Typo Squatting At Amozon.com

THE OWNER OF AMOZON.COM

If there’s a way to exploit the system, hackers, crackers and other black hats will find it.

Domain Hijacking – A Brief Explanation

Most domain owners are familiar with domain hijacking. Hijacking involves taking over a domain name and using it for unsavory, even illegal online practices. How can someone just take over a domain, you ask?

One of two ways. They can just use it. In an email, for example, a bad guy can use your domain name to provide the appearance of respectability. However, the link contained in the email takes the reader to someplace other than your site, usually someplace in the dark corners of the w3.

The other way black hats can rustle your domain is to contact the registrar – often the web host – and ask to update the owner’s personal information – a new address, telephone number and so on. And believe it or not, there are domain name registrars who actually make these changes! Now, your domain is registered to someone else! Just like that.

With a hijacked domain, bad guys can use your good reputation or well-known name to drive traffic to their site. And, you probably wouldn’t expect a thing until sales dried up completely.

Typo Squatting

Typo squatters take advantage of search engine users’ carelessness when typing in keywords. So, some evil doer might register Amozon.com, something close to the popular and legitimate Amazon.com. You know that typo squatter’s domain is going to get more than a few hits each day.

And when unfortunate search engine users type in Amozon.com, they’re connected to the bad guy. From there, the innocent user can be redirected anywhere. Often, they’re redirected to porn sites or get-rich-quick sites. In addition, important information, like the users’ email addresses, are now available for sale to spammers.

Typo squatters create a variety of misspellings, then register all of their variations in bulk to save money:

- the dot typo, e.g. amazo.n.com

- character replacements, e.g. smazon.con

- character omissions, e.g. amzon.com

- character permutations, e.g. amzaon or amaozn, for example

- character insertions, e.g. amazoln.com

These deliberately misspelled domains can then be parked on a server. There’s no need for an actual web site. All typo squatters need is a place to park two or three hundred domains.

The Google Adsense For Domains Program: Here’s Where The Real Money Is

This is where typo squatters can make some big money. The Google Adsense for Domains program enables users to split Adsense for Domains revenues derived from advertising served up on parked domains. No website required.

So, all the owner of Amozon.com has to do is take on a ton of Ads by Goooogle (you’ve seen them) and s/he splits revenues generated by legit ads placed on other domains. And this isn’t chump change. We’re talking big bucks and Google has been slow to respond to the problem. That means that thousands of legitimate Adsense participants are actually splitting fees with typo squatters.

Google’s slow response to typo squatting can be attributed to the fact that it doesn’t hurt Google’s bottom line. The company apparently doesn’t care about who gets the Adsense revenues as long as the program continues to expand. And it is.

Enter Microsoft’s HoneyMonkey

The fact is that Microsoft has taken the lead in tracking down typo squatters with the introduction of HoneyMonkey, a Microsoft exploitation detection system that spiders the web on a regular basis searching for exploitation points in the company’s numerous software programs.

Using the HoneyMonkey system, investigators have been able to track down numerous typo squatters. However, enforcement of existing laws is nil. Making it even harder to punish these black hats is the fact that they change web hosts often, migrating their misspelled domains from server to server.

The Hosting Solution

Web hosts are in the best position to detect typo squatters and boot them out of business. Squatters register lots of domains at once, all are variations of spellings of popular sites. (Even Google has been victimized by typo squatters.)

Squatters don’t have web sites. They just park their domains and load them up with Google Adsense links, sit back and collect that PPC revenue.

The prudent hosting service monitors for typo squatting and reports suspicious activities, or simply boots the squatter off the server. That’s why it’s important to go with a host who’s up to speed on typo squatters and takes steps to eliminate this growing problem.

Ask any potential web host how it deals with typo squatters. If you don’t get a satisfactory answer, or if all you get is stony silence from the other end of the line, keep looking for the host who knows the most about this ‘spelling’ problem.

Need some help finding a reliable web host? Call or click me and let’s chat. Your first mistake can be your worst mistake. Later, Webwordslinger.com.

Domain Investing: Buying Digital Turf for Fun and Profit

Is digital real estate a better bet than today's stock markets?

A website domain is very much like a piece of property. It is owned by someone. It can be bought and sold, traded or transferred. And just as we’ve all witnessed a nice run up in housing prices over the past few years, good domain names appreciate and can (maybe) fetch enough to put your kid through college – if you know what you’re doing and how to max your ROI.

Get Reach Quick? Hardly.
If you Google “domain investing” you’ll see that every Tom, Dick and Louise has written the definitive text on how to make billions trading domain names. Oh, yea? Well, if these guys know how to make money trading domain names, why in the world would they tell you – at any price!

Skip the “get rich quick” approach for a couple of reasons. First, every really great domain name has already been thought of and registered. Okay, maybe there are one or two yet to be created but the chances of you coming up with the next big thing are like zero. It’s just not going to happen.

However, there are ways to make money in domain investing. Let’s look at a couple of investment opportunities designed for aggressive investors. Please, don’t bet the farm on a domain name.

Know the Market
Would you buy a stock without doing some background research? What if you didn’t understand how the stock market functions? It’s tough enough to make money in domain investing without adding market ignorance to the mix. Tag several domain trading websites and track them until you get a feel for what sells for what. Really good names can bring some nice money your way. One example: a domain that was purchased in 2000 for $10,000 recently sold for $65,000. That’s a very nice ROI in any investment arena. Of course, it’s the exception to the rule, which is why it got so much media play.

It can happen, but it might take some time. You’re more likely to make $50 on a domain name trade but it’s fun and it is fifty bucks. Just keep it in perspective and only invest what you can afford to lose.

Buying and Appraising the Quality of Domain Names
There are plenty of sites where domain investors buy and sell names with legs, that is, domains that already have a business attached to them. These are attractive to entrepreneurial types interested in building web-based businesses.

Or, sometimes, you’ll find a great domain name, perfect for your on-line venture, for sale on these domain investing and trading websites. No business attached. You’re just buying the name.com. You may have to bid your way to ownership, or make an outright purchase if it really is the perfect domain name.

Either way, you can hire a domain name appraiser – yes, they really exist – who will run all kinds of diagnostics on the name to see how it would do if you bought it. Or, if you aren’t interested in the name for your own use, you can simply take your chances, register one or a bunch of domains for very little and post (it) them for sale or lease.

Building Cyber Equity
Another way to make some cash through domain investing is to register a “good” domain name and then actually generate some revenue through actual sales, Adwords or some other steady income from the website. You are, in fact, building cyber equity, adding value to the domain name by also delivering a functioning website and even some web traffic.

Think of it this way. There are people who make a lot of money “flipping” real estate. They buy a house that needs fixing up, they fix it up and resell at a profit. Or, so the flipper hopes.

Same deal here. You register the domain name, which shouldn’t cost more than a few bucks, you spend a few Sundays getting hooked up with a PPC or affiliate program (or why not 10 PPC and affiliate programs) and you’ve got cash flow that immediately increases the value of the domain name.

A higher page rank will also increase the value of a domain name, so some SEO work may pay off big time when the sale is finally made. If you buy a domain name and simply park it on some host’s server, you aren’t taking full advantage of your investment, even if it’s only a $2.95 domain registration fee. Put the domain to work for you and chances are, you’ll increase its value at the time of sale. And make some extra bucks while waiting for sale day.

Buy Domain Names in Bulk
Once again, take a little time to learn about domain name registrations. There are plenty of sites that’ll give you a significant break on registration when you register in bulk. Some players in this market register 1000s of domain names at a time for maybe a buck or two per registration. Then, they market their inventory. Very risky and not for the faint of heart.

Know What You Need to Know
So, if you don’t know much about domain name investing, take the time to learn – to learn how to construct a simple website, to generate income from sources other than direct sales, although if you do have access to a useful product or service, why not use the site for direct sales as well. It only increases the value of your domain name when you can show you’re making $50 bucks a week as an affiliate site for the XYZ company and $100 a week selling products.

Is Cyber Realty In Your Future?
It is if your expectations are reasonable, you don’t invest more than you can afford to lose and, most importantly, you learn the rules of the game – everything from how the market operates to how to build equity in a domain name.

If you think of a domain as a “place” just like a home, the market dynamics are similar. The difference? People need a home. They don’t need to spend $5,000 on your really cool domain name. In other words, domain investing isn’t a needs-driven marketplace.

Remember Beanie Babies?
Basic economics 101: a market is only strong as long as its investors believe in the market’s ability to make a profit. Just a few years back, people were buying up Beanie Babies for investment, spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars for a stuffed toy! Visit eBay today to see what Beanie Babies are selling for. The market in plush collectables lost faith in its ability to generate a profit and the bottom fell out. Overnight!

Anything, including a domain name, is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. And in the case of domain names, supply far outstrips demand so you better have a good product. Preferably one that’s earning some income.

And if you get an attractive offer, take it. It’s pretty unlikely that you’ll find another buyer willing to pay bigger bucks for that domain.

It is a market – domain names – but it’s a fickle market, it isn’t needs-driven and there’s always more supply than demand. Still, by taking a few simple steps, you can add value to a domain name and actually make a few hundred bucks.

No, it won’t get your kid through college, but it might pay the air fare to get her there.

 

Discover more about on-line marketing and money-making opportunities at Webwordslinger.com.

Domain Parking: Just Park It

 

www.perfectdomainname.com

 

 

 

 

Once you’ve come up with the perfect domain name for your online business, the next step is to register the name through a registrar – in many cases the hosting service you’ve chosen. Once registered, you’re still not hooked up to the I-net, i.e. you lack any presence on the w3.

To show up at all, you have to park your domain. Parking simply means your domain is registered and has a route to and from the web. People can find you by typing in www.whateveryoursitesnameis.com. The point of parking a domain name? Several.

Search Engine Recognition

When you park your domain on a web host server, it is there. It exists. It’s real, even though there’s no website behind it. Just a few bytes for a single page. However, the simple step of parking a domain will make your domain recognizable to search engines. That’s a good thing. Even though there’s no content, the SE spiders will know your site is there. And being discovered by SE spiders can take time so park it ASAP and get the recognition process underway.

Generate Traffic

You won’t get any traffic through the natural results of search engine indexing because there’s no content or anything useful to the search engine user – yet. But you can tell all your friends and family to visit your site and start generating some traffic before your website is even started. In the world of ecommerce, every little bit helps – especially when you’re just starting out.

Domain For Sale

A registered domain name is a commodity. Domains are bought, sold and traded everyday – thousands of them. In fact, there are many domain brokers who will list your site and even put the name up for auction. A lot of people register domain names just to park them and put out the ‘For Sale’ sign.

If you’re interested in domain ‘homesteading’ – registering domains for fun and profit – use the services of a low-cost domain registration service, often associated with low-cost hosting companies. Many of these web hosts will register domains in bulk for as little as $2.95 per.

Do the math. Register 100 exceedingly clever domain names at $2.95 per and your registration costs are under $300. Your potential return, which of course depends on buyers’ interest, is significantly higher than your outlay. Good domain names are hard to find with more and more being registered daily so businesses are willing to pay big bucks for a good one.

Here’s an example. In 1996 a Denver-based publishing company registered the domain name Caboodle.com for the release of a new publication. When the publisher finished with the promotion, he kept the domain name on the off chance that someone might want to buy it.

Offers trickled in at first, usually in the $50 to $100 range. At last check, the publisher had been offered $2,000 for Caboodle.com. And he’s holding out for more. The fact is, he’ll get it because it’s a good name for a number of online businesses.

Free Parking

Obviously, the homesteading model falls to pieces if you have to pay monthly hosting fees – even really, really low hosting fees. Those 100 domain names you registered in bulk could easily end up costing you $600 to $700 a month if you have to pay for server space.

Make sure you get free parking for all domains registered through the host/registrar. Good hosts will let you park them for free so shop around and don’t pay anything for the tiny bit of server space your parked domain takes up.

Provide Contact Information

In the case of a ‘For Sale’ domain, parked on a host server, it’s helpful to provide at least a short form that potential buyers can complete. Good web hosts provide free tools and applications to create a simple, secure online form. Again, never pay for parking or site apps.

At the very least, include an email link so any potential buyer can contact you with an offer.

Under Construction

The most common use of domain parking is for sites under construction. If your site is simple and straightforward, you can be up and running in a few hours. No need for a “Coming Soon” sign.

On the other hand, if you’re creating a complex, deep site with lots of product offerings and a detailed back office, it could take several weeks to get everything just right before you launch. But that doesn’t mean you have to remain invisible to the public or to search engines. Go public with your site even as you’re building it.

This is a good idea because you can actually generate “type-in” traffic, SE acknowledgement and public curiosity. You may not get 10,000 hits a day while your site is in development, but you’ll get some. More importantly, you’ll be picked up by search engine spiders faster – before you launch.

Remember, look for a host that registers domain names in bulk at a low per registration price. Shop around. You’ll find registrars who will register a domain for one year for as little as $2.95. Some even offer FREE domain registration when you sign up for hosting services for 12 months. It saves a few bucks.

Your web host should also provide free parking for your domains registered through that host. If the host you’re considering charges a parking fee, keep looking. You can get it free.

If you’re domain homesteading, provide contact information on each of your parked sites so buyers can reach you to discuss terms. Find a host that gives you free tools and applications to create a contact information page for each site on the block.

And look for other hosting services and features. You want security to protect your digital realty, 24/7 tech support and lots of freebies. The hosting industry is hard-edged competitive so companies have to offer more for less all of the time.

So, take your time to find the right host, even if you’re just parking.