Typosquatting is a kind of cybersquatting whereby a person by mistake misspells a web site's address in the browser line and is then forwarded to an alternative web page that belongs to the typo squatter or earns him money. The typo squatter holds a domain registered that contains a misspelling of the original domain name (e.g. bookls.com) and forwards it in a way that
- he earns from the proceeds of advertising on that page
- he earns from directing the traffic through affiliate programs, in many cases even back to affiliate program of the original brand/domain holder, or
- worst case, leaves the user under the impression of being on the original web site, and retrieves confidential information from that user (phishing) or installs spy- or mal-ware on the users computer
All of these variations can be very lucrative for the typo squatter. Typo squatting has grown to become one of the most popular types of cybersquatting even though the terms & conditions of affiliate or parking programs generally do not allow trademark infringement.
The Typosquatting Analysis
Using the same tools like typo squatters managed IP can identify typo domains and analyse their use. The result of this is an analysis:
- Who has registered typo domains?
- Who manages these domains?
- How are they being used: content, forwards, affiliate programs etc
Please contact us for a White paper on typosquatting or a quotation for an analysis!