Domain name test
From SiteRay wiki
| SiteRay Test | |
|---|---|
| First appeared: | Sitescore 1.0 |
| Applies to: | All versions |
| Type: | Individual test |
| Scored: | Never |
What does it do?
Test whether likely variations (typos) of the domain name for this website are registered, by whom, and whether they may be abusing this. This practice is known as typosquatting.
Why is it important?
In some cases, over 50% of the traffic which goes to a domain name goes to common typos of that same domain name. For example, www.gogle.com and www.gooogle.com.
Many nefarious organisations make a living from registering likely typos for popular websites, and then selling competing products, services or advertising on those domains. Try most popular brands with a common typo, such as www.generlmotors.com.
Example results
How is it measured?
Sitescore looks at the domain name used for the website, and calculates a list of the most likely typos based on variations of that domain. Typically these include things like: swapping adjacent characters, omitting a character and common phonetic misspellings.
Sitescore then checks each of these possible domain names to see if they have been registered, and if so, do they appear to be legitimate. Most people abusing domain names use certain tell-tale signs on their websites, in particular they have a tendency to use the correctly spelt word, but not link to the correct website. There are other potential signals, such as text like “domain for sale” which Sitescore recognises.
Sitescore also looks for the whois information for the domain name, which tells you who the domain name is currently registered to.
Common problems
If the domain name uses an obscure international suffix (i.e. something other than .com, .co.uk, .net, .edu etc) Sitescore may not be able to report whois information on it accurately, or tell whether it has been registered. Sitescore supports most, but not all international domain name registrars, and we are adding more all the time.
How to use this test effectively
This test does not need to be used frequently. Generally we recommend you run it for any domain name that you have not tested before, and where possible purchase the unused domain names and point them to your main domain name (this is more of a risk for high profile brands).
