Is there any value in a big name brand domain? SEO, squatting, redirecting, anything?

[milktea]

I found a huge brand name on a fairly common TLD that is available. Something like disney.info (obviously not it).

Is there any point in claiming it? I figure they will sue you if you try to build a site on it. My weak legal understanding is that typically you are allowed to use the brand name in a description or secondary label, but not the main product name. (Family Fun Times: a Disney tour service, not Disney Tours.) I am guessing that FB and Google will both block name brands from ad/landing page domains.

Anything I could use it for other than begging the company to buy it off me, which probably wouldn't work?

 

[Ryuzaki]

They don't have to buy it off you, they can likely just get it taken from you under the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act. So if I run a company or even just a website at MyCompany.com and someone goes and trademarks "MyCompany" in the same industry in order to try to shut me down or take my domain, it won't work because I had it first and have been publishing (got the copyright) and have been operating in good faith before hand.

I think the same goes for domains. If you ever tried to use it they can have you shut down and take the domain because you came way later. You're acting in bad faith. And I see no reason they'd ever buy the domain from you if they hadn't already. They'll probably leave it sitting until you attempt to use it, then they'll do a DMCA takedown and start legal proceedings which will go in their favor and probably result in you paying their legal fees.

The only way this ever pans out is if you come first and are operating. Like if owned Nissan.com (open that in a new tab) and operated a website and business from it, and years later Nissan decides it wants to start it's online portion of the business, they can't have your domain. You had it first and were operating in a different market in good faithfully.

At best you'll waste $10. At medium you'll waste time and lose the site and domain. At worst you'll end up sued.

 

[GNews]

Yupppppp........... The best you could do is create a site that flatter them and even then it's a risk unless you have a pity story to sell them and shame them into backing off

 

[milktea]

Yeah, thought so, thanks. Maybe a dictionary word, but not a brand name.

I came up with one fairly gray/whitehat possible use but not worth the risk and time. Eh.

 

[HgCNO2]

I like the thought process, but I'm not sure about the idea. As much as I hate to suggest this because I mostly work with SMBs, you're better off targeting SMB brand names or keyword-domains that a given SMB would fall into.

Your SMBs are more likely to have a one-man show in the marketing department. This is often (in my experience) not the savviest marketer, especially digitally. They will spend more money for branded or keyword domains. With that said, you'll still want to build it so it has value. The dumbest of the dumb will buy the domain if it sounds good, regardless of the actual value behind it as long as there's something to show. Put some effort into the site to be able to show traffic numbers (which anybody worth their salt would be asking for when buying a domain/site) and build some of the standard metrics people look at. Even if you don't make a sale, you might be able to get some money for links from your site if it's done right.

SMBs might rely on a third party to evaluate the domain, too. That's not a dealbreaker, though. I've been asked to put a valuation on a domain recently. I responded, "Based on x, y, and z, I wouldn't spend more than $x for this domain. and if you really want the name, the *.net is available for $12/year." I was shot back at saying that "this domain would bring more value to us than this!" Moral of that story is that the decision makers in smaller companies aren't always considering the data.

 

[Stones]

Not wanting to counter whats already been said but if it has a few links and costs a couple of quid/bucks, what's the harm in picking it up and 301ing it?

Depending on the company size/niche, it could be sitting there as @HgCNO2 said, the company are not savy. Maybe some short term gain for a little investment and very little work(depending on your server setup etc).