that's pretty scummy
How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
21–30 of 46 posts
Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
#22So not only are they content thieves, they are also cybersquatters with names like: starwarsanswers.com iphoneqna.com facebook-questions.com nfl-questions.com squarespaceanswer.scom astonmartinanswers.com volkswagenanswers.com And that's just the first 2 pages of results.
Buying great domain names is just a great/smart/effective strategy.
But cybersquatting isn't something where a person is operating in the gray area of the terms of service, it is something which is clearly illegal.
Now that is something you might expect some low end affiliate to do, or maybe an innocent technique by a person ignorant to what they are doing (if they are doing it on just 1 name)...but to raise venture capital and then deploy it on illegal marketing strategies is a bit extreme.
It would have been nearly as helpful/beneficial to do something like footballquestions.com (instead of nfl-questions.com), and it wouldn't have been illegal.
The curious question is why take VC money if you want to take the low road? Do the investors realize the latent risk embedded in this activity?
Jason claimed that the Youtube founders should have handed their sales money to the original content creators. I wonder if he thinks the same way about money made from JASON cybersquatting on someone else's brand?
And I would love to here Jason explain how/why he feels the 2 are in any way different from each other.
Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
#23Disclaimer: I worked for Mahalo last year.
You guys are over estimating the value of the domain names. They is a reason they were able to mass register these domains for just the base registration fee and not have to haggle with any private owners for a transfer. ____ answers is not a popular search query. I doubt any of domains are queries that generate more tha 500 searches a month. These domains have no value unless niche communities form around them and long tail content is generated as a result.
Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mahalo registered hundreds of domain names that are actual search queries to improve their search ranking. For example, when Mahalo discovered that people searched for "Car Repair" enough times, Mahalo registered "CarRepair.com" and ended up the first result in google search from that point onward, because google regards the domains that match the query very highly. Then they repeated this for hundreds of other queri…
This may be a naive view, but using the terms in the domain name as an attribute in measuring relevance (and rank) seems to have outlived its usefulness.
I was also under the impression that it's become less favourable within Google.
Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
#25Disclaimer: I worked for Mahalo last year. You guys are over estimating the value of the domain names. They is a reason they were able to mass register these domains for just the base registration fee and not have to haggle with any private owners for a transfer. ____ answers is not a popular search query. I doubt any of domains are queries that generate more tha 500 searches a month. These domains have no value unle…
That's correct. These will either grow or fail based on their ability to build a community of passionate users.
Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
#26This is autoblogging. This won't work. Google will see the blog theme fingerprint and will either lessen the index or de-index. Also, the dupe content is another factor that gets you de-indexed. Now if they used a generic, common theme, and different themes; and then if they used unique, synonymized content -- these things would perhaps get past the Google filter unless of course something triggers a manual review at…
It's not autoblogging, they are niche communities no different than HN or forums or StackOverflow.
As they grow you'll see us invest more in their design and build them out.
I'm not certain this will become a huge business for us, but our Q&A platform is really helpful for niche communities and I'm excited to see how it works.
Most folks won't hang out at a Yahoo Answers or Mahalo Answers, but they would hang out at an iPad Answers site or a Toyota Answers site I think.
Time will tell.
Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
Personally this kind of practice doesn't bother me, but if it bothers you then you can probably send Matt Cutts an email about it - his entire job role is to eliminate this kind of noise out of Google's rankings.
Matt Cutts is completely aware of everything Mahalo does, if from nothing else than the constant threads on HN.
Ain't that the truth! I've got 10 or so SEOs who watch everything we do and send complaint letters by the dozens to Matt.
Keeps us on our toes to an absurd level.
Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
#28Disclaimer: I worked for Mahalo last year. You guys are over estimating the value of the domain names. They is a reason they were able to mass register these domains for just the base registration fee and not have to haggle with any private owners for a transfer. ____ answers is not a popular search query. I doubt any of domains are queries that generate more tha 500 searches a month. These domains have no value unle…
If your domain is costing you $10/year or less, and your content is a one-off, automated or crowdsourced, you only need a few cents/day to cover costs or edge into a tiny profit.
If you rank top for that keyword, 70% or so may click through. Most ads will pay at least a couple of cents, but could be higher. (I have a couple of static, set-and-forget sites where the domain registration for the year is paid by the first few ad clicks to arrive.)
When you have 500 searches/month plus some longer tail stuff, it will do better than many suspect.
In my experience, the 'ideas' suffix is also underrated (less competition for domains, decent niche to tackle) as incoming traffic is seeking a result and will often click an ad to get that.
Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
#29So not only are they content thieves, they are also cybersquatters with names like: starwarsanswers.com iphoneqna.com facebook-questions.com nfl-questions.com squarespaceanswer.scom astonmartinanswers.com volkswagenanswers.com And that's just the first 2 pages of results.
Buying great domain names is just a great/smart/effective strategy. But cybersquatting isn't something where a person is operating in the gray area of the terms of service, it is something which is clearly illegal . Now that is something you might expect some low end affiliate to do, or maybe an innocent technique by a person ignorant to what they are doing (if they are doing it on just 1 name)...but to raise venture…
Actually Aaron, you can use a domain name with a brand in it.... take a look at wipo and you'll see dozens of examples of this. I've posted one below.
That being said, if someone had a problem with our Toyota Answers site or iPad Answers site we would discuss it with them.
Not sure that you understand what the term Cybersquatting means. Cybersquatting is when you sit on a domain name that is the same as someone's brandname and you try to sell it back to them.
What we are doing is creating a forum for the public to discuss a product or service. We also take the time to do a popup to keep people from being confused.
There are many internet companies that do this including the publicly traded Internet Brands which runs sites like corvetteforum.com.
Here's the Wipo link for you to get caught up...
best jcal
http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2000/d2000... Based on the foregoing discussion, the Panel denies the Complaint under the Policy 4 (i) and the Rules 15. Complainant, Lockheed Martin Corporation, failed to show that the disputed domain names were confusingly similar to its trademarks. Therefore, the Panel orders that the disputed domain names and remain registered in the name of the Respondent, Dan Parisi.
Re: How long has Mahalo been using keyword domains like this?
#30Can someone explain what exactly this is and why it is bad? I am not very well-versed in the Google-fu.
Mahalo registered hundreds of domain names that are actual search queries to improve their search ranking. For example, when Mahalo discovered that people searched for "Car Repair" enough times, Mahalo registered "CarRepair.com" and ended up the first result in google search from that point onward, because google regards the domains that match the query very highly. Then they repeated this for hundreds of other queri…
Some updates for folks on SEO:
1. Domain names are not counted toward SEO. Links and quality content are what drives SEO. That is what you should really focus on.
2. Having more than one domain name doesn't help SEO--especially if they are all on the same group of servers. Google knows when one person owns all the same domain names and when they are all on the same servers. If you wanted to try and fool google you might be able to have 500 servers in 500 different locations running 500 different software profiles, etc. However, the amount of time to do that is greater than just making good content.
3. Putting keyword in a domain just makes it easier to remember. Which is worthwhile...