I found a good keyword that includes a brand name in it without too much competition. (ie. nike golf balls) Would it be okay to go after this keyword or is there copyright stuff involved? I've seen other sites with brand names in their domain but it seems like people on this forum seem to stay away from that stuff. Can anyone give me some insight? Thanks!
It all depends on the individual brand, some will come after you and some won't. A good measure is to do a few searches for the brand, if you see other decent looking sites coming up with that brand in the domain name, it's probably OK. If the term is trademarked in the same country as your host / registrar then you have zero recourse, the domain will get canned and you will lose out. Use at your own risk.
thanks, so worse case scenario is i'll lose my site + the hours and $$ i spent on it right? I won't get fined or anything?
I'm not a lawyer but most in most cases I've seen where people have been hassled about trademarks the company is happy to just get the site taken down and to take the domain. However you could potentially get sued for damages or loss of income or whatever, especially if you're in the US. There have been a few cases of this in the adult biz lately but the plaintiff has generally lost. This is the kind of thing you should be talking to a lawyer about though rather than getting advice on a message board. If you have nikegolfballs.com and you're actually selling nike golf balls I don't see how or why they'd have a problem. However if you're selling a farmville guide and you've got the domain shittyfarmvilleguide.com, and zynga comes after you (ie you're not making zynga any money), you're fucked. I stay away from trademarks myself. I keep my domains generic but my ads specific.
I work at a large US computer corporation with a relatively active legal team and the norm is to send a Cease and Desist letter first to the offending owner. Risk is minimal other than your equity investment in building the site which on the other hand could be huge. Do so at your own risk!
Can anyone recommend a registrar where its relatively safe to have your domains with brand name in them? Or maybe clues to a country where the chances the pressure them are minimal?
It's a short term strategy at best. You will get flagged sooner or later by your affiliate program or the brand holder.
I do my best to avoid any kind of trademarks in my domain names, it is just not worth the hassle. you could put tons of work and effort in and then just when it turns the corner and starts making money, the whole thing could get yanked out from under you.
A simple way is to use something like this myBRANDNAMEblog.com - its clear this is your own blog where you share your own experience with BRAND NAME.
My domain has 'google' in it, and i'm outranking google for a lot of my keywords so doesnt look like theres much of a problem there...
About 2-3 weeks ago i got myself a domain name with a Sony brand name in it, got it top 10 within 3 days. 1 Week after that i received mail from Sony to remove the website.
I asked them if they have a term of use of using brand names in domain names and websites. I received a link to their terms earlier today but have not looked at them yet. One thing is for sure and that is that i am not gonna argue with a company as Sony. So i probably will end up taking the site down today or tomorrow. The thing is that i used the term playstationngp in the domain name and i see so many sites using XXXplaystationXXX and i doubt that they contact them all. Maybe it is just coz the ngp will be their new toy and is not released untill end this year. Really no clue
I say go for it and from day one, plan to be contacted by an attorney. Cloke your links, use WHOIS, and at least it will be harder for them to make initial contact with you. But once they do, it will be your best option to comply and move on.
Just bumping this up as I'd considered doing this, but think it would only be worth it for short term gain and know that by using Google Insights, that at that time of year is when you'll get the most reward. But, what if you use Whois Privacy so they can't find out your details via a simply Whois query?
Had a domain name a few months ago with the facebook name in the url - got email that was very threatening from mr facebook. Took the site down - That said I have seen many ages sites with brandnames in the URL - depends what your doing I would think.
I am also thinking about buying a domain name with brand name in it. Only difference is I want to use multiple brand names in one domain. E.g. nike-vs-adidas-golf-balls, does anybody know anything about this? Can anybody claim this? It is obvious I am only comparing brands. It would be impossible for both nike AND adidas to get this domain.
