Perfect example of what people think about Domainers

[notlikeyou]

I saw these comments on a popular site & had to share. It's a shame, quite the stigma that domainers are saddled with.

Commenter 1- Their page layout resembles one of those pages that appear on expired domains...


Commenter 2- You mean.. squatted domains. THose 'sponsored search' pages are nothing more than spam sites owned by domain squatters. It's sad how many of them exist.


Commenter 3- Do they actually make money? I've always wondered what their purpose is.


Commenter 4- There is no limit to human stupidity. People click on them or they wouldn't bother squatting.

Commenter 5- In fact, I remember hearing about a "big time" squatter flying to Cameroon, meeting with the government, and negotiating a deal to squat EVERY ".cm" (mis-spelt ".com") domain that wasn't already taken (via a top levelr edirect). Try it out, go to blah.cm or something.


Commenter -3 I thought so. I mean, i guessed it manipulated non-tech savvy users into clicking and they make money through affiliates but i didn't know the extent of it... Meeting with governments is pretty <edited> extended!

 

[-REECE-]

Commenter #5 seems like a domainer in training :D

We can blame them all we want, however a lot of domainers do and have done a lot of stupid things in the past to make the general public confused about the difference between a domainer and a cybersquatter. I put a link on the Wikipedia article for "Cybersquatting" (#1 google result for cybersquatter and cybersquatting) to the ICA and DNOA a few days back -- hopefully at least some non-domainers curious about the subject will at least see that there are people who do respectfully buy and sell domains.

 

[labrocca]

And exactly what's not true about what they are saying?

Commenter 2- You mean.. squatted domains. THose 'sponsored search' pages are nothing more than spam sites owned by domain squatters. It's sad how many of them exist.

It is sad.

 

[Kate]

The funny bit is that comments like that often come from webmasters who run rubbish MFA sites

 

[DN BROKER]

I saw these comments on a popular site & had to share. It's a shame, quite the stigma that domainers a saddled with.

Is that All?

 

[goodkarmaco]

polish and spin

Turn this negativity around.

Start with the economy and all the jobs being lost.

With a minimum investment of say $8.00 you can start earning money from home by registering a domain name and then parking it for pay per click profits. Then you can learn how to develope the name into a website where the big money is. If you have money to invest then buy a quality domain and follow the same steps as for registering.

This is not negativity in my book it is just the reality of people who don't have a grasp of what domaining is. It won't sell if you don't polish and spin the apple.

 

[-REECE-]

I had some joker a few months back try to steal one of the .ca domains I co-own with another NPer -- paid the transfer fee and thought that entitled him to the domain rofl :sold:

 

[ripley]

You have to admit, there are some serious misconceptions out there about the difference between a "squatter" (someone who infringes on a TM) and a domainer who invests in generics. I recently got this as a response from an enduser to a completely generic domain I was marketing (KeywordShop.com):

"Personally I thinkk its criminal to go around buying domain names that have nothing to do with you." [sic]

My response:

Well I do thank you for answering, though I'm sorry you feel that way. I must confess I don't understand why, however -- it's an investment in virtual real estate, just like you might invest in real property. If I purchase a piece of land intending to hold on to it and allow it to appreciate in value but not actually live on it, then sell it later to someone who wants to build a business there -- is that criminal? Of course not. I'm not sure why the Internet's version of real estate should be seen any differently. It isn't as if I've invested in an asset that infringes on anyone's trademark. Take care.

They had no response, as I expected. I usually just ignore these sorts of emails, but somehow this one pushed a button. I'm a decent, law-abiding person, suggesting I'm some sort of criminal was a step too far I suppose.

ripley.

 

[notlikeyou]

And exactly what's not true about what they are saying?

It is sad.

I do agree that it is sad that there are so many domainers that resort to cybersquatting. What I disagree with is the blanket statement that every domain that is parked or shows relevant information is a "domain squatter."

There is a bit of truth in what's being said, but it's a case of lumping the actions of a few into being the representative of the whole.

 

[-REECE-]

I think what your average person has to understand is that their idea of use might be different than mine or someone else's.

Suppose I buy 2012.com and I have this great idea I'm going to put in place in 2012 -- anyone going to say there's something wrong with waiting until 2012 to get it developed?

Now what's wrong with doing that with a generic domain? Maybe I spent all my money on the generic and can't afford to get it properly developed as I'd like to at the moment.

Maybe I'm not like you average non-domainer/non-webmaster and don't think an HTML page that says "Hello World" is adequate for my domain...

Maybe I'm using the parking income to help pay for the domain's development at a later date...

And maybe I'm going to tell the next hack who emails me about why I'm not using my domain to **** off

 

[labrocca]

At least the thread inspired me to write a blog post.

http://www.vbum.com/2008/12/parked-pages-are-the-highways-billboards/

 

[notlikeyou]

At least the thread inspired me to write a blog post.

http://www.vbum.com/2008/12/parked-pages-are-the-highways-billboards/

For some reason I always thought you were older. :lol:

Nice perspective, it's an idealistic one but nonetheless a very valid one.

 

[labrocca]

I'm 38. Ain't that young either.

 

[netfleet]

So Labrocca, what would you suggest a domainer with several thousand domains should do with them?

Cull & develop a few hundred or a few dozen realistically? Turn down new opportunities for new acquisition to concentrate on development? Try to mass produce a few hundred or thousand mini-sites?

I think you're blog post is a little idealistic. We all aspire to developing and I'm sure most would love to have 3,000 independent completely unique, content rich and valuable websites but without massive funding, a team of developers & SEO'ers it's not practical in the short term.

Parking is a perfectly adequate measure for the meantime. And done correctly it can certainly add value to a visitor. maybe not to the same extent that a fully fledged website might but better than an "Internet Explorer can not display this page..."

 

[snoop]

the difference between a domainer and a cybersquatter.

A cybersquatter is a domainer.

I guess you could say there is different types of domainers

-Those who buy T/M
-Those who buy generic names
-Those who buy a bit of both or buy names on the fuzzy edge between the two.

In reality most big domainers have lost a UDRP or dispute of some sort, and most people probably have some domains that infinge in some way.

At least the thread inspired me to write a blog post.

http://www.vbum.com/2008/12/parked-pages-are-the-highways-billboards/

Regarding this, if the countries most prime real estate was worth more with billboards on it then that is what people would do. The reason so many domains are parked is because it is often the most efficient use of the domain. The people who want to build generally won't pay what the "domain billboard" people will pay for the name.

 

[labrocca]

So Labrocca, what would you suggest a domainer with several thousand domains should do with them?

I believe there should be more regulation on domain ownership and usage. Simple as that. There is rampant abuse. I don't pretend to have all the answers and heck. If you feel that parking is fine good for you. I have my own opinion though. ICANN's opening of the registry imho is proof that they also see the problems.

Cull & develop a few hundred or a few dozen realistically? Turn down new opportunities for new acquisition to concentrate on development? Try to mass produce a few hundred or thousand mini-sites?

So the plan is to register thousands of domains, have no intention of developing them, and hope you get some sucker along to pay top-dollar. Meanwhile almost every major domainer holds TM names in mass quantity. Oh how noble.

I will forever look at bulk domainers in a negative light as will most of society as proven by this thread's first post. I hold no illusions about the industry I am part of. It's a slimy one where ethics are second to profit. I make no claim I am any better. I have 450 domains and about 300 parked the rest are developed. I sell my domains to the highest offers I can get for them. I ain't stupid.

When I take candy from a baby I don't justify it as anything but.

The people who want to build generally won't pay what the "domain billboard" people will pay for the name.

A domain could make $50 a year in parking. Domain companies like GreatDomains would still want $10,000 for the domain.

 

[-REECE-]

Personally, I don't buy for one second that most good domains (other than typos which make most of the parking revenue) are better served parked than developed.

It just doesn't fit with what my own experience has been. Put a couple intelligent blog posts on a half decent domain which gets type-in traffic and you'll have way more traffic in no time.

 

[netfleet]

I believe there should be more regulation on domain ownership and usage. Simple as that. There is rampant abuse. I don't pretend to have all the answers and heck. If you feel that parking is fine good for you. I have my own opinion though. ICANN's opening of the registry imho is proof that they also see the problems.

So the plan is to register thousands of domains, have no intention of developing them, and hope you get some sucker along to pay top-dollar. Meanwhile almost every major domainer holds TM names in mass quantity. Oh how noble.

I will forever look at bulk domainers in a negative light as will most of society as proven by this thread's first post. I hold no illusions about the industry I am part of. It's a slimy one where ethics are second to profit. I make no claim I am any better. I have 450 domains and about 300 parked the rest are developed. I sell my domains to the highest offers I can get for them. I ain't stupid.

When I take candy from a baby I don't justify it as anything but.

Fair enough. I operate in the .AU space which has a lot more regulation than most areas and, whilst many domainers (including myself) fight against some of these regulations from time to time, it is a pretty tidy space so you can't say they don't entirely work.

However in saying that I'm a big believer in having markets as free as they could be. In fact it seems as if the market is slowly squeezing out parking as a viable option for many domains which may force more domainers to reduce their portfolios or better still work harder to develop.

So it may just sort itself out anyway with the age old market forces doing their thing...

 

[snoop]

Personally, I don't buy for one second that most good domains (other than typos which make most of the parking revenue) are better served parked than developed.

It just doesn't fit with what my own experience has been. Put a couple intelligent blog posts on a half decent domain which gets type-in traffic and you'll have way more traffic in no time.

The question isn't "will the traffic increase", the question is "by how much will it increase". Development lowers the CTR hugely which means traffic needs to go up by a large factor to compensate. Personally I have done quite well in the past buying developed sites on good quality domains and replacing them with park pages.

I think most domainers who have been in this a while have tried development at one point of another and most with type in names still park- there is a reason for that.

I will forever look at bulk domainers in a negative light as will most of society as proven by this thread's first post. I hold no illusions about the industry I am part of. It's a slimy one where ethics are second to profit. I make no claim I am any better. I have 450 domains and about 300 parked the rest are developed. I sell my domains to the highest offers I can get for them. I ain't stupid.

Refreshingly honest.

 

[weblord]

in order for domainers/domaining to be understood one should be a part of it, or take part or be a domainer themselves, i see some remarks as well on my direct messages on twitter.com