wow this is one of the biggest stories of the year!
It's big because it's the non-domainer community talking about domains.
On the plus side, at least it's highlighting the power of domain names.
On the negative side, there is the cloud of cybersquatting hanging over it.
Here's what stocktwits.com had to say about it in their morning eMail:
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Grubhub Accused of Getting too Hungry
Grubhub has allegedly bought some 23,000 domains posing as websites for businesses the delivery company either works with or is pitching—without those businesses’ knowledge, according to
New Food Economy.
What that looks like: When you order cookies to cure your
Chernobyl-induced anxiety, you
might end up on a Grubhub-owned site that looks just like the page of your local sweet tooth fix, order form and all. But Betty's Bakery had nothing to do with the website.
FYI, Grubhub
denies the so-called “cybersquatting,” saying the sites it owns boost orders and do restaurants a favor.
But restaurants are up in arms, suggesting Grubhub’s
misleadingcustomers who want to circumvent the service and its fees.
- Grubhub, which is the largest online ordering platform in the U.S., charges restaurants a 3–15% commission fee on regular orders. Orders on Grubhub’s shadow sites can add a fee of up to 20%.
Zoom out: When did food delivery get so cutthroat? When other services (like
Uber Eats, with its gross bookings of $3.1 billion in Q1) started coming for Grubhub’s crown.
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