another way to use expired domains. using someone's name and likeness.

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don6644

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we all know about using expired domains for pbn. but has anyone here used expired domains to steal the prior website's customers?

imagine you are a wedding planner. there is a wedding planner named mark zimmerman who forgot to renew his domain. you buy the domain. you do not put up the same design from archive.org because that could lead to customer confusion and getting sued. you dont want to give the impression that you are trying to pretend you are him. but if your domain is ranking for mark zimmerman wedding planner, that's not your problem, is it? people google that and land on your website. then they contact you. when they ask is this mark zimmerman you say something vague like this is zimmerman wedding planner .com how can i help you? then you steal his customers? is there anyone here that's doing this? is this still using someone's name and likeness?
 
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unless that is a trademark, then probaly yes. but still you'll get a legal notice for this.
 
don6644 said:
we all know about using expired domains for pbn. but has anyone here used expired domains to steal the prior website's customers?

imagine you are a wedding planner. there is a wedding planner named mark zimmerman who forgot to renew his domain. you buy the domain. you do not put up the same design from archive.org because that could lead to customer confusion and getting sued. you dont want to give the impression that you are trying to pretend you are him. but if your domain is ranking for mark zimmerman wedding planner, that's not your problem, is it? people google that and land on your website. then they contact you. when they ask is this mark zimmerman you say something vague like this is zimmerman wedding planner .com how can i help you? then you steal his customers? is there anyone here that's doing this? is this still using someone's name and likeness?
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Yes if you want to go to jail this is the easiest way to do it xD.
 
don6644 said:
we all know about using expired domains for pbn. but has anyone here used expired domains to steal the prior website's customers?

imagine you are a wedding planner. there is a wedding planner named mark zimmerman who forgot to renew his domain. you buy the domain. you do not put up the same design from archive.org because that could lead to customer confusion and getting sued. you dont want to give the impression that you are trying to pretend you are him. but if your domain is ranking for mark zimmerman wedding planner, that's not your problem, is it? people google that and land on your website. then they contact you. when they ask is this mark zimmerman you say something vague like this is zimmerman wedding planner .com how can i help you? then you steal his customers? is there anyone here that's doing this? is this still using someone's name and likeness?
Click to expand...
the reason i would not want to start my own company using someone elses name is the difference in simply taking advantage of a good history of the domain versus trying to take advantage of ppl searching for the previous owner. even without replicating the website, this may create issues quite quicklly.
 
don6644 said:
we all know about using expired domains for pbn. but has anyone here used expired domains to steal the prior website's customers?

imagine you are a wedding planner. there is a wedding planner named mark zimmerman who forgot to renew his domain. you buy the domain. you do not put up the same design from archive.org because that could lead to customer confusion and getting sued. you dont want to give the impression that you are trying to pretend you are him. but if your domain is ranking for mark zimmerman wedding planner, that's not your problem, is it? people google that and land on your website. then they contact you. when they ask is this mark zimmerman you say something vague like this is zimmerman wedding planner .com how can i help you? then you steal his customers? is there anyone here that's doing this? is this still using someone's name and likeness?
Click to expand...
I’d be very careful with that. Buying an expired domain for its SEO value is one thing, but intentionally capturing customers searching for the previous owner and being deliberately vague about who you are is much closer to consumer confusion/impersonation than normal SEO.
fact is hat the old domain expired doesn’t automatically remove the former owner's trademark
 
Nikolaos said:
Yes if you want to go to jail this is the easiest way to do it xD.
Click to expand...
jail for what crime? if i bought a domain and its ranking for some keyword, how is that my problem? go sue google.
 
That is deliberate customer deception and could create trademark, passing off and fraud liability; use unbranded expired domains and identify your business honestly.
 
That sounds legally risky because once you knowingly let customers believe they reached the original business it can cross into deceptive passing off or trademark issues even if the site design is different
 
interesting idea but i think the customer confusion is where it gets dangerous. i'd keep the new business clearly separate from the old owner.
 
If the domain has useful traffic i'd rather build something clearly separate and benefit from the existing audience without pretending to be the old business.
 
even if it works initially i'm not sure its a good long term business model. one dispute could wipe out whatever benefit you got from the domain.
 
danny19979 said:
interesting idea but i think the customer confusion is where it gets dangerous. i'd keep the new business clearly separate from the old owner.
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That said, having the branding and the ownership kept separate is a safer route to take. That way, existing clients don’t have any problems recognizing that it’s not the same company anymore.
 
I doubt it works often. a business that is still running rarely lets its domain lapse. If the owner does forget, there is usually a grace period to get it back. So the domains that actually drop are mostly from closed businesses. no live clients means nobody to reach. And if the owner is still around, a UDRP complaint can take the domain for about $1500.
Has anyone here found a case where the business was still active?
 
Depends where you live OP....if you live in a 3rd world country you can do it without much consequences, 2nd world country I would check for any registered trademarks, 1st world country I would not do it at all.
 
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