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So last year I wanted to see what it was like to have a high traffic domain, so I went to Name.com, used their filter to look at the highest traffic names, and chose WattBux.com for $11. Why not? It had 3500+ uniques and I think $11 was a nice cost for me to learn a little and see what happens when you park a domain like this.
The traffic poured in and there were a lot of clicks and offer views on sedo.
So I google "wattbux" finally to see if there are any potential end-users or what this traffic is even all about...
Investigation? Legit? Hmmm... Those are just the autocompletes. As I searched, I saw a ton of forum posts and facebook posts from people who were part of a pyramid scheme. Apparently this is repeated all over the internet with these "bux" domains, and after a year the name is dumped and a company runs off with people's money.
The reason I bring this up is because when you see these names on auctions sites, they may look quite attractive! "bux" + traffic looks like it might be a good buy if you don't do your research.
I saw this sale on Godaddy last month:
t/i/k/b/u/x/.com 203 USD 2015-08-14 GoDaddy
A quick google search shows that it was a PPC pyramid scam site a few years ago: http://www.moneymakergroup.com/Tikbux-Tikbuxcom-t377316.html
On dynadot I see these:
Wow look at that traffic, right? M/i/n/b/u/x/ seems like a nice brand, too?
Type it into google...here's the autocomplete...
I just wanted to share my own findings with other domainers so that you don't get fooled by these traffic and revenue numbers and end up making a costly mistake. Especially in the case of that dynadot auction above, when you se a bunch of bids, you start to think "wow, this must be a really great domain!"
I think i made a few dollars parking Wattbux.com...but the traffic goes away after a while, and soon you are left with only people clicking on your domain wondering where the website went that owes them a payout.
Anyway, I hope this is helpful to some of you. Google the domain you are bidding on! Click on some of the links about the former website. Use https://archive.org/web/ to see what was there before. The stats you see on auction sites do not tell the full story.
Cheers,
Bobby
The traffic poured in and there were a lot of clicks and offer views on sedo.
So I google "wattbux" finally to see if there are any potential end-users or what this traffic is even all about...
Investigation? Legit? Hmmm... Those are just the autocompletes. As I searched, I saw a ton of forum posts and facebook posts from people who were part of a pyramid scheme. Apparently this is repeated all over the internet with these "bux" domains, and after a year the name is dumped and a company runs off with people's money.
The reason I bring this up is because when you see these names on auctions sites, they may look quite attractive! "bux" + traffic looks like it might be a good buy if you don't do your research.
I saw this sale on Godaddy last month:
t/i/k/b/u/x/.com 203 USD 2015-08-14 GoDaddy
A quick google search shows that it was a PPC pyramid scam site a few years ago: http://www.moneymakergroup.com/Tikbux-Tikbuxcom-t377316.html
On dynadot I see these:
Wow look at that traffic, right? M/i/n/b/u/x/ seems like a nice brand, too?
Type it into google...here's the autocomplete...
I just wanted to share my own findings with other domainers so that you don't get fooled by these traffic and revenue numbers and end up making a costly mistake. Especially in the case of that dynadot auction above, when you se a bunch of bids, you start to think "wow, this must be a really great domain!"
I think i made a few dollars parking Wattbux.com...but the traffic goes away after a while, and soon you are left with only people clicking on your domain wondering where the website went that owes them a payout.
Anyway, I hope this is helpful to some of you. Google the domain you are bidding on! Click on some of the links about the former website. Use https://archive.org/web/ to see what was there before. The stats you see on auction sites do not tell the full story.
Cheers,
Bobby
