Change of Domain because of Cyber Squatter
I guess my first official whinge has to be about getting forced to re-think what domain name I wanted for this site. After deciding that I wanted to produce this website I wanted the domain name “thedailywhinge.com” so off I went to Heart Internet to register it only to find that it had already been registered and it appeared to be by a cyber squatter.
The domain had been registered and appeared to be one of these spammy, nothing-but-adverts, “we do not have the information but click our links as they do” sites which clearly looks like someone who has registered domains en-mass, put up some commission paying links in the hope that either they bring in enough money from the people clicking on these worthless links or that someone who actually wants the domain is willing to part with a lot of cash.
I hate these type of people. I don’t mind someone buying a domain name to use but to buy it simply to try and force someone who actually wants it to pay through the nose really annoys me.
On one occasion I contacted the owner of a domain (they clearly were not using it for anything as it was another of these spammy, advert-ridden pages) regarding purchasing it from them. If the domain had not been registered then I could have bought it for about £10, when I contacted them I said I would be able to pay no more than £50 for the domain and that it was to be used for a voluntary community project. I almost fell off my chair when i got the response as they stated they wouldn’t be willing to part with it for less than £3,000.
As you can probably guess we decided to use another domain name for the project and paid less than £10 for it.
On this occasion though, it may have been a blessing in diguse as I do not think I would be able to manage an whinge a day and at least a whinge a week should be easy enough.
Tags: advertisements, adverts, cyber squatter, domain names, spam
I feel your pain my friend, i feel your pain.
I have been using a .com for a few years now. Due to a billing screwup by a company i used to deal with in the states they released my primary .com domain to the public.
It was immediatly snapped up by a squatter and told it would cost a fortune.
I bloody hate these idiots, the search links can provide enough income to pay the renual fees for the domains can they?
Yeah the links can provide enough for the renewal fees for the domain which is a real pain.
As you will be aware, you can buy the domain names very quickly (.com – £4.99 per year, .co.uk – £2.79 per year – using my usual provider Heart Internet so I have not looked around for anything cheaper). No doubt they will probably be doing something to keep the hosting charges just as cheap so they only have to earn a few pounds a year from people clicking on their links to break even.
After that anything else is profit which means it can be hard for something who actually wants the domain because they have to offer an amount that is going to be better for the squatter than what they are getting from the links.