Business/Domain Name usurped - What to do?

[kyanwan]

The amazing thing is the domain just expired less then a mth ago - don't know how someone can outrank us that fast but we have ONLY used our domain as a landing page for our clients and have not as of yet done any SEO for the website.

Start complaining to google. I had a competitor doing that SEO stuff you're talking about, coming out of nowhere then BAM! Right up above us.

Let google know they're up to something fishy. Say something to the effect "I Suspect they are" or "It appears they are" - don't outright accuse them. ( Accusations are always bad, unless they can be proven. You can't prove it, however Google can. )

My competitor? They disappeared altogether from the Google rankings within about 2-3 months of me complaining. ( About 6 months later, they slowly creeped back in ... on the 2nd page. )

----

You may also let Google know that they're a spammer squatting on a trademark of yours. Remember, GOOGLE is a private US Company with their own interests, if your name is your trademark (either registered or implied) you have some weight there. The convoluted way our laws work, bringing the situation to their attention can potentially make them involved. So, they'll want to cover their backside. Make sure you look into "reporting a trademark complaint" if you're doing that with Google.

Ah.

Last but not least - If you haven't done so already - look into registering your trademarks with USTPO like my company did. A trademark registration certificate from the USPTO - is a one ton hammer you have at your disposal. You'd be surprised how effective it is. Get a general idea how to write a C&D letter, and you can put a stop to lots of things. ( Oh, a heads up for you & your accounts-payable - ignore all the junkmail scam bills you'll start getting after registering a trademark. Ugh. So many scammers trying to sell you "trademark monitoring service" after you register. )

[snakeman]

Kyanwan seems to have a handle on the situation in terms of the general situation, BUT, we need more details from the original poster. Until we get these details it really is hard to give them any reasonable advice relevant to their case, which I assume is the main reason for the thread. I am curious as to the details, not just in terms of the trademark stuff (it it exists in this case), but also the speed at which the new player used effective SEO methods to do so well on search engines.
All the best

[Domain52]

Hey (((thanks much))) for these responses to my posting!

I was checking this thread but wasn't getting any answers right away AND i was waiting for email notification of more replies to it also - for some reason i didn't get them but I may have changed the profile options. I was assuming that perhaps this area of the forum was not a well 'traversed' section or popular etc.

I will reply to the questions etc - as soon as we get our kids fed some breakfast this a.m!

Thanks again and I look forward to picking up the dialogue here in a few.

[freehits]

So, since when is another business at fault when they buy a lapsed domain name? It sucks. It's black hat SEO. It puts them in the "bad guy" category.

Buying an expired domain is black hat now? All this other stuff aside of course....but buying expired domains to use the left over traffic links or rebrand it. I thought that was smart business savy.
Im gonna need a hat rack for all my sins at this pace.

""Well someone grabbed it up who really knows what they're doing w/ all the SEO stuff (i would consider them an 'ace' actually) because now if someone were to google my business name without the .com/org/net then this person's website (our business name and primary domain name) is the FIRST ONE to come up on Google.
""

They are just picking up the juice of an aged domain before it ever got deindexed. Unless the system has changed, anyone with a how to seo for dummies book can pick up an old domain with years of quality content and rank anything on it for the short term.

I just had a great domain/blog I maintained for years expire. OOOOOPS! And someone built a garbage site on it, and made sure all the old pages (thousands) I had indexed landed on a dynamic spam page, so no links showed up as dead or missing.

And guess what, google "Charlotte Blog" and its on page one still right where I left it. Even with the garbage. It is running off the fumes of the years of quality I gave it.

[claybutler]

Buying an expired domain is black hat now? All this other stuff aside of course....but buying expired domains to use the left over traffic links or rebrand it. I thought that was smart business savy.
Im gonna need a hat rack for all my sins at this pace.

""Well someone grabbed it up who really knows what they're doing w/ all the SEO stuff (i would consider them an 'ace' actually) because now if someone were to google my business name without the .com/org/net then this person's website (our business name and primary domain name) is the FIRST ONE to come up on Google.
""

They are just picking up the juice of an aged domain before it ever got deindexed. Unless the system has changed, anyone with a how to seo for dummies book can pick up an old domain with years of quality content and rank anything on it for the short term.

I just had a great domain/blog I maintained for years expire. OOOOOPS! And someone built a garbage site on it, and made sure all the old pages (thousands) I had indexed landed on a dynamic spam page, so no links showed up as dead or missing.

And guess what, google "Charlotte Blog" and its on page one still right where I left it. Even with the garbage. It is running off the fumes of the years of quality I gave it.

You're both confusing two issues. Buying an expired domain and putting junk on it is not a crime. However buying an expired domain and then passing yourself off as the original business you stole it from is a crime. It's called fraud and conspiracy. It's called unfair business practices. It may even be libel. It also violates trademark law. What if cocacola.com expired and then I bought it, threw up their logo and then started back dooring Coca Cola inc. and selling consumers and distributors my version of Coke. You think that's just fine under US law? After all I bought the domain. Doesn't that make me Cola Cola now?

[freehits]

You're both confusing two issues. Buying an expired domain and putting junk on it is not a crime. However buying an expired domain and then passing yourself off as the original business you stole it from is a crime.

Not confused at all, which is why I wrote "all this other stuff aside". Obviously posing as another company is a non-seo related major no-no by whatever name.

Reading your site clay, you write noticably good content.

[snakeman]

Domain52, I'm still waiting for the details of the names of your expired comain, your other relevant domains and whetehr or not theire are trademark issues involved.
Let us know when you can and then we can offer better advice.
All the best
Snakeman

[Domain52]

i appreciate the replies to this thread - I haven't forgotten about it but am finding myself needing a few more hours in the day right now to get everything done for both business and family during the holidays. Believe me when I say I am interested in learning more about this and learning SEO (like everyone else). Right now i am also wanting to do more research on this before i say too much about it AND for privacy reasons I don't plan on mentioning the domain or business name in this thread or online.

Whoever did this set it up as a industry web-blog (no advertising). And after doing an ONLINE PLAGIARISM check - it looks like they have MANY domains and doing the same thing posting the same information. The plagiarism check i thought was a good way to TRY TO TRACK THEM and find out more information. Although its no guarantee that its not simple plagiarism IT ATLEAST is a starting point to see what other DOMAINS the same information is being posted to. I copy and pasted a few paragraphs of their blog to an online plagiarism checker and it pulled up many websites that the same exact web blog posting had been made.

Anyway i have every intention of following up to this thread but right now i have about 1 hour in the morning for 'personal' time and its usually involved drinking my coffee and planning out my day LOL! As we get our holiday shopping and plans done then whoever is doing this - lets get ready to rumble - WEBSITE WARFARE STYLE!

[snakeman]

Domain52, thanks for your reply.
I am based in Australia (probably not near your part of the world) and was interested in the forensics of your case for numerous reasons, most being self interest. We have trademark bootleggers and the like seeking to invade our turf and steal our clients (money).
We have very good IP (registered trademarks and the like) making us the envy of all others in our industry and alone giving us unassailable market leadership.
By way of example, we are unusual in Australia in that we have a legally enforceable trademark in our business to be able to claim we are the best!
See the link at:
http://www.snakebusters.com.au/austr...t-reptiles.htmand the following one on the same page that explains why other business competitors helped us register the trademark.
The downside is that it does attracts bootleggers and the like.
That was why I asked you the questions about trademarks, domains and the like.
Using registration records for businesses, web domains, trademarks and business owners named, it is usually possible to get a very good picture of who your adversary is before you plan a counter attack, if that is what is required.
All the best
Snakeman