for someone manually typing the domain name to type that letter only once. For example, if the world’s largest software company got into the business of making salt-water candy, they may register the domain name microsofttaffy.com. It is recommended they also register microsoftaffy.com, and it can be also taken further to account for the double “f” in taffy as well.
What often happens is if you don’t register the domain name, someone else may. It is one thing if your name contains trademarked words or names, but if it contains generic names or words and is not trademarkable, a competitor may jump on it and potentially take some of your business. As I have said many times, in the grand scheme of things, domain names are cheap – register them all and monitor traffic to them.
In the case of the narcissistic former governor, I checked to see if governorod.com was registered the morning after the announcement, and it was not. This meant I had the opportunity to register it myself, but as I am glad he is out of office, I was not interested in going there! I was not alone in my thinking though, as several hours later someone else registered the domain name, and it is now pointing to a parked domain Web page. There may be a case here for the indicted former politician and his handlers to win this domain name in a UDRP filing, but that will surely cost a heck of a lot more than registering the domain name new. As Blago is rumored to already be in debt for his legal issues to date, he may not be afford to file for the domain name as well as maintain his hair-do.
Registering misspellings of domain names is almost as important as registering the actual domain name, especially if it is prone to errors. And in case it isn’t blatantly obvious to you, I am proud to say I never, ever thought for a moment of voting for this guy to lead the state where I live.
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Comments
When you register a misspelling of a domain used to sell a bona fide product or service you may be violating the TM of the domain that was established by its first use in commerce. Whether the original owner files a ® or leaves it as a TM you are guilty of “cybersquatting” as defined by US 15.
http://www.namemedias.com is NOT the NameMedia Inc website.
http://www.namemedias.com
Above is not a misspelling except it is a use of a plural or possessive addition of an “s”.to a trademarked word.
This domain would be “cybersquatting” exactly as a misspelling is in US 15 above if it was ever offered to NameMedia Inc. It results in no third-party ads and is sure to even the most casual viewer that it is NOT the NameMedia Inc. website. There is no link to the site but it is listed. NameMedia Inc fought against Cargill Inc to try and keep Cargills.com. They lost because the licensed Google ad page NameMedia was
using advertised a product that Cargill Inc sold and the remote risk of confusion of endorsement of their 144 year old ®Cargill was the hinge of the case. They did not use the common law TM issue. It surely existed and was no used in my belief to strengthen their ® and hide the fact that they waited till 2004 to register the plural of the TM. Cargill Inc. was a 7 Billion dollar company. NameMedia is huge, but felt they would win at a UDRP.
Comment by
Curtis J. Neeley Jr. MFA
on 11/19/09 at 05:12 PM
NAMEMEDIA INC dba Photo.net deleted my photos after the second DMCA notice so I no longer use the protest domain. The docket is online for free.
http://www.curtisneeley.com/5-09-cv-05151/Docket/index.htm
Comment by
Curtis J Neeley Jr, MFA
on 04/16/10 at 09:09 PM
This is very important material that is helpful for many people who do not understand the confusion or lack of traffic it may contract. Thinking that people will automatically know the spelling of your domain name is narrow-minded. Just remember to think outside of the box when registering a domain name.
Comment by
Ryan
on 01/03/11 at 01:53 PM
You are right on target, Ryan. In today’s society people are so concerned with speed that they forget about accuracy. I will never forget something someone told me (or asked in this context) once: why do we have time to do things twice, but we never have time to do things once?
Comment by
Frank
on 01/06/11 at 11:53 AM
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