Typosquatting Explained

Typosquatting, also called URL hijacking, is a form of cybersquatting which relies on mistakes such as typographical errors made by Internet users when inputting a website address into a web browser. This means typosquatting is an action where typos of trademarks or brands are beeing registered by someone who is not the trademark or brand owner. Should a user accidentally enter an incorrect website address, they may be led to an alternative website owned by a cybersquatter. These domains are often parked at domain name parking services like Sedo or NameDrive for quick and  easy monetization.
 
Monetization Of Typosquatted Domains
 
Mcafee, who did a survey on typosquatting in 2007, says: "Most commonly, typosquatters make money by putting pay-per-click ads on their domains. The ads are typically generated by keywords related to the misspelled product. For iPhone typos, one might see ads for cell phone accessories, ring tones or calling plans. Profitable typo-squatting is built click by click, penny by penny. No single misspelled domain will generate enough profit to provide a living to the domain speculator. But a large portfolio of even slightly profitable domains can generate significant income, as this example demonstrates"
 
"Typosquatting" is a meaningless term where the law is concerned. Laws are generally not concerned about registrations of domain names that are similar to other domain names or similar to existing trademarks, unless some other important factor is involved.
 
Parking Typosquatted Domains
 
(Also taken from the McAfee Typosquatting Survey 2007) By providing a turnkey service, parking companies enable the owners of large domain portfolios to reduce the cost of generating advertising and servings those ads. Without these automated services, the small profit generated by a single typo-squatter site would be eaten up by infrastructure costs.
 

The major parking companies publicly condemn typosquatting. In a recent “year in review,” Sedo, one of the biggest players in the industry, lamented the persistence of typo-squatting.
 

“Perhaps the greatest disappointment of 2006 was that despite all the progress we’ve made and the success we’ve shared, the Domaining community has yet to gain control of their seedy underbelly. Despite increasing crackdowns, there are still a frighteningly large number of people choosing to chase the quick and dirty buck via typosquatting, cybersquatting, or click fraud, rather than building a legitimate domain portfolio. Perhaps even more disturbing, there are still companies willing to service these individuals.”
 

Sedo’s year in review article says: "But our research shows that even these top players continue to profit from typosquatting. In our tests, the top five parking companies, ranked by the percentage of squatters parked by them, were Information (28.5%), Hitfarm (11.3%), Domainsponsor (2.9%), Sedo (2.5%) and GoDaddy (2.3%)."
 
Typosquatting And The Law
 

Non-criminal law is primarily concerned with unfair competition between people who register domain names that are typographically similar to known trademarks. This is the "hook" for trademark infringement: not simply using the same or a similar name, but using the same or a similar name for the purpose of competition with the trademark owner. In other words, it may be perfectly acceptable to use a domain name that is confusingly similar to an existing trademark IF the web page standing behind the new domain name is not used to compete with the trademark owner, OR if the web page standing behind the new domain name is used to help consumers to locate the product identified in the trademark.
 
Typosquatting Related articles On Jabz™
 
- McAfee Survey On Typosquatting 2007
- Cybersquatting Explained
- You Can Hire A Domain Hijacker For $ 200
- The Basics Of Domain Squatting
- Coalition Against Domain Name Abuse