Is it unethical to take advantage of a competitor's mistake?

[garyv]

I was doing my usual competitor scouting on google to check out the competition, and I noticed an adwords ad, where they had mis-typed their url. Example - they had put widget-big.com, instead of big-widget.com. I look at the adwords link and it goes nowhere. So then I do a search, and find that the url is not registered. I register the url and have a website up in about 15 minutes. Now I'm getting free traffic from a url mistype.

[Jeremy Kelsall]

LMAO - unethical, no!

Smart, yes.

[Clyde Dennis]

One word... Nope! I agree w/Jeremy - very smart.

[CmdrStidd]

ROFL - That has got to hurt the other guy. How long before he realizes that he is getting all these click throughs on the ad but is not making any sales? I am sure he would check the ad to see he had it right and will notice his misspelled URL.

Please let us know how long you get free traffic from his typo. I want to see how long this poor schlep takes to figure out his mistake. lol

[sbucciarel]

I call it a lucky break and good that you noticed it. Capitalizing on mistakes isn't unethical in my book.

[garyv]

I'm sure it won't last for too long, but I couldn't resist. That sort of mistake pays for a domain registration usually in less than an hour.

What's really fun is to find an unregistered url that was mis-spoken on TV. I've done that before as well. Free money, you gotta love it!

[Pete223]

That's hilarious!!!!!!

Unethical, absolutely not... opportunist is what comes to my mind!!!!!

Cheers, Pete

[Steven Carl Kelly]

I would say it's fair. I wonder, however, how long before the Google Adwords algo uncovers this problem and suspends the ad due to a QS of 0. You may need to act fast.

[pretter]

lucky dude I must say.

Not unethical for me, but I understand your little guilt feeling, I would feel the same way too, because I'd want to contact the guy about his URl

[garyv]

Originally Posted by pretter

lucky dude I must say.

Not unethical for me, but I understand your little guilt feeling, I would feel the same way too, because I'd want to contact the guy about his URl

I was actually going to do that first, but his original url had a private whois - so, oh well. At least I tried.

[timpears]

As the others have stated, no. Luck is when opportunity and preparedness meet. This was your lucky day for sure. I doubt it will last very long. But Google is going to take the money no matter what. At least this way someone benefits from it. You have to feel sorry for the guy that is paying for it though. Such is life.

[Jon Steel]

His mistake...What can I say? I would do it -

js

[pretter]

Then I guess it's cool all the way. conscience clear. That would have been the bugger for me.

Originally Posted by garyv

I was actually going to do that first, but his original url had a private whois - so, oh well. At least I tried.

[~Davor Debrecin~]

Originally Posted by garyv

What's really fun is to find an unregistered url that was mis-spoken on TV. I've done that before as well. Free money, you gotta love it!

Hm, just curious - how do you actually find out if a URL is mis-spoken on TV? Do you check every URL you see on TV?

If you do, you really have an interesting habit.

If you do check every URL shown on TV, could you share with us the "mis-spoken conversion rate" haha? If it's one in a 100, boy, I'd hire someone to watch TV all day..



Take care,

~Davor

[sbucciarel]

Originally Posted by ~Davor Debrecin~

Hm, just curious - how do you actually find out if a URL is mis-spoken on TV? Do you check every URL you see on TV?

If you do, you really have an interesting habit.

If you do check every URL shown on TV, could you share with us the "mis-spoken conversion rate" haha? If it's one in a 100, boy, I'd hire someone to watch TV all day..



Take care,

~Davor

Domainers are a little crazy and somewhat obsessed. I often see something on TV and run to the computer to see if something is already registered. I also dream about domains and get up in the middle of the night and check to see.

[BurgerBoy]

I would do the same thing you did. I just wish I had thought about it before you did.

[garyv]

Originally Posted by ~Davor Debrecin~

Hm, just curious - how do you actually find out if a URL is mis-spoken on TV? Do you check every URL you see on TV?

If you do, you really have an interesting habit.

If you do check every URL shown on TV, could you share with us the "mis-spoken conversion rate" haha? If it's one in a 100, boy, I'd hire someone to watch TV all day..



Take care,

~Davor

There was a time when it happened quite often. Now the competition is fierce.

The most recent one was just a few days ago, when someone on Fox News Channel's Red Eye made up the url yellowfellows.org. Don't remember what they were talking about, but when I heard that url, I could tell that he had just made it up on the fly. So I checked it, and it was un-registered. I took it, and haven't really done much with it yet, but it will get free traffic every time that they re-run that show. Plus they show red eye episodes on hulu.com.

[Mustafa Khundmiri]

Unethical in no way! In fact, it's always good to learn from mistakes others make, especially if they are your competitor! lol

[Rich Struck]

It is unethical and scummy. How would you like it if the tables were turned?

[garyv]

Originally Posted by Rich Struck

It is unethical and scummy. How would you like it if the tables were turned?

I'd hate the fact that I made the mistake and would hope that someone would email me and let me know. And that's what I tried to do in the beginning, however the original url had no contact information, and the registration info in the whois was private.

That's money just being thrown out the window in my opinion. I'm just providing the bucket to catch it with. If that makes me scummy, then bring on the scum

[JennJessop]

Originally Posted by garyv

There was a time when it happened quite often. Now the competition is fierce.

The most recent one was just a few days ago, when someone on Fox News Channel's Red Eye made up the url yellowfellows.org. Don't remember what they were talking about, but when I heard that url, I could tell that he had just made it up on the fly. So I checked it, and it was un-registered. I took it, and haven't really done much with it yet, but it will get free traffic every time that they re-run that show. Plus they show red eye episodes on hulu.com.

That is awsome. Again second time I have said this tonight, way to think out side of the box. You always have to keep your eyes open for those great opportunities out there. They are out there you just have to look. And Congrats on the find, definitely not unethical just business.

Originally Posted by Rich Struck

It is unethical and scummy. How would you like it if the tables were turned?

Kick my self for not double checking my spelling. If I was stupid enough to make this mistake I would say thats what I get and the money lost is my punishment. This is not scummy at all again, just business.

[Bill Farnham]

Originally Posted by garyv

That's money just being thrown out the window in my opinion. I'm just providing the bucket to catch it with. If that makes me scummy, then bring on the scum

Gary,

Don't you mean bring on the Karma?

KJ

[Randy Bheites]

The real takeaway here is simple:

Always QC your work.

[traceye]

That's gold. I wouldn't even think to check if they had the correct url or not.

I would have done the same and registered it quick smart.

[Rich Struck]

I'm learning a lot about some of the members of this board.

[garyv]

Again, I wasn't trying to be mean to the guy/gal - I actually made an attempt to try and contact them first. But this is traffic that was going to absolutely nowhere.

And if you look at it in another way, I may actually be saving his Google Quality score.

[Rich Struck]

Originally Posted by garyv

Again, I wasn't trying to be mean to the guy/gal - I actually made an attempt to try and contact them first. But this is traffic that was going to absolutely nowhere.

And if you look at it in another way, I may actually be saving his Google Quality score.

No matter how you spin it, you are stealing his traffic. The fact that the traffic was going nowhere doesn't give you some kind of license to swipe it. Is that really how you want to conduct your business?

[Bill Farnham]

Originally Posted by Rich Struck

No matter how you spin it, you are stealing his traffic. The fact that the traffic was going nowhere doesn't give you some kind of license to swipe it. Is that really how you want to conduct your business?

Rich,

You're not wrong in your thinking. The fact that people can *rationalize* doing the wrong thing doesn't make it right.

On the surface it looks fairly innocent, no harm - no foul, but the underlying truth is that someone is losing out, and someone is taking advantage of someone else. Both sides of this equation are not good.

And I agree, you can tell a lot about some of the so called Warriors who have posted to this thread.

KJ

[Joshua.E1]

there is nothing unethical you done, besides you have no way to contact the owner as well about the mistake.

[actionplanbiz]

you still getting traffic from it?

[stephenraj]

Originally Posted by mhuktar

"Is it unethical to take advantage of a competitor's mistake?" is notUnethical, absolutely not, SEO is learning from someone Mistake. you need to learn how to find mistake of someone enable to outsmart him.

You are right. And what he did was a smart thing, he is getting traffic for free from someone's ads. . .

[Rich Struck]

Originally Posted by stephenraj

You are right. And what he did was a smart thing, he is getting traffic for free from someone's ads. . .

And that, by definition, is theft.

[robert25]

If you can pull more money than your domain cost then its really a smart move.

I had done similar thing with ezinearticle.com article which is ranking fairly for competitive term.

[igorhelpsyousucceed]

Originally Posted by garyv

I was doing my usual competitor scouting on google to check out the competition, and I noticed an adwords ad, where they had mis-typed their url. Example - they had put widget-big.com, instead of big-widget.com. I click on the adword link, and it goes nowhere. So then I do a search, and find that the url is not registered. I register the url and have a website up in about 15 minutes. Now I'm getting free traffic from a url mistype. Would you consider this to be unethical?

I think "unethical" is a wrong word-"smart" is the right one.

Igor

[birdfood]

Could not help laughing when I saw this article title.

If taking advantage of a competitor's mistake is unethical than capitalism, sport and anything else competitive is unethical.

[robert25]

Originally Posted by ptlhost

Amazed how everybody say it is not wrong. If you walk past a shop at night and the owner accidentally left a door open. So it is ok to walk in help yourself and call it nailing your competition.

In plain simply language it is called THEFT - The fact that domain have privacy on don't stop you from emailing the registrar telling them you need to contact the owner. Another part left if the domain name as i a sure if we/you go to the domain name there would be contact details on the website.

What you sow you will read - the tables will turn on you.

For those that say it is ok - How would you like if that happen to you?

Moral decay in the world wide web - hey how about giving me the domain you are using like to click on you google adds

Taking advantage of others mistake is what business is all about.

You can apply it to any business, Think on this...

[Shaun OReilly]

In my book - it's unethical.

(Definition of Ethical = Morally correct, honorable)

How would you like someone to leech off of your paid
ads if you slipped up?

There's a BIG difference between not letting your
competitor know about their mistake and actually
intentionally taking steps to steal traffic they're
paying for.

Plus, it's very short-sighted.

Many of your competitors can be your future JV
partners so dumping on them is not a wise move.

Treat people how you'd like to be treated.

If you wouldn't like people to do this to you then
it's simple: don't do it to others.

Also, it may be time to review your business model.

If you're relying on being opportunistic to make a
quick buck, then review your strategy.

Can't you make enough money through honest means?

Dedicated to your success,

*Shaun O'Reilly

[robert25]

Originally Posted by ptlhost

Maybe coming coming here was a mistake. Just got my first IM lesson. Theft is ok.

So what you saying if you walk past a shop and see the door open what would you do

1) Report the matter to the police or security company
2) Walk in and steal as much as you can

Lets check out the moral standard of some people here or shall we say. Let us see who are the thieves here.

A spade is a spade

First thing, registering a domain which Website Owner had accidentally inserted is not illegal at all, it is his mistake not keeping focus about what he is doing.

The example you are giving is of illegal activity.

In marketing(which ever it is), taking advantage of competitors mistake is the rule of successful business. Only thing, you have to stay in the boundaries of law.

[imran.qureshi]

This is definitely not Un-ethical. But really very smart thinking!

[robert25]

Originally Posted by ptlhost

What is the difference - he accidental left his door open ( his wrong google add) So the in passing the poster now walked in and is using his property illegal.

Anycase i sleep well at night - just the fact that the person that started this thread wants to know if it is right or wrong proves he is feeling bad about it.

The best thing for him to do is contact the owner tell him about it and give him the other domain to make right

May be this debate will not over between us! Let It.

I am happy with my so called "unethical approach" (smart move for business magnets) as long as its legal. You be happy with your ethical approach.

Have a nice day!

[warrior82]

i think this is unethical. because, they are actually paying for their campaign...and as you are smarter you are actually taking the advantage of their mistake.

and if they are not aware of their mistake you probably will get traffic for a very long time with the help of their money and who knows may be their very hard earned money.

[garyv]

Originally Posted by Rich Struck

No matter how you spin it, you are stealing his traffic. The fact that the traffic was going nowhere doesn't give you some kind of license to swipe it. Is that really how you want to conduct your business?

To compare this to stealing - just shows that you don't know how this system works. And when I asked whether or not this was ethical, I was actually being sarcastic - I didn't actually expect a response in the negative. I was using the question as a sarcastic intro to my story.

This is no where near stealing - that money was going into a virtual shredder. If I hadn't of bought that domain, the money would still be disappearing from his account.

Scenario - What if I had purchased that domain without even knowing about this person's mistake? Would you still consider that stealing? Or would it just be lucky? I know enough about my own surroundings to make my own luck.

Scenario #2 - What if someone on TV made a commercial saying "Come on down to my shop at 147 14th Avenue." When their shop is actually on 14th Street. Would you consider it stealing to set up shop on 14th Avenue if the lot is vacant?

I don't get the logic in saying that it's stealing.

[Zack Lim]

Hi Gary,

I personally feel that you have at least tried to find ways to contact the owner of the domain name.

In terms of business, I feel that you have make a smart move to get the free traffic

Zack

[Akogo]

Have you tried contacting Google?

[sylviad]

Wise, very wise. It pays to stay alert, huh? It pays even more to take action quickly.

Being the person I am, I would have contacted the person to let them know their mistake - not even thinking how I could maximize on it instead.

Oh, the disadvantages of hiding your WhoIs.

I think it's a great move, Gary. No need to feel guilty, especially since you did at least try to contact them.

Sylvia

[CDarklock]

Originally Posted by Rich Struck

No matter how you spin it, you are stealing his traffic.

No, he's not. If the ad points nowhere, it's not traffic - it's an unsatisfied customer. Another company CAN and SHOULD step in to make that customer happy.

Imagine that it's a real business. The company runs an ad with the wrong address. Customers drive down there, and the address is vacant.

Is it unethical to lease that address for your own business?

No. It's smart.

Is it unethical to make that business the same kind of business that ran the ad?

No. It's smart.

All the OP did is step into someone else's screwup and turn a dissatisfied customer into a happy one. Having done the actual work, he collects the money. And if that screwup happened to cost another business more money on top of the lost customer, that's their problem and their fault.

[robert25]

Originally Posted by garyv

Scenario #2 - What if someone on TV made a commercial saying "Come on down to my shop at 147 14th Avenue." When their shop is actually on 14th Street. Would you consider it stealing to set up shop on 14th Avenue if the lot is vacant?

I don't get the logic in saying that it's stealing.

The example you had given is perfect one. Leaving opportunities like that is some what a dumb approach towards a business.

If one don't take advantage of that, then there will be another who will grab it.

This types of smart moves actually increase vision about finding leaks, though its not a business model at all, but still it can give a nice lesson about avoiding mistakes of our self and capitalizing others mistakes .

[garyv]

Originally Posted by Akogo

Have you tried contacting Google?

I did email an adwords rep about it. But I doubt that they will take action. Otherwise all adwords users would start emailing Google claiming "mispelled url" on their competition.

[kentaiwan98]

I think the example is more akin to walking along the street and picking up $10 ... you have no idea who it belongs to, no way to return it to them, and the police might laugh if you took in such a small amount.

Of course, if you SAW someone dropping money right out of their bag, most people would help them pick it up and return it to them if that person was right there.

It's not theft, it's not robbery.

But I've come across lots of mistakes like these: one IM vendor was 'selling' a product on CB but actually configured his purchase page wrongly. Instead of going to CB, it took customers straight through to the download page. We contacted the vendor, but got no reply. I'm

Obviously, he got no commission or sale; and the client got a 'freebie'. As a vendor, I'd 'hope' someone would tell me about the mistake. I'd appreciate it if they did. But I would never 'expect' someone to tell me.

And if people were able to take advantage of my mistake, I wouldn't blame them. I'd blame myself for not double checking my work. It's that simple.

My 2c.

[Fernando Veloso]

Unethical? Why is that?

When your competitor forgets to add that precious bonus and people call you about it, asking if you can deliver a bonus, what do you do?

a) Call your competitor?
b) Provide the damn bonus and make more sales?