Google Propping Up Typosquatting Biz?

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.'"

Comments

salshdot.org

[hankwang]

Just tried some misspellings of slashdot.org...

• salshdot has a frame redirect to slashdot. Does not seem to be affiliated.
• .com redirects to .org.
• slsahdot is a misspelling counter. :-)
• lsashdot.org, slashodt.org, slashdto.org, slashdot.net, slashdot.info, slshdot.org slshdot.org, slahdot.org, slasdot.org, slashot.org, slashdt.org, slashdo.org, salshdot.com - these are all typosquatters.
• slashdot.biz - is registered but hasn't even a domain parking site
• Typosquatters pay attention: slashdot.eu is not yet taken!

Re:Are we calling it something else now?

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Back in the olden days of 2004, we used to call it "cybersquatting." Kids these days and their crazy terminology. And their music.

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?

[RevDobbs]

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:OMGLOL!!!! bistbuy was slashdotted!!!

[Raindance]

The Post claims, "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.'"

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 .com and .net domains can now be registered
with many different competing registrars. Go to http://www.internic.net/
for detailed information.

      Domain Name: BISTBUY.COM
      Registrar: DOMAINDOORMAN, LLC
      Whois Server: whois.domaindoorman.com
      Referral URL: http://www.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!!!

[grazzy]

Whats _really_ funny is this;
https://www.google.com/adsense/policies

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.