This was one of the most poorly researched and factually false blog posts I have ever read.

Oh, you're going to have to do much better than that. Using my name, too. Tsk tsk.

Hi Paul,

Actually, your article isn't too far off being factual, but your understanding of the domain industry is skewed. Of course it's all right for anyone to buy up domain names and just park them to ad pages to make income from them. Why? Because that's America, or the capitalistic system at it's best.

A domain name is like property. Own (lease) it, do what you want with it as long as it doesn't infringe on someone's TM. Would you blame all those people who bought up hundreds and even thousands of acres of land, and then sold it or built it out or rented it or did what they want on it? So why would you deny anyone today of this same ability, just because they charge you money for that same property you want? Heck, I'd prefer to get mad at people who charge us money for food because we all have to EAT!!

The point is, many people understood the value of domain properties and purchased them. Fair and square, it's business. You can't end your article as a "sour grapes" response because you don't get the domain you want without having to deal with the owner, no matter how much he charges or what ridiculous procedures they make you go through to get it.

I provide alternative domains and sometimes even BETTER domains for my clients if they don't want to pay $10,000 for a domain they can't afford. That doesn't mean somebody else won't pay that much for that domain, and it doesn't mean it's "bad" that someone sells a domain for that much, it just means do you want it? Can you pay for it? If not, move on. Hire a domain expert to find you a decent or even better alternative.

In the next few years, Wall Street and the business sector will finally "get it" about owning domains. A domain name is an "appreciable marketing asset" and will perform for a company non-stop. A good "category killer" domain is cheaper in the long run than a TV, magazine, newspaper or radio ad campaign if you get the right domain. The domain may, in some instances, become more valuable than the total value of your business, ending up as the best investment that the company made. This has been proven many times.

Do some more research, find out about the domainer community, and you'll understand it better, and probably benefit from it, as will your readers. Check out Ron Jackson's DNjournal.com, Domainnamewire.com, Domainnamenews.com and the domainers RSS feed, Domaining.com. You can learn a lot by spending a few hours reading the articles.

Thanks for spending time on domains and your experience with them, because it allows people to answer questions that are asked all the time.

keep up the good work,

Stephen Douglas
Successful Domain Managementâ„¢
BLOG: http://www.Successclick.com
DomainRelevance.com
"Own Your Competitionâ„¢"

Stephen makes some good points, but for the most part, domain names are not the key to a successful web site - it is the content of the web site itself. Most non-geeks don't even type the domain name, they just search for key words.

The real return on domain names comes from "Typo-squatting", in which the domain parkers register hundreds of thousands of domain names which are 1-character off of regular names to capitalize on the typing misfortunes of many.

MarkMonitor labeled squatters. Oh, how I love the irony of this.

"The domain that I was inquiring about had no relation to any ad campaigns, corporations, or otherwise."

This is assumptions not facts (unless of course you wish to claim to know the plans of all major corporations that Mark Monitor may work with)

"It didn't redirect to a legitimate site, or offer anything useful -- it's simply parked on an ad page."

In your opinion. Again no factual basis. Maybe those "useless ads" should be taken of this site too. Really how ridiculous !

"It was being squatted on by a company in the hopes that someone would come along and buy it for some ridiculous price -- essentially exactly what companies like MarkMonitor.com claim to protect against."

Really? MarkMonitor is known in the intellectual property business as a company that protects corporate assets not to sells them. I don't see anything in the story above indicating they approached you to buy the domain. The individual you spoke with seemed to provide plenty of indication (roadblocks) to the possibility of a sale.

"Variations on the name using hyphens and other small changes produced similar parking pages, but squatted by different companies."

Because you don't own these domains, the other guys are squatting and because you don't like what they are doing with them they must be useless ?

"Thus, instead of a domain that could be used to host useful tools or interesting information, it holds nothing of value to anyone. It doesn't infringe on any trademarks, it's essentially been relegated to the trash bin -- of no use to anyone. This isn't brand protection, it's glorified ticket scalping."

Ah-ha. Here we go. Where do we draw the line here.
Useful tools, interesting information ? What makes your potential use of a domain any better than what it's currently used for ? Your opinion ? What if I think your site is useless and uninteresting ?

I landed on this site through a google news link and thought I'd find info about the world. What a waste. Guess what I found . . . content that should be "relegated to the trash bin". Shame on infoworld for squatting and providing such useless content.

"Is it right that a company can register thousands and thousands of domain names that they will never use for anything other than parking pages, simply to be able to bilk someone out of more money when they actually want to use the name? Not in my book."

How do you know they will never use them ? Bilk ?
Try using the analogy of real estate on all of your commentary. Would you call a land owner a squatter ? A developer must be bilking people when he charges them more money for the land than he bought it for. He was smart enough to buy the land before the walmart moved in across the street and he has no rights to do this! For Shame!

"To the covetous man life is a nightmare, and God lets him wrestle with it as best he may."
- Henry Ward Beecher

Paul –

By way of introduction, I'm the Chief Marketing Officer of MarkMonitor. It sounds like there may have been some misunderstanding with our folks on the phone. Our sincere apologies if someone on our staff was rude.

There's a pretty good description of what we do for our customers on our site at www.MarkMonitor.com, however if there are any questions about our business that I can answer for you I'd be happy to.

Just to be clear about a few things:

1) We only register domains for large companies, not individuals like retail registrars like Godaddy or others.
2) Many of our customers do engage in some form of defensive registration and recuperation of domain names that abuse their brand as you stated.
3) Most of this behavior is to prevent or in response to copyright or some other type of intellectual property infringement and is intended to stop perpetrators from either capitalizing on their brand or to stop abuse of their customers as you stated.
4) Sometimes our customers will buy names they intend to use for products or sites they have yet to launch in the future and they might appear to be unrelated to their business. This can happen years or months in advance of the site actually having content.
5) Most often, if the page is parked with advertising, it is because they've recently registered it after having purchased it from an individual or company and have yet to change the content.
6) Our customers don't "squat" on names nor do they "taste" names. The practice of cybersquatting is illegal and the tasting is prohibited as a matter of policy at MarkMonitor though permitted by ICANN and practiced by many other registrars.

In general, we are honest operators and clear about what we will do and won't. I'm sorry that we couldn't help you acquire a name, but it isn't our business to do this for individuals. We at MarkMonitor are all doubly sorry that someone was rude to you on the phone and wish you the best.

Sincerely,

Frederick Felman
Chief Marketing Officer
MarkMonitor
San Francisco

Paul,

It sounds like you have hit a brick wall with MarkMonitor, since you are not a large corporation. Short of hiring a lawyer and having your lawyer talk to their lawyer, I don't see how you are going to get anywhere with them.

You mentioned you tried variations on your desired web page and found parked pages under different companies. Maybe one of them will be more forthcoming, ie, the site is for sale for x dollars. At least you can decide if your project is worth x dollars out of pocket.

You say, "....... simply to be able to bilk someone out of more money when they actually want to use the name? Not in my book."

Bilk? Didn't you ask him to sell it? If so, how is he bilking you? You are not being forced to buy it or under some kind of duress to make the purchase.

Many domain owners don't sell domains, so not all are trying to make money selling. Also, those ads you see make a lot of cash b/c 78% of surfers surveyed recently in the NameMedia study said they found paked pages useful and they click those ads quite often.

These domains are being used, just not how you wish.

What is your point?

Who ever owns the domain name you can "just put up an ad page" if they want to... They own the domain name! Saying that the owner should have to sell you their property because you think you have a better use for it is ridiculous.

Also, if MarkMonitor has registered the name it is probably similar to the trademark of one of their customers, or at least is determined by them to be similar. This is why they said you can't buy it from them unless your lawyer calls them. This is their business. If it was just a generic name then why didn't you state the name in your article?

I would have to agree that you don't know much about domain names...

What is my point? I think it's clear. You're just missing it.

I didn't put the domain name in the post because it doesn't matter what the domain name is. I tried at least a dozen variations on the name and all were registered to ad parking pages, most with "Want to buy this domain name?" links on them.

And please read the whole post before coming to the conclusion that I don't know much about domain names. I was registering domain names (for actual use) back when you had to submit paperwork to prove you were a non-profit before you could get a .org domain -- back when TLDs actually meant something.

Are you okay with Network Solution's magical automatic registration scheme? After all, it's their business, right? That doesn't mean it's not distasteful. Loansharking is a business too.

Domains are not a finite commodity. However, your thinking is.

Sounds like you believe that...

Domain names should be limited to 1 or 2.

Have you ever stopped to think about anyone other than yourself?

How many jobs do you think would be eliminated if we were to do away with domain auctions, domainers, domain investors, etc? How many families would be hurt if we were to ban domain parking, registering domains and pointing them to affiliate programs, etc..

What would the internet be like if you took away the domains of all those companies and individuals whom have registered thousands of domain names and pay hundreds of millions in fees every year on domains that might just sit and do nothing.

I myself registered 700 domains that are all new and have no type in traffic. Why? Because I like collecting "short domains". I'm putting $7,000 a year into the internet for renewal fees. Am I helping out the internet and helping to create jobs. Yes. Am I hurting the internet. No. We can create new extensions and billions of new names if we wanted to, with money that people like I am pouring into the internet with renewals. If you don't get a .com, there are hundreds of other extensions and hundreds more planned for.

In closing, stop whining and start looking at the bigger picture. There are plenty of domain names to go around. Hundreds of thousands are dropped every year.