6 Popular Companies and their Domain name Issues
It is quite important for companies to have a URL that matches their name. Purchasing the domain name after your business is already established can also be more expensive.
Lack of a Top Level Domain can also be a threat to the continuity of your business. In this article, we will identify the top companies that have had domain name issues according to websitebuilderau.com.
A company’s domain name is one of the most important business decisions, it is only through them that one can have an online presence.
Apple
After 16 years of being in the market, Apple finally decided to purchase the Domain name www.Apple.co.uk. It was only in 2012 that they purchased the domain. Apple seems disinterested in purchasing this domain up to this point in history.
Currently, the domain leads to apple.com, which indicates that a business does not necessarily have to have a matching domain to be successful, it however, is a necessity to have a credible one later.
Microsoft
In the year 2003, Microsoft forgot to renew their subscription on hotmail.co.uk. This must have gotten a bunch of people fired. Microsoft had no comment when asked to make a statement to shed some light on the matter. The company had previously received warnings regarding the issue to no response.
On October 23rd that year the company’s domain was snapped up by a private individual. It was only after the intervention of the registrar that the company realized the situation. Apparently, it was not the first time, a similar ordeal occurred in 1999 when Microsoft also forgot to renew the domain of passport.com.
Twitter only acquired the domain twitter.co.au two years ago. This was almost ten years later after being in business. This large social media network was not bothered to acquire the mentioned domain until it became a threat to the ownership of another company/individual.
Verizon
The largest cybersquatting case ended up with Onlinenic, Inc paying Verizon $33 million for the damages caused. The presiding judge ordered Onlinenic, Inc to pay a sum of $50,000 for each of the domain names they owned that infringed the trademark of Verizon. This verdict serves as a warning to all trademark infringers, a penalty of up to $100,000 could apply to any guilty party under the Lanham Act.
Region Banks
In the year 2013, Regions Bank forgot to update their domain name whose subscription has expired. As a result, customers were not able to access their website for a whole day. The representative of the bank claimed they were experiencing intermittent network issues to cover up for the rather embarrassing truth.
Shell
Shell also cut the list being one of the companies with domain issues. The company currently does not own all the domain names related to their company name. Shell.net is owned by a private individual. The company will probably cough up a lot to acquire this.
Selecting a right domain name is essential for the success of any business for further information please read: Selecting an Appropriate Domain Name
