A good domainname not only makes people more likely to visit a website, but it can also increase searchengine rankings. This is because searchengine bots index websites based on keywords found both in its content and domainname. Yet, how does a webmaster know if their domainname is going to be profitable? Usually most don’t until they put it into practice. Hence, there is the practice of domain name tasting.
What is domain name tasting? Domain name tasting is the process of registering a domain name and seeing how much traffic it brings to a website during whatever grace period the domain name registrar offers, (which is normally five days). If the domain name brings in a lot of visitors, the webmaster will keep it. Otherwise, they will cancel their registration and get a refund.
Does this sound interesting to you? Well, before you decide to do domain name tasting for your site, first consider the ethics of the practice. Domain name companies lose millions of dollars every year due to domain name tasting. While some may not feel sympathy for them, if domain name tasting continues without any legal restrictions, DNS enterprises may strike back by making their prices higher. Such a consequence would also hurt customers who intended on buying the domain name outright.
Another ethical dilemma involved with domain name tasting is the issue of good Domain names not being eligible for more serious customers. Some may feel that in a system of free capitalistic enterprise, domain name testers have every right to access however many Domain names they can. Yet, if they aren’t really going to buy them, why shouldn’t these Domain names be available to individuals who may need them more? Many would argue it is better to sell a domain name to a company that is serious about using it as their brand than selling it to
Many webmasters erroneously believe that just because their domainname registrar says a particular domainname is that it truly is. This is not necessarily so. Even if a domainname is physically may not legally be open for use. Why? It’s because there might already be a companythat has the rights to the keywords used within the domain name.
If this happens yet the webmaster claims domain name anyway, they are at risk of losing it through a domain name arbitration proceeding. could even be charged with trademark/copyright infringement if things get really ugly. For this reason it’s to make sure the keywords used in a domain name aren’t protected for someone else. This explain how webmasters can make such a determination.
First, webmasters need to check and see if their name resembles any existing trademark that is on the books. They will want to do this actually investing any money in the domain name. To search existing trademarks, webmasters can visit the the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office which is USPTO.gov. From here they can search a database contains current trademarks as well as those that are pending.
If a domain name is similar to or pending trademark, webmasters need to evaluate whether the domain name is still worth taking. Usually, if a site is not selling the same types of merchandise or services that the other business and the trademark is not popular, a webmaster probably won’t get into legal trouble if they decide to go on and register the domain name. To be completely sure, webmasters can run the name by a trademark attorney. It shouldn’t cost too much for an hour consultation.
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