Meet the 'Mann' who registered 14,962 domains in 24 hours

[steve2470]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57418250-93/meet-the-mann-who-registered-14962-domains-in-24-hours/?google_editors_picks=true



The next time you find yourself pounding your keyboard in frustration because the domain name you want is already taken, direct your ire toward Mike Mann.

Mann is one of the longest members of the clubby world of domain speculators, and he's buying up names in force these days. And not all on the aftermarket, as some others do. But new names. Dot-com names that aren't registered -- even though 100 million-plus already are -- that he then turns around and sells for a few hundred bucks, sometimes far more.

And this week, in a span that lasted less than 24 hours across Tuesday and Wednesday, Mann snapped up 14,962 domains -- 1,822 starting Tuesday evening and the rest on Wednesday.

"I'm just really greedy," said Mann, a man no one would describe as modest. "I want to own the world."

[CBGLuthier]

1. majorleaguedouchebag.com is just one of many

[jberryhill]

2. And founder of grassroots.org

[Ruby the Liberal]

3. Has he ever run afoul of domain squatting disputes?

[jberryhill]

5. It's been an evolving field

It is difficult to have a large number of domain names without having some that will attract a problem which you didn't know about, and it's been an area in which some grey areas have needed more definition. Is he one of those guys that goes after typos of famous marks and makes porn pop-up? No. As far as the domainer landscape goes, he's one of the good faith actors who may have gotten a speeding ticket now and then. His win rate is far in excess of his losses.

[SwissTony]

12. Cybersquatting is an interesting subject

Who gets to "own" juliaroberts.com? Julia Roberts the film star or Julia Roberts the librarian? And how about marilynmanson.com? There must be a few people genuinely called Marilyn Manson. Does Mr Warner trump them?

[jberryhill]

15. One of my favorites - Mr. A. R. Mani

G. A. Modefine S.A. v. A.R. Mani
Case No. D2001-0537

http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/domains/decisions/html/2001/d2001-0537.html

What has emerged in the evidence that has been filed is that the Complainant accepts that Anand Ramnath Mani is the Respondent’s real name.

[SwissTony]

16. I've got a new hero!!!!

And how stupid were they not to just hike the price from $C1250 to $US1935. This is chump change. What do lawyers cost? 50C per hour?

Some time ago (apparently), Microsoft started to take action against a kid who wrote software. His name was Mike Rowe. He was selling his stuff under the banner Mike Rowe Software. Microsoft waded in with heavy hands until someone with a bit of brains pointed out that this was a bit OTT. A reasonable solution was negotiated. This was reported on DU2 but it always felt a bit apocryphal to me.

[MineralMan]

4. Funny man. This is a false business.

Cool domain names don't matter that much anymore. Nobody ever types in a domain name in 2012. What matters is the domain name's SEO impact, and that's all that matters. I just bought PoolsMN.com from a client. The client already has three websites, all with excellent domain names for SEO. Now he has this one, and we're going to build him a new website on it. New SEO opportunities. Now, almost no matter what a potential swimming pool customer in Minnesota types in as a search, one of those four sites is going to be the #1 result. For most searches the top three results are his sites.

I got a #1 result for a blog, just buy choosing a long URL that had my target search phrase built into it.

Nobody types URLs any more. They search, so domain names that are easy to enter no longer matter. They simply do not.

Don't bother with trying to get a cool domain name. Figure out what your potential customers are searching for and use that, instead. This moron never thought of that name, and it's available.

[think]

8. There is an entire industry built around domains

that is multi faceted. It is just not well known or understood.

The Dot com name space has over 130 million names and is growing by about one million names per month.

Here is a link to a chart showing the monthly changes:
http://www.hosterstats.com/DomainNameCounts2012.php

[saras]

11. They matter. Just not for that. A good domain name is a brand you can print anywhere.

The best ones are already perfectly workable ads or slogans with dot com tacked on the end.

But - if you can't get them or if they're outrageously priced, they don't do you much good.

One fringe benefit is that if you want to hide an entire website in plain view, you can make a fake front page with a stock photo, some generic layout, and the phrase "what you want, when you want it". And no one, but NO ONE, will ever click on a link on your website unless you tell them the secret.

[jberryhill]

13. That's very funny

[Initech]

6. Can I register mikemannisajackass.com?

[csziggy]

10. It's available! Snatch it up QUICK!

[Honeycombe8]

7. He must be wealthy. nt

[provis99]

9. he even looks like an asshole.

I guess sometimes you can judge people by their appearance.

[siligut]

14. When a person waits for a domain name to expire and then snaps it up?

I am not completely knowledgeable about this, so it is more of a question. The situation is when a business has a website using their name and then they fail to pay for it and it expires, there are people who watch for that and then snap up the domain name, so the business then has to pay them to get it back.

What is this called?

[Ron Obvious]

17. Parasite

Any business that doesn't add value or enhances the lives of other people or society through providing goods or services is by its nature parasitical. Domain squatters are a classic case.