The Power of Internet Gripe Sites
Conclusion
Brand owners have a lot to consider when playing the domain name game with brandsucks domains. Purely defensive registrations are often unnecessary expenditures; however, as mentioned before, a brandsucks domain can be an effective offensive tool for protecting a brand’s reputation because of its widely regarded popularity for designating a gripe site. Brands need to adopt the same strategy for their domain name portfolios as any other crucial aspect of their marketing plan: optimize while maintaining cost and time efficiency. As always, a company that stays informed of updates in the domain name space from trusted advisors, keeps on top of developing trends and shifts in policy, employs a carefully proactive approach, and understands Internet user behavior will be better positioned to effectively leverage its brand online.
By being proactive, brands can avoid the need for the reactive, costly and uncertain UDRP. However, a proper brand enforcement strategy should be in place to deal with problematic infringements as they crop up. Brands need to strike back when appropriate so that when they do file UDRPs, they have reasonable assurance of success and a positive ROI from newfound traffic or decreased consumer and reputation harm. Finally, brand owners could gain much by forming a united front against online fraud and coming together to share their experiences, brainstorm new defenses and provide their consumers with safe and positive online experiences.
The data sets used to perform the research outlined in this paper are available on FairWinds Partners’ Web site. We encourage you to review the list of registered domains if you are curious about who owns your domain and how they are using it, and the list of UDRP complaints involving “sucks.com” to learn about filing a successful UDRP against this type of gripe site.
Special thanks to Diane Cabell, corporate counsel for Creative Commons, for her contributions to this paper.
