Domain Tasting: Hard to Swallow - A Market Consequence?
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Some have argued that domain name tasting is a simple consequence of the open market. As Frank Schilling has pointed out in an article on the history of domain tasting, “It is conceivable that even at this late stage anyone can register 100,000 domain names and keep 20 or 100 generic defensible names with organic traffic that have somehow slipped between the raindrops undetected until now. It is also conceivable that those names will have a secondary market value in the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars.”
Arguably, from that point of view, domain name tasters are simply tapping into a value that’s already there. They’re getting more out of it by loading the domain name with advertising that helps direct the web surfer to what he or she was looking for anyway, of course – and advertising from search engines gives the practice an added incentive. Indeed, that added incentive is so lucrative that there are whole companies engaged in the practice of domain tasting.
Take Maltuzi Holdings. That name is practically a curse to anyone who tries to register a domain name by first checking Whois to see whether it’s taken. Google “Maltuzi Holdings” and you’ll read all sorts of reports of people who checked Whois for one or several domain names, then came back later (sometimes as little as an hour later) to register an unused name, only to find out that Maltuzi Holdings had beaten them to the punch. Maltuzi owns more than 100,000 domain names and sees its business as akin to real estate. “In simplest terms, this is no different than acquiring an apartment building for rental income…” it states on its web site.
Some executives at domain tasting companies even argue that they provide a service. They point out that a company can buy an ad on their page that redirects web surfers to the site they were really looking for if they arrive at the domain taster’s site because of a typo. The reputable ones supposedly negotiate to hand over domains that involve trademarks to the trademark holders when they are informed of the issue, but nothing I have read bears this out in practice.
Next: Will it Continue? >>
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