Saw a domain on the expired auctions today which at first glance seemed a fantastic name.
I got very excited for about 5 seconds – which is how long it took me to click that it was a “typo”!
The domain is Bookeeper.com.au.
Ah yes I hear you say – “it is supposed to have “2 k’s”. I wouldn’t bid on that!”
But someone did – and with GST and registration fee, the dropcatcher scored about $400.
I’m the first to put my hand up and say that I have made similar mistakes in the past. The double consonants (or lack thereof) tend to get me occasionally. These days I double check any potentially suss ones!
Sometimes Typos Can Work
A lot of domainers have made good money out of some typos. More so in the dot com world though.
However, in this particular instance, the search volume on the typo is insignificant as you can see below.
So it’s basically money down the drain on this one – though potentially a good lesson learned.
Imho.
I was keenly watching this one, knowing that a few people wouldn’t pick up the mistake! I actually thought it would go for higher.
I agree with you Shane – I thought it would go higher given that it was at top of Netfleet’s list!
Doesn’t help when Netfleet promote it as the most amazing domain name of the day to their entire list. They knew it wasn’t the best domain names on today’s list. They must have. Yet it still had top billing.
@Robert – great minds think alike. I just posted something similar!
However to be fair to Netfleet, I don’t think it is their “fault”. Apparently they have an algorithm that pushes domains higher up the list if it is a popular domain i.e. the number of bids they receive on it.
The daily email containing the next day’s drop list had it at the very top of the list. That email goes out as soon as the next day’s list is published on their site, prior to any bids being received.
Sure, they may have an algorithm to sort domains, but I can only assume they also have the ability to flag a domain or override the automatic sorting for individual domains that they wish to highlight.
Good comment Joel. You may well be right.
They do some personalisation with the list, but I’m not sure that bids have much weight (if any)
Yep accommodation is an old favourite.
@Peter – yep, that one got me a few times early on!
I was one of the worst proponents of misspellings (and still repeat my mistakes at times)
My lessons:
1 Forget vanity – wear reading glasses (if needed) when researching
2 If the name is too good to still be available; double check your typing & trademark registrations
3 Researching is not recommended after 2am or a decent dose of scotch
Was born sceptic, but I still do #2 with each domain
Classic advice Greg.
Though I must admit, I think I write at my best when I’ve had a few! 😉
@Joel and @Richard G
Your comments re algorithm and bids were on the money – I had it wrong.
I just phoned Jonathan Gleeson, and he clarified that the list is sorted prior to publication via their algorithm (based apparently on “Mark’s Magic Metrics”). So it is all based on what they believe is going to be popular.
Ned, I’ll add that the algorithm just runs its not something I regularly check because its usually pretty good with sorting the better names in the list.
bookeeper.com.au is still pretty good the guy that owns this dog I’m sure would love it – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ePGMfDkTHo
😉
but I have to agree everyone needs to watch the spelling ive seen a few on the auction list that have got me excited about us having an awesome day only to realise the spelling is completely wrong or its an i instead of an l in a word stuff like that