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07-03-2006, 04:11 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-17-2006, 07:05 PM by llegent.)
Hello everyone. It has been no surprise that there are quite a lot of people actually went to registered a series of google related domains or spinned off names. Some example like hoogle, poogle, googleman, googlebiz...etc.
So, what is the possibilities of selling these type of domain for a good value? Would there really be anyone willing to buy it for a hefty price?
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The value of Google names is the type in traffic. If they get a lot of traffic, they are worth a lot, if not then they are not worth a lot.
Do not count on Google buying back your names. If Google really wanted the Google -like domain name, they would send a cease and desist letter to you (a C&D letter) asking you to cease using the name and to transfer it to them. They have legal right to claim the name due to trademark law: from a legal perspective, those registering a Google spin off are aiding in trademark dillution. If you refuse to transfer the name, they will most likely take the issue to «resolution» committees (which are selected by ICANN) that will then order the registrar to transfer the name to Google.
I am not sure how often this happens with Google, and I am aware that many people have been using Google spin offs with no complications from Google. However, you should be aware that if they really want the name, they will most probably not buy it.
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Is this usually the case with most domain names even if the name of a company is a name ...say, like Smith? So, there's a famous company named Smith.com ....and you know they are expanding and you buy SmithEurope.com. Would the same apply?
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vicki2 Wrote:Is this usually the case with most domain names even if the name of a company is a name ...say, like Smith? So, there's a famous company named Smith.com ....and you know they are expanding and you buy SmithEurope.com. Would the same apply?
The policy which is applied is the Uniform Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP), which was adopted by ICANN in 1999. Although UDRP is supposed to be 'fair', and not favor trademark holders in every case, it turns out that if youre a trademark holder, then youre probably going to get a name.
The reason for this is pretty simple. ICANN accredited a series of 'legal' committees to settle domain trademark cases. These committees all handle the same types of cases, and so they basically work in competition with each other. Since it is the trademark holder who generally initiates a UDRP proceeding, it is the trademark holder who has to choose to which committee the case will be taken. Obviously, trademark holders go for the committees which usually give the domain to the trademark holder. Also, since the committees want more business, they favour trademark holders.
To see what I'm talking about, have a look at some of the UDRP cases:
http://www.icann.org/udrp/proceedings-list-dec.htm
Some are obvious trademark winners, like Dior.org or JPMorgan.org, but what about other names like trw.net, or jt.com which also got transfered!
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I wouldn't advise using a name that is similar to Google.
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My understanding is google goes after people with google in their name.
One thing they recently started doing is kicking them all out of the adsense program. I also suspect you can not use adwords with them either. So you can not monetize a Google url with adsense, unless you are Goolge.
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Aside from google, and after reading the trademark link, it takes a lot of the fun out of buying a domain name hoping it will be bought back.
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Well that used to be all the rage in the early days of the net Vicki. People were hoping all over large trademarks of companies that were not on the net hoping to capitalize. It put companies at an extreme disadvantage trying to move into the new space. The changes to make this more difficult to do were necessary to allow the business sector to expand onto the interent.
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I can understand that, but it certainly works against the little guy too lol.
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I agree with Vicki on that one.
