DomainBinge

Typosquatting - buying domains based on a misspelling of a domain name (e.g., gogole.com) - is fraught with legal challenges.

But what about reverse-typosquatting?  Here, a company bases its tradename (and probably registers the mark) on a misspelling of a generic term.  Think of Flickr and Flicker (and of several other popular web 2.0 sites and their developer’s penchant for dropping vowels).

The presumably innocent owner of the generic domain can be flooded with typo traffic as non-savvy web users (those not in on the dropped vowel branding strategy) go directly to the generic site.  This might be a desired result if the generic owner monetizes his site with advertising, but what if they were hosting a site that was simply the “web home” of a business (say, a firebox manufacturer)?

Surface computing has been a hot topic since Jeff Han delivered his presentation on multi-touch interfaces at the TED conference last year.

The surface computing concept - using the surface of a computer monitor as the primary user interface - received a significant boost a few weeks ago when Microsoft announced its plans to develop a product line based on the technology.  (the Microsoft demo videos are amazing).

The race for generic surface computing domains started just before the Microsoft announcement and peaked on the day of.  And deals are already being made.  Surface.tv recently sold for $27k, which is apparently the highest price ever paid for a .tv domain.

I’ve been adding to my domain portfolio over the last several weeks, which has had me thinking quite a bit about monetization strategies.

So far, I see 5 primary strategies* that can be used to monetize individual domains in a portfolio:

1. Direct navigation to landing pages with sponsored ads
2. Hosting small (e.g., 1 to 5 pages), content-based sites that include sponsored ads and/or sponsored content
3. Blogs with sponsored ads and/or sponsored content
4. Web applications
5. Domain-led businesses

*Note that I haven’t included selling the domain. I view this as an option that is always available, and not so much a ‘monetization strategy’ for domains you own.

Guy Kawasaki recently launched Truemors.com, a site where people can, apparently, spread rumors about anything. It’s got all the web 2.0 bells and whistles, including votes, comments, a snazzy logo and no business plan. He recently detailed the $12,107.09 he spent on startup costs for the venture, including $1115.05 he spent on domain names.

For about 1k, he scored 55 domains that surround the flagship truemors.com. Incredible value. While the domain is a bit bland from a type-in / natural search point of view, it will make a great tradename-based domain once he builds a bit of value behind the name. 8 letters, 55 domains, 1k. Bargains like that won’t be found in years to come, even for tradename-based domains.

Generic domains - those that generally describe a class of products or services - are typically more valuable than those directed to a particular company or product name (brand-oriented domains). The reason is simple - web surfers typically use generic terms when searching for content (and when they’re searching for a particular company or product name or brand, the game of converting them to your company/product is entirely different than just introducing yourself).

Kevin Ham, the $300 million master of Web domains - June 1, 2007

This month’s Business 2.0 has a great “legends of the game” article that is must read material for anyone thinking about doing a little (or a lot) domaining.  It focuses on Kevin Ham and his Vancouver-based empire, but includes brief mentions and profiles of other giants, including Frank Schilling and Yun Ye.

The account of the Cameroon typo alone is worth the price of admission.