Domain Names for Recent Bank Mergers are Cybersquatted!
It’s only been 48 hours since news of bank mergers begun to leak out, but already potential domain names corresponding these mergers are being hoarded and sold on eBay.
The practice of “cybersquatting”, is when potential domain addresses are purchased cheaply by individuals in the hope that the businesses involved then need that domain for their new company website. Alternatively they can be used as a medium for advertising and generating a revenue for the domain owner.
Some examples of domains already purchased are for the merged Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and for Lloyds TSB/HBOS.
One domain name has already been put for up for auction on eBay, with the site directing visitors to ebay to begin bidding!
As soon as reports of Lehman Brothers intending to sell up surfaced last Friday, cybersquatters immediately singled out the potential buyers as Barclays, HSBC and Bank of America and so bought up the following domains:
- barclayslehman.com
- hsbclehman.com
- hsbclehmanbrothers.com
- bofalehman.com
Similar action was taken after news of the acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America this week, cybersquatters registered bankofamericamerrilllynch.com and bofaml.com.
Now over here in th UK a silmilar pattern is emerging as news of the merger between Lloyds TSB with HBOS with cybersquatters registering; lloydstsbhbos.com and hboslloydstsb.com
“It shows how there are opportunists out there waiting to pounce on any event,” says Jonathan Robinson, chief operating officer of NetNames.
“We’ve seen it in the case of celebrity with David Beckham going to LA Galaxy, we’ve seen it in the case of tragedy, with Princess Diana’s death. There’s a subtle twist on the whole thing now, which is the anticipation of the event.”
How do these “cybersquatters” make their money?
There are a number of ways cybersquatters can make money out of registering these domain names, one is the good old fashioned way buy simply selling it to the relevent company for as much cash as possible.
However things have moved on since than and cybersquatters can now have pay-per-click ads running on the web pages published on these domain names working as revenue generators while awaiting potential buyers.
“Back in the mists of time, these names had a capital value and could be exchanged for cash,” says Mr Robinson.
“There’s another value they have nowadays and that’s a click-through value, a cash flow that they generate in the whole world of online advertising.
“There’s even automated software that will populate a website with relevant content.”
For example 2 of the the speculative HSBC/Lehman sites; www.hsbclehman.com & www.hsbclehmanbrothers.com look like a news site about the covering all the latest info on the mergers and movements however you’ll see it also but features Google adverts along the margins and has a highly visible banner stating the website is for sale!
Again for Merrill Lynch by Bank of America acquisition the web address www.bankofamericamerrilllynch.com, agin has Google adverts rumming, but in this case they a a bit less subtle and direct you souley to an eBay auction in which the domain name is for sale.
“The lesson has been there for a while for anyone working in the mergers and acquisitions area that this is a key area to focus on in the due diligence process,” Mr Robinson says.
“One can’t wait until after the deal is announced or the product is launched.”
Tags: Bank of America, cybersquatter, ebay auction, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Merrill Lynch
