Companies often register domain names to be used for a limited time. Maybe the company is holding an event or a special contest and wants to set up a dedicated homepage for the initiative. This makes perfect sense from a marketing perspective but can create some interesting decisions around domain renewals in future years.
Imagine your domain name registrar sends out a notice that <summerbonanza2014.com> will expire soon and needs to be renewed. You started working at the company in 2021 and have no idea about any Summer Bonanza from 2014. A colleague remembers but tells you it’s probably not an important domain to renew, given that 12 years have passed since the company held this event. Are they right?
From an anti-fraud perspective, this domain is likely to be harmless. After all, what would be the point in tricking Internet users into thinking they’ve arrived at the official homepage for a 2014 event. Still, domains just like this are frequently registered by third parties once they drop, occasionally generating such demand that they go to auction and command thousands of dollars.
This article will tackle the obvious questions about this scenario, namely (1) why these domains are in demand (2) how they can cause damage to a brand and (3) how to anticipate this situation and understand which obsolete domains need to keep being renewed.
Why does anybody want to register these old domain names?
These domains are NOT being re-registered for use in phishing attacks nor other types of impersonation. Instead, they are utilized to steer Internet users to a revenue-generating website.
When the domain in question attracts a significant amount of traffic, repurposing it is a straightforward exercise. Take for example starspangled200.org, a domain name printed on car license plates in the US State of Maryland that led to a webpage with information about the State’s history. This domain name lapsed, was re-registered and pointed directly to an online gambling website.
This issue is not limited to domain names that Internet users would plausibly input into their browser address bar. Expired domains can be used to boost the search engine ranking of other websites simply by placing links to them. It does not matter if anybody visits the website on the expired domain and clicks on these links.
Search engines use several variables to determine which websites to list first in their results. One of these variables involves external links that lead to the website; if important websites have links to a given domain name, that is taken as a sign that the domain is relevant.
So, if the local newspaper’s website included a link to summerbonanza2014.com, then some of the newspaper’s credibility is “passed along” to the domain name.
That credibility can remain with the domain after it drops and be leveraged by the new owner. For example, if the new owner also operates an online casino, they can insert a link on summerbonanza2014.com and convey some authority to the casino.
Can the brand be harmed if its old domains are used in this way?
Yes, this can cast the brand in a bad light.
To state the obvious, if a domain that your brand was recently using now resolves to an online gambling page, that’s a bad look. These cases are rare, as brands generally know enough not to let these types of domains expire. This issue is more likely to occur with lesser domains that are re-registered for use in search engine optimization, as described in the previous section.
Search engines have sophisticated means of detecting if a domain “deserves” the authority its link profile suggests. If the new owner of summerbonanza2014.com simply placed a link to their online casino on an otherwise blank page, that would not be sufficient to convey the domain’s authority to the casino.
To conserve and convey this authority, the new owner must publish a website to the domain that search engines will find to be authentic and relevant. This could mean “resurrecting” a version of the previous website, which can be accomplished using cached copies from the Wayback Machine or creating a new page, usually a topical blog.
These websites aren’t made to be visited, but rather to transfer authority to another, profit-generating website. However, websites created with this goal can still generate traffic. Search engines are more likely to restore the authority of an expired domain if its new iteration is relevant and topical. To achieve these results, the new owner may dedicate such effort that the result is a bona fide website. In this scenario, the website may begin to rank highly enough in search engines to attract traffic.
This is the risk for brands that let such domains drop: unaffiliated third parties may operate websites on domain names closely associated with the company or brand. The company won’t be able to control the content on these websites and there’s a possibility it will reflect poorly on the brand.
Takedown and domain dispute can be difficult in these re-registered domains. UDRP remains a possibility if the brand took measures to trademark the campaign-specific phrase used in the domain (see WIPO Case DEU2023-0010), but often the domain will be generic in nature and lack trademark protection.
Furthermore, the new owner does not need to impersonate the brand to achieve their goals, so they will tend to keep the content generic. The expected success rate for enforcement action declines as a result. In the case of starspangled200.org, the prior owner likely concluded (correctly) that the domain composition was too generic to attempt a dispute and decided instead to buy the domain back.
How can I avoid these situations for the portfolios I manage?
We understand that budgets do not necessarily allow for domain name expenses to grow year after year. There comes a time when the portfolio manager may be asked to reduce the annual expenditure on domain names, which in turn means deciding which domains to keep and which to drop.
This is a subjective exercise and one where mistakes can happen. Domains identified as candidates to drop should be vetted once more before a final decision is made. One part of this vetting is an investigation of the domain’s history. If the domain was once used for a major initiative, even if it was for a short time, that means other important websites may have included a link to this domain. This gives value to the domain and makes it likely to be re-registered and used in the ways described above. Such domains should be kept.
There are also tools to discover a domain’s “link profile,” which can be helpful if confronted with a domain whose backstory is completely unknown.
The topic of domains dropping inadvertently also gives us a reminder of the importance of centralizing a domain name portfolio. All too often, temporary domain names are registered by marketing companies, outside the brand’s normal domain management channels. If the brand ends its relationship with the marketing agency, the agency may not remind the brand of domains registered on its behalf and suggest transfer. Domains left to expire by marketing agencies can lead to UDRPs that would have otherwise been unnecessary, see for example WIPO Case D2025-1625.
Whether it be through coordinating with external marketing agencies, or performing analysis of a domain’s link profile to inform a renewal decision, IP Twins Account Managers can provide the advice and assistance needed to avoid having these types of domain names fall into the wrong hands.