Google Propping Up Typosquatting Biz? 279
An anonymous reader writes "Google is making oodles of cash placing ads on a vast sea of otherwise vacant Web sites that do little more than capitalize on misspelled domain name names, according to a story in today's Washington Post. From the story: 'Google Inc., which runs the largest ad network on the Internet, is making millions of dollars a year by filling otherwise unused Web sites with ads. In many instances, these ad-filled pages appear when users mistype an Internet address, such as BistBuy.com. This new form of advertising is turning into a booming business that some say is cluttering the Internet and could be violating trademark rules.'"
In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:no it will not (Score:3, Funny)
Must be the slashdor [slashdor.org] effect.
Re:no it will not (Score:2)
Thank you for that great link! I have been selected to win the hourly prize! And I normally never win anything.
Hoo sed yoo need ejucashun too mayk munny (Score:5, Funny)
I don't blame Google for enabling typosquatting (Score:5, Funny)
We should have stuck with numbers. In hex. Would have kept out all the lamers, nannies, and governments.
Heck we should go back to uucp over dial-up connections.
I have an even better idea (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I have an even better idea (Score:2)
Re:I don't blame Google for enabling typosquatting (Score:5, Insightful)
In hex? hex? (Score:2)
Are we calling it something else now? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Are we calling it something else now? (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, I always thought cybersquatting was more like registering a bunch of potentially valuable domain names and doing nothing with them, until whoever would be rightfully interested in registering a name realizes it's taken and offers money to buy it back. It's a form of racket of course. Typosquatting is rather different.
Re:Are we calling it something else now? (Score:5, Funny)
But that was back in 1999, years before 2004 was ever imagined.
Re:Are we calling it something else now? (Score:2)
Re:Are we calling it something else now? (Score:2)
It's buying up a limited resource which you think will be valuable to someone - it's just supply and demand with total supply set at 1 (allowing the seller to name their price).
If there were no trademarks it wouldn't be a problem.
People deliberately buy up or stockpile limited resources to push the price up so they can sell it on at massive profit - as I understand the major diamond dealers do it, governments do it with gold, several governments do it with currency. The United States did it wi
Re:Are we calling it something else now? (Score:5, Informative)
Cybersquatting is buying a real a domain with resell value; typosquatting is buying a domain that is spelled similar to a real domain and lapping up typo-induced hits.
Re:Are we calling it something else now? (Score:2)
I figured I would do what I do unconsciously, and moved my hand one character off of the home row. Bingo, when you go to www.brstbuy.com you get redirected.
Oh, these guys are smart.
Interestingly enough, it doesn't work by going to bwstbuy.com.
Oh well.
Dodgy Business (Score:5, Interesting)
I imagine very few businesses can legitimately claim that the ads on bistbuy.com would confuse anyone looking for bestbuy.com.
OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
Safari can't open the page "http://www.bistbuy.com/" because it can't find the server "www.bistbuy.com".
This is a non story. I really don't understand how anyone would hold Google culpable for this.
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:5, Informative)
I also couldn't open bistbuy.com --
Here's what searching whois for bistbuy.com gave me
Whois Server Version 1.3
Domain names in the
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/ [internic.net]
for detailed information.
Domain Name: BISTBUY.COM
Registrar: DOMAINDOORMAN, LLC
Whois Server: whois.domaindoorman.com
Referral URL: http://www.domaindoorman.com/ [domaindoorman.com]
Name Server: NS1.12GF6.COM
Name Server: NS2.12GF6.COM
Name Server: NS3.12GF6.COM
Status: REDEMPTIONPERIOD
Updated Date: 29-apr-2006
Creation Date: 22-nov-2005
Expiration Date: 22-nov-2006
Nothing appears to link bistbuy.com (if it ever was a valid destination) to Google.
I'm not convinced yet that this story is a smear job, but very little of their story appears to check out.
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2)
The date of the story was what, the 30th? Cut them some slack.
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2)
The date of the story was what, the 30th? Cut them some slack.
I saw that- domaindoorman could have pulled the domain if they got wind of the story before it was published. Ideally the Post would have used archive.org to spider the page before they even wrote the story.
However, I don't think we need cut a national newspaper much slack if they run what could be considered a smear job (they single out Google as somehow 'behind' this practice, which is an odd and vague allegation) and t
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2)
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2)
This is the Washington Post, not Wired. I don't imagine they know how to do that. Perhaps if it is relatively straightforward and you send them that as a suggestion in the future, they will.
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2)
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2)
My apologize if my meaning was a bit vague in saying "Nothing appears to link bistbuy.com (if it ever was a valid destination) to Google." I didn't mean to imply Google ran bistbuy.com, but that the Post's reporting was subpar, for the two reasons mentioned
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2)
It's an analogy for the story. (Score:2)
It's doubtful anything would. Bist sounds like Best, but it's highly unlikely to be a typo (the keys are too far apart). It's really talking about sites like Nest Buy [nestbuy.com] or Beat Buy.
Oopsie. (Score:2)
Two points: (Score:3, Interesting)
#2: Thanks to you posting on /. to inform everyone about this, some troll will have registered the site to go to goatse.
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.google.com/domainpark/ [google.com]
which would *seem* like they're encouraging cybersquatting. Personally I don't can't think of what content-based website would get over 750k page visits and need to park their domain...
just like godaddy and tons of other domain registrars, its adverts on unused domains. except it's google, so it's more newsworthy.
It *was* there (Score:2)
Registry Status: REDEMPTIONPERIOD
Registry Status: redemptionPeriod
Domain Name: BISTBUY.COM
Registrar: DOMAINDOORMAN, LLC
Whois Server: whois.domaindoorman.com
Referral URL: http://www.domaindoorman.com/ [domaindoorman.com]
Name Server: NS3.12GF6.COM
Name Server: NS2.12GF6.COM
Name Server: NS1.12GF6.COM
Status: REDEMPTIONPERIOD
EPP Status: redemptionPeriod
Updated Date: 29-Apr-2006
Creation Date: 21-Nov-2005
Expiration Date: 21-Nov-2006
>>> Last update of whois database: Sun, 30 Apr 2006 15:46:50
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2)
How about this little artifact: Google AdSense for Parked Domains [google.com]
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:5, Informative)
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies [google.com]
Especially this:
# No Google ad or Google search box may be displayed on any domain parking websites, pop-ups, pop-unders, or in any email.
Do no evil, do not put adsense on parked domains.. err, no, wait.
What's -really- funny is actually... (Score:2)
So you see.. it's not that it's not allowed per se, it's just that they have very specific rules for parked domains, and you'll have to go through -that- program instead of the general AdSense program.
---
Back on topic: I don't see why Google is getting blamed in this. A typosquatter registers a domain, places ads on it (by whoever, in this case: Google), and not t
Re:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!! (Score:2)
salshdot.org (Score:5, Informative)
Re:salshdot.org (Score:3, Funny)
Obligatory (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Obligatory (Score:2)
Name slashdot
Status REGISTERED
Registered 07 April 2006
Last update 11 April 2006 10:07
Registrant
Name Caller Robin
Organisation Goallover
Language English
Address address
Phone phone
Fax fax
Email email
Registrar technical contacts
Name Fredrik Sandgren
Organisation Onwards Sideways Sweden AB
Language English
Address Körsbärsvägen 1
51350 Sparsör
Sweden
Phone +46.708808525
Fax +46.708808525
Email frsa@yr.se
Registrar
Organ
Wasting people's time (Score:5, Insightful)
It's actually quite easy. It should be based on content. If all you see is a list of search categories and lots of ads, it's typo-squatting. If you see original articles and compelling content, it's legit.
Re:Wasting people's time (Score:4, Funny)
Zonk [slashdot.org] would beg to differ with you.
BistBuy.com? (Score:4, Informative)
Possible motivation (Score:3, Interesting)
Not saying it's the right thing to do, just an idea.
Confusion between "evil" and profit (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Confusion between "evil" and profit (Score:5, Insightful)
Answer me that question once you go to a drugstore on Sunday morning, and you're tying to get rid of that hangover before doing your Sunday church appearance. With a splitting headache, then go to the pain relief isle, but B4Y3R aspirin, that looks just like BAYER aspirin minus the chemicals that relieve pain. But, you forgive the company because its now owned by Google and they owe it to their stockholders to put such products on the shelf.
Why is it that common sense and reality go out the window when a computer is involved (patent pending)?
Things with direct analogies to life like email forwarding vs snail mail forwarding don't make sense to people, but things like popup/under advertisements and typosquating makes sense. In the future, will businesses open on 212 Madison Ave when a known company is at 212 Madison St just in case someone gets lost?
Reminds me of when the only people that really profited off of the gold rush were shovel salesmen and prostitutes.
Google isn't putting up the sites . . (Score:2)
Answer me that question once you go to a drugstore on Sunday morning, and you're tying to get rid of that hangover before doing your Sunday church appearance. With a splitting headache, then go to the pain relief isle, but B4Y3R aspirin, that looks just like BAYER aspirin minus the chemicals that relieve pain. But, you forgive the company because its now owned by Google and they owe it to their stockholders to put such products on the shelf.
Allow me to fix your analogy.
Re:Confusion between "evil" and profit (Score:2)
Re:Confusion between "evil" and profit (Score:2)
So I guess what Google tries to do is whatever the hell it feels like.
Re:Confusion between "evil" and profit (Score:2)
Actually, if I am not mistaken, there is something in the Bible against profiteering and gathering wealth in general, but since I'm not an expert in the subject other than the profit taking, I'm not about to make dogmatic suggestions on to the validity of Google's evilness or not
Re:Confusion between "evil" and profit (Score:2)
Missing link (Score:5, Insightful)
Millions? (Score:3, Insightful)
Reporter needs more research (Score:2, Informative)
This is like real estate (Score:4, Interesting)
It's a logical progression of this thought that allows corporations to force people off their legal sites because they have the same name. You don't like EToy suing etoy? Deal with the "typosquatters."
Re:This is like real estate (Score:2)
Re:This is like real estate (Score:2)
Um, no. It's like opening a store next to McDonalds (with the golden arches) named MacDonalds (with big green letters on a blue background) and selling lawn and garden supplies. This is only illegal if they also swipe the look and feel of McDonald's logos, such as to encourage people to think that they are in some way affiliated with the f
Re:This is like real estate (Score:2)
http://www.spreadshirt.net/shop.php?op=article&ac= details&article_id=1634806 [spreadshirt.net] is a t-shirt to spoof the movie showing the arch.
Re:This is like real estate (Score:2)
(i) the trademark or other intellectual property rights of the person, if any, in the domain name;
(ii) the extent to which the domain name consists o
Names, not real-estate (Score:2)
We're talking name recognition here. And as it happens, you picked the perfect example of that issue: when was the last time you saw a restaurant, other than McDonalds, that had "Mc" or "Mac" in its name? McDonalds claims that any such operation is "potentially confusing" with theirs. You might claim that they're abusing the law, and if you did I'd agree with you. But the fact remains that nobody finds it wort
Re:This is like real estate (Score:2)
This IS like opening a restaraunt next to McDonalds, and putting your enterance driveway on the plot edge so it is slightly confusing to drivers as they pull in which restaraunt they are going to untill they actually pull in. most leave and go to McDonalds but a few will stay for a while.
Another idiocy of DNS (Score:5, Insightful)
But all of those are better than intercepts, which are surprisingly common these days in 'walled gardens'. I'll take a squatter, and if google can make some $$ on them, so much the better.
DNS is primitive, insecure, rife for diddling, and as goofy as SMTP. Yes, these were all good in their day. And yes, they were made out of brittle plastic, not visionary armor. So, google makes a few bucks. Ho fracking hum. More power to them. If I get a wrong phone #, does someone give me a list of alternatives? No, but they're often helpful as in "oh, that's a 6 not a 9" or something. With DNS you get a squat, not found, or a typosquat. How droll.
Fat Fingers (Score:5, Insightful)
nit pick
Re:Fat Fingers (Score:2)
place your hands on the keyboard now in the 'home' position, that is relaxed with your index fingers on the f and j buttons and the other fingers on the keys alongside. Feel the little dimple or whatever there is there. Caress it, yeah.
Now, use the longest finger on the left hand (whats that called, the 'fuck you' finger?) and extend it slightly until it sits on the top row. Thats right, its on the e button!
Now here is the clever bit.. Stretch the 'fuck you' finger of the right han
Now you know... (Score:3, Interesting)
However in this case, Google is pretty obviously doing *evil* by the very definition of the word, and that definitely speaks bad of it.
Google specifically has tools and offers for filling vacant domains with ads... WHO would use that except domains of generic words and typosquatters? No excuses this time, Google.
Re:Now you know... (Score:3, Funny)
Maybe a software solution? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Maybe a software solution? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Maybe a software solution? (Score:2)
Re:Maybe a software solution? (Score:2)
Re:Maybe a software solution? (Score:4, Insightful)
How do you determine what's a mistake and what's a legitimate domain? I don't want my browser to go to flicker.com when I typed flickr.com, and I don't want my browser to go to dig.com when I typed digg.com.
Re:Maybe a software solution? (Score:2)
When you mistype one of these (for example, you type www.slashdoty.org), it redirects you.
Unless, of course, you are holding down an override key, similar to firewalls and pop-up blockers.
So if I actually wanted to go to slashdoty.org, I'd hold down the shift key, and it doesn't redirect me.
The extention would just keep track of the most visited sites and create redirects for them.
You can manually add and remove sites from the list, and it will redirect y
Re:Maybe a software solution? (Score:2, Insightful)
"Google" is itself a misspelling - so should all requests for Google [google.com] go to Googol [googol.com]?
Another example - "slashdot" is not a real word - so should Slashdot.org [slashdot.org] go to Slashers.org [slashers.org]? :)
Yes, the solution is also provided by Google. (Score:2)
The WP article is a complete troll. Google does more to help people find sites than any other search engine. Only a person with a crippled browser who also hates Google would try to find any site by typing the name as a URL anymore. Google also helps a lot of small sites earn money. Blaming them for the actions of dishonest people who take advan
One more reason to Google and forget the URL (Score:2)
Beyond that, isn't it time that web browsers reached the point where they could spot and fix obvious typing errors like "ww" instead of "www" or missing periods like "wwwbestbuy.com" instead of "www.bestbuy.com?"
Surely this would be an easy and useful improvement.
Re:One more reason to Google and forget the URL (Score:2)
I know, I
Trademark confusion (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Trademark confusion (Score:2)
If, on the other hand, somebody were to go to neweg.com and get another vendor of computer hardware, that might actually cause confusion and there would be an action for trademark infringement.
There was a famous case in the U
Re:Trademark confusion (Score:2)
You do realize that this is fully legal, right? It's allowed as parody at least, and titles aren't generally copyrightable, IIRC. Song titles, for example, are definately not. I can advertise my singing of "yellow submarine" and sing somethingi you won't recognize at all. Of course, in my case that'd be true
Perspectives (Score:3, Interesting)
Google [google.com] made 2.253 billion USD in one quarter. While the article was vague how many millions it really is, "millions" instead of "tens of millions" or "hundreds of millions" still seems like a drop in the bucket. It goes on to imply that it's quite a bit by quoting Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google:
Google won't disclose how much revenue it is earning from ads on these types of sites, but chief executive Eric Schmidt said in an interview last week, "It's a lot of money."
Did he mean that Google makes a lot of money from ads in general or from ads on typo sites? I can't tell because the article doesn't give me the source of that quote. However, I find it doubtful that Schmidt would be so explicit about Google making money off of typos, even if they did.
In any case, the issue is not as clean-cut as the article implies. Whose responsibility is it to police trademark infringements? Hasn't it always been the holder of the trademark? Google making money off of it does suggest some kind of responsbility on their part as well though. However, Google does provide an avenue for these people to complain and have the affliates delisted from their ad program.
Summary didn't make this clear. (Score:2)
Bistbuy? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Bistbuy? (Score:2)
Issues like this are going to be the downfall of our current trademark/patent/copyright/Intellectual Property system. Courts bogged down deciding if bistbuy, bastbuy brstbuy or whatever is a trademark infringement. I'm guessing about every word you can imagine has been part of some trademark and many many domain names could be considered a trademark violation. How can we possibly maintain a system that ha
oh really? (Score:2)
"bistbuy.com" does not resolve. (or did we slashdot them? THAT would be justice) Appears to be parked but not assigned by verisign?
so (Score:2)
Damn diagonal kids! (Score:4, Funny)
In further news, mathematicians allege The Count is cluttering up the domain of natural numbers.
"It's a travesty, I tell you! One? Two? Three? Where does it all stop? Pretty soon there'll be none left at all!"
The Count recently purchased 9111 and 4040 - "numosquatting" two popular numbers. Numosquatting is a technique of buying numbers near or around more famous numbers, so that people who mistype the intended number get the "numosquatted" number instead.
When asked for comment, The Count said "There are a lot of numbers out there. So many I cannot even count them! Me! Oh, but let me try: one! two! three! four!"
Several hours later, The Count was reached again for comment. "Anyways, the point is that there are a lot of numbers out there. These whiny people wouldn't be happy even if we went over to the Real numbers. I mean, let's say I buy 405, right? They'll say it's 'too close to 404!' - look, there's a whole lot of numbers in between! But no, that's their special number and they can't have anything even infinitely far away from it."
"Look, if they want to make it to where no one can have any number near their special number, they should buy those numbers up too - they're asking for their single-number purchase to be equal to ten, a hundred, a million of mine!" continued The Count, "A hundred million! A billion! Ten billion! One hundred billion!" At which point this reporter's cell phone died.
When asked for rebuttal, the owner of 404 stated "that just, like, your opinion, man."
Nothing wrong with "typosquatters" (Score:4, Interesting)
I have to believe typosquatting has got less profitable since browsers started trying to complete what you type.
Squatters (Score:4, Informative)
Re:WOw that's confusing (Score:4, Informative)
This form of online advertising relies on "type-in traffic," the users who type the information they're looking for directly into the address bar of the Web browser instead of using a search engine to scour the Web. Industry analysts estimate that roughly 15 percent of all Web traffic originates this way.
Actually I don't see the big deal. This is nothing new.
Re:WOw that's confusing (Score:5, Funny)
Just the same, I'm going to register a complaint with the Netter Nusiness Nureau [nnn.com].
Re:Whoa! Breaking News (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:new?? (Score:2)
Re:Example (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Example (Score:2)
I got connection refused when contacting www.washingtonpost.com and connection refused when contacting lb1.netster.com.
No ads to see here.
Ironic (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Basic concepts not taught in schools. (Score:2)
What's makes it even worse for people who are allergic to religion, is that the concept is a big one on the Catholic Church,
The legal largely ignores "sins of omission", but there are a few exceptions, notably knowing about plans to commit a capital crime.
Re:Basic concepts not taught in schools. (Score:2)
This is going to happen with or without them. They can pick up a few dollars from the morons *shrug.*
Re:oops! missed one (Score:2)
www.thedinnerpartynetwork.com
www.titanium-spork.com
www.robot-dinosaur.com
find more at
http://www.domaintools.com/reverse-ip/?ip=66.102.
Re:idiot (Score:2)
Re:WP article has antigoogle bias (Score:2)