Natural Search &
Online Tourism Consultant

Here are some top tips for inclusion in your domain dispute resolution case

1. If you have a trademark; search for it and quote the URL from the intellectual property office
2. Note the date that they registered the domain name from the whois on the Nominet.org.uk  website
3. Check the way back machine and understand what the domain was used for in the time that the current registrant owned it. Often you can see that on a accidentally dropped domain name, the new registrant immediatly puts the domain on an domain auction website. In a recent case the registrant put the domain on a domain auction site within 12hours of acquiring it which coincidentally was picked up by the way back machine therefore adding ammunition that the registrant had no intention of doing anything with the domain.
4. Take screen shots of the domain in its current state, if the domain has paid adverts from your competitors or clients this is great ammunition for your case as the regisitrant is trying to palm off their domain as your own.
5. If the domain name is for sale with a domain sales site like Sedo you can find visitor number from their domain listing page. Another useful statistic to include as squatters will often not realise this metric is publically available and would otherwise be impossible to get.
6. If the brand is registered in a personal name or UK registered business they are very unlikely to want their details broadcast if the case gets referred to an “Expert” because the case becomes publicly available. Some high profile squatters not naming any names have a truly tarnished online reputation due to the DRS process going to an experts decision on many occasions, you might want to highlight this to them in the initial correspondence.

The goal at this stage is to cover every angle and not give the registrant anywhere to move, if they are new to the DRS this is usually enough to bring on the sweats.

Nominet have launched a new search function for expert decisions from the Dispute Resolution Service. For the first time, it is now possible to search through the text of published decisions using a free-text search or more specific search criteria.

The Dispute Resolution Service (DRS) offers an efficient and transparent method of resolving disputes in the .uk Top Level Domain. Through the DRS they seek to settle .uk domain name disputes through mediation, and where this is not possible, through an independent expert decision.

All expert decisions are published on their web site. Nominet have now launched a decisions search function. The search function allows users to search through the full wording of decisions for key phrases or words. Specific searches can also be made using the domain name, date, result, expert, complainant or respondent.

Nominet are also in the process of tagging all decisions in a number of categories. A case will be tagged based on which part of the dispute policy it relates to, for example, typosquatting, passing off or trademark infringement. We will also tag cases based on the field of activity or industry to which the domain name relates. The tag search function is an ongoing project and it will take us some time to complete the tagging process for all historic decisions.

DRS decisions will still be published using our RSS feed. You can subscribe to the DRS RSS feed to ensure that you are alerted to new decisions as soon as they are published.

What this means for Trademark and brand owners…

Having consulted on dozens of Dispute Resolution  cases in the past few years knowing what to write and how to approach the situation is the key. Now via the Nominet DRS search function knowing what to write can be extensively researched from previous case history. They even talk about giving search functions by the type of abusive registration whether its Typo’s or squatting. The big power brands such as Expedia and GoCompare have put a lot of effort into their domain reacquisition process so why not make use of their internal experts writings for your own personal issues. I’ve always thought that the .co.uk process for taking back a domain for being an abusive registration was the easiest of any tld…now with an extensive library of case history to go on it got even easier and less daunting for anybody to take action and be confident in their arguments.

What this means for domainers

Not all domainers abusively register domains. However if you have domains that are closely aligned with any trademark or brand you might find an email from Nominet arriving in your mailbox in the not too distant future.

If you have a case which you want looked at email me at contact@leewoodman.co.uk. Having looked through several of the DRS case profiles there are some which I’d feel confident of winning should it go to appeal.

Having read the Lyndon Antcliff creation about the two US kids who hired the hookers on Money.co.uk it confirmed for me the power of the generic domain name and the benefits that come with it. There’s little debate that your choice of domain name doesn’t play some part in your hunt for good SERP listings for your chosen keywords…but that’s not what confirmed it for me; it was the speed and uptake of the story by some of the major news corporations around the world and I think a big factor in their running of the story was their belief in the domain name.

Here is an Alexa report for the traffic spike as a result of his story:

Owning a few generic domains in the online tourism sector, I’m always looking for domains that I know visitors will have confidence in, city names are a firm favourite of mine; the instant connection you get with visitors is priceless, provide a good service to your city and you’ll often become the first port of call for other services whether hotel web design or SEO services.

I remember cold calling a potential client back in 2004 to try and sell them a hotel subscription and she said “Why would someone choose Mumbles.co.uk over my own web site. I said “There’s possibly a trust issue…” that was my first and last mistake. She responded by saying she had been in business for 30 years and how dare i make such a statement. What I actually wanted to say was that being a city guide we are often preferred to over individual accommodation websites as the user thinks we offer an impartial service on their accommodation decision.

The benefits

• Instant brand awareness
• Better click through rates (CTR) in the SERPS for competitive terms
• Customer retention
• More effective PPC campaigns if required (Getting the search term in the display URL if you’re fortunate to have it, it will increase CTR and improve quality score thus lowering costs in the short and long term)

The downsides

• They’re notoriously expensive but that cost might be offset by your savings in marketing costs and customer loyalty down the line.
• Domain owners often become personally attached even if they’re not doing anything with name. It’s like their sending off their pet dog to a new home and want it to be loved, which at the price you’re paying your new dog will be in bed with the other half and you’ll be the one in the kennel.
• They are few and far between. On any given keyword/phrase there are 2/3 domain names which have what it takes.

If you’re looking for a “brand out of the box solution” and you’re confident in your copy maybe the generic domain is for you…but it’ll cost you in the short term.