Maintaining Rankings after a Domain Cease and Desist

[wige]

My company runs a main website from which we sell our products, and we also have several niche sites dedicated to specific products. These niche sites tend to be fairly successful, dominating the SERPs for every possible keyword we could think of. For example, we are a reseller of, um, Widgets, which are the brand name. Our site, buywidgets.com outperforms not just every other Widget reseller, but also Widgets.com, the web site of the original manufacturer, for the keywords "buy widgets", "buy [color] widgets", "2008 widget models" and even "widgets".

Unfortunately, the parent company that makes Widgets resents the success of our humble buywidgets.com web site, and has sent us a cease and desist letter, demanding that we turn over the domain, disable the site, burn the server, and degauss all backups of the site content (or something to that effect). While we prepare to fight the cease and desist, I want to have a backup plan in the event we can no longer use the domain name so that we can keep the rankings we have worked so hard to obtain.

Would simply redirecting the domain to a subdomain (ie buywidgets.mycompany.com) and holding out on turning over the domain name as long as possible while we convert our inbound links be effective? Should I do this now, or wait until closer to when we will have to turn off the domain name if it comes to that? What additional steps can we take to keep the site ranking well during the transition? Finally, is there something we can do to prevent Widget's parent company from capitalizing on the existing domain, short of poisoining it before the turnover?

As Ron White once said (sort of), we don't know what arguments it could possibly take for them to prevail in court; however, we know the arguments they are going to use. There is little chance we would be successful in fighting the CAD if it goes to court, but we want to make every effort to maintain the results of the work we have already invested in the domain before it is lost.

[SteveGerencser]

First off, if they went after you for buywidgets, why would you risk exposing your primary site by creating a subdomain on it with the same buywidgets??

My knowledge of copyright / trademark is fuzzy at best, but one of them requires that the owner defend it every single time while the other allows for selective defense.. My thought is that they can selectively enforce copyright.. But, you could take the approach we took at the jewelry store with one of our vendors..

Point out everyone else doing exactly the same thing and offer to take yours down after they go after everyone else.. If they refuse to go after everyone else then it becomes a restraint of trade issue where they are not allowing you to conduct business under the same rules that everyone else does.. Mention restraint of trade, that tends to get people's attention because that is a lawsuit that they don't want to fight..

Besides, if they sue everyone selling their product, who is going to sell their product?? Some companies just don't understand the new economy.. Tell them they should sue Google since Google is the one that ranks the sites, not you..

Is there another vendor for these widgets?? If so, ask the current vendor if they would rather all the sales you get for them sent to their competitors..

Lots of ways to approach this..

[kgun]

For example, we are a reseller of, um, Widgets, which are the brand name. Our site, buywidgets.com outperforms not just every other Widget reseller, but also Widgets.com, the web site of the original manufacturer, for the keywords "buy widgets", "buy [color] widgets", "2008 widget models" and even "widgets".

My boldings.

(Take an example of a well known brand: rolex

None of the sites (buyrolex or buy-rolex) .com and biz are found and the .net version is down or redirects.

This raises an interesting question. Why?)

simula.com now redirects to baesystems.com/mps. The .no version still exist, and may own the brand.


In chronological order:

1. Simula as the first OO language started in 1960's and later merged to Simula Research Laboratory.
2. American Bae (mobility & protection) Systems (former) owner of simula.com.

This is a delicate problem and not so easy to solve.


Obama, name of US president elect and a Japanese town.

1. Can you protect 4 or 5 letters on the internet (independent of dot ending)?
2. Whome was first and whome was first to put the name on the internet?
3. With known brand names like Rolex above, what is wise to do?

In my personal opinion, these are very strong SEO variables.

1. Domain name.
2. allintitle
3. intitle
4. AllinURL.
5. InURL.
6. allinanchor.
7. inanchor

Is there a border? Why do affiliate providers put some "stop words" on their publishers?

Not an easy case. Easier in my opinion, if it was very similar to my Rolex example above.

Should you offer them some expert SEO advice?

GoogleGuide sometimes better information there than on Google.

[wige]

Well, they want to be the only vendor of their own product (selling direct to consumer, no resellers) and unfortunately the product is limited in nature, no competitors. Although there are other resellers, this site's rankings have made us the largest and most successful by a wide margin.

[crankydave]

Interesting...

You are a reseller for the company who sent the CAD. The immediate questions that come to mind are for how long and what is spelled out in the terms of the resale agreement? Seems to me that you can't resell the product without using the name so somewhere it's like spelled out in the agreement. If they don't want resellers any longer which is their choice.

Feydakins point is a good one as well. How many other resellers are using the name and is the parent company persuing them as well? Makes a difference I believe and does depend partly upon whether it is a copyright or trademark to the best of my knowledge.

Dave

[kgun]

Another example:

http://www.sovde.no/

I know the owner of that company very well and it is one of the largest in Norway on these products. They have a lot of resellers (in all regions) that sell on the internet.

"They don't compete with their clients / resellers."

That is an alternative view.

I think the company have a better case in the USA than they would have had here.

What about meta search engines that put their own ad on the SERP pages?

What would Google, Yahoo and msn be if all excluded / blocked the bots?

[crankydave]

One additional thought wige...

If they don't want resellers or you as a reseller, their choice, not much you can do. However, I wouldn't simply turn over the domain. They can go through arbitration if they like but that takes at least a few months.

If they no longer want you as a reseller, move what content you can and 301 everything ASAP while changing the links. You can use a new a domain or your existing one(s). Depends upon whether or not they want to terminate your reseller agreement.

If they don't want to terminate that agreement, then they're likely just trying to capitize on your success, at which point you need to decide whether you wish to continue reselling the product going forward. For me personally, I wouldn't.

Dave

[wige]

Unfortunately, we don't have an agreement with the manufacturer to resell the product - I think we would be considered secondary market brokers. It is perfectly legal, but the original manufacturers do not like the idea that their products get resold through unauthorized brokers (with no residual profits going back to the original manufacturer). My understanding is that we probably won't be able to keep the domain, but while it is in litigation, I want to be able to shift the PR to a new location while the disposition of the contested domain name is being decided so that as much of the site's rankings can be maintained.

[SteveGerencser]

Didn't they already make their profit the first time they sold it??

Obviously it's their choice.. We go through this with Rolex.. As an Authorized Dealer we are not allowed to advertise out of our market area.. So no internet.. That's why the only Rolex you can find on the web is the fakes and used, never new.. I've been arguing with them about it for years and they simply refuse to budge on the issue..

It looks like at the very least you will have to take down the site.. Definitely redirect it ASAP.. Then start working on moving or changing any links that you can.. But make them either buy the site or take it through arbitration.. I would never just hand it over.. You built the site in good faith.. They should be thrilled that you are selling their product.. No matter where you get it..

[crankydave]

Unfortunately, we don't have an agreement with the manufacturer to resell the product - I think we would be considered secondary market brokers. It is perfectly legal, but the original manufacturers do not like the idea that their products get resold through unauthorized brokers (with no residual profits going back to the original manufacturer). My understanding is that we probably won't be able to keep the domain, but while it is in litigation, I want to be able to shift the PR to a new location while the disposition of the contested domain name is being decided so that as much of the site's rankings can be maintained.

I'm assuming that working out an "agreement" is out of the question.

If you're going to continue to resell, build a new site, duplicate the content devoid of what's causing the issues and do page to page redirects. The sooner the better. Sit on the domain as long as is practical. Arbitration can take 6 mos.

I'd also be checking into if they are persuing any and all other resellers as Fey suggested. If this is a trademark issue, I don't believe they can be selective about defending it.

Dave