BP buys oil spill related domains

[verbster]

Looks like BP is spending lots of money to get oil spill domains redirected to their official site.

BP Buys Search Engine Phrases Redirecting Users - ABC News

Says they are spending $10k per day getting their site(s) to come up first.

The closing sentence is interesting: "The search terms, everything, it's probably not a bad idea for the company to do," he said. "Is it right? Is buying these terms ethical? That's another question."

What do you think? Is it unethical for a company like BP to buy these types of search terms to help them control their markeing situation? Or is it a great business move to help protect their business and shareholders...or both?

 

[Jaco]

They had better run the TLD-table with them, then, because I can get 100X the eyeballs with a developed .info than they can with an undeveloped and redirected .com.

 

[lexisdomains]

That's crazy because I registered OilSpillTV.com not long ago...

I actually live in louisiana where coastal wetlands along southern Louisiana are already battered from previous natural disasters such as Hurricanes. Now oil spills. This has even caused one of the largest shrimp dealers in Louisiana to close his business.

 

[Domagon]

They had better run the TLD-table with them, then, because I can get 100X the eyeballs with a developed .info than they can with an undeveloped and redirected .com.

According to the article BP is spending $10K on buying keywords / phrases on the major search engines. Not domain names.

IMHO, people seeking to sell oil spill related domain names to BP will likely need to put some content on them and get them highly ranked in the major SEs for BP to even consider purchase / leasing.

Ron

 

[enlytend]

They're bidding on Adwords, not buying domains.

Trying to manage whatever reputation they still have ... Personally, I think the money would be better spent compensating those who've lost their livelihoods, being more proactive about the cleanup, and wiping oil off the pelicans.

 

[Alex P]

What do you think? Is it unethical for a company like BP to buy these types of search terms to help them control their markeing situation? Or is it a great business move to help protect their business and shareholders...or both?

I think they need to protect themselves, the damage has been done and is still being done, there's no way to avoid the bad publicity but I think its fair to let them manage it as much as possible.

 

[Sigur Ros]

I'm a little skeptical about their intentions. All of the American public has been aware of the incident. Are they trying to hide further attention on their not-so-future mishaps?

 

[SpareDomains]

IMHO, people seeking to sell oil spill related domain names to BP will likely need to put some content on them and get them highly ranked in the major SEs for BP to even consider purchase / leasing.

Ron

good point as a parked domain name will rarely rank in google so really no value unless it has massive type in traffic, get it developed and another story.

 

[nicedomains]

For BP spending next to nothing registering domains and buying a crapload of adwords to try and capture some of the traffic that is out there searching for information on this topic makes sense.

 

[doubleU]

It's the end-user that pays for all of their waste - here in Ireland campaigns like 'Shell to Sea' fall on deaf ears resulting in jailing of innocent protesters and formation of a 'private' police force to protect such companies who exploit our waters for their own profit - a reserve of natural gas containing at least 1 trillion cubic feet (TCF) given away for free with no obligation to pay any tax or royalties !

check out - http://www.shelltosea.com/content/gas-oil-robbery

 

[DN BROKER]

10K a day could be used in hiring foreign engineers to assist them with this disaster

 

[enlytend]

10K a day could be used in hiring foreign engineers to assist them with this disaster

I think that would actually HELP them mend their image more than spending all that money on advertising. A lot of people who see the ads are going to realize they're just virtual toilet paper.

Actions speak louder than words.

 

[Ms Domainer]

*

Actually fixing the damn spill would go a long way in "fixing" their bad PR.

They need to be levied a huge fine for each day that they're ruining our shores and ecosystem.

One more reason why big business, especially big oil, needs to be regulated.

*

 

[Jaco]

They already are 'reguated'.

"REGULATE BIG OIL!!!" is one of those mindless, left-bent chants that fit particularly well in a situation like this. The problem here is that we let them drill in deep water without having a solid plan on what to do if something like this happened (hint: if they were allowed to drill closer in, they could just send divers down to fix stuff like this)

I agree they should pay to fix this and to everyone who is harmed as a result, but it isn't because I have some underlying disdain for 'big oil' or 'big business' that seems to be the true motivation of a lot of the piling on here.

 

[lexisdomains]

They will pay... and BIG!

I agree they should pay to fix this and to everyone who is harmed as a result.

Trust me... They will pay big according to recent legal claims.

 

[doubleU]

Trust me... They will pay big according to recent legal claims.

Again I most point out that its the consumer that will pay every cent of this clean-up operation that BP will have so next time you fill your tank think about it !

 

[enterpryzman]

nothing wrong with buying the traffic if that is what they want to do....10-k to them is nothing and if I was them, I would do something to divert traffic also.
We all try to do it in business, this is the same thing.
Enterpryzman

 

[DomainAD5]

I just registered gulfoilspilleffect.com. I know it is somewhat long and wordy, but I thought I'd give it a shot. What do you all think? Somewhat of a novice so any advice would be appreciated!

 

[HBK216]

I just registered gulfoilspilleffect.com. I know it is somewhat long and wordy, but I thought I'd give it a shot. What do you all think? Somewhat of a novice so any advice would be appreciated!

Stop wasting money on names like these. Are you going to legitimately develop it? If not, it is highly unlikely you will be able to sell it especially to BP if that is your goal.

 

[DU]

Not to troll..

BP is bad... but anyone notice how we overlook things NIOBY?

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