Someone registered ".co" version of my domain. Any potential negative consequences?

[Sutra]

When I initially registered my ".com" domain, I also registered the ".org", ".net", etc. However, I did not register the ".co" (I didn't think about registering that at the time). A couple years ago I discovered someone registered the ".co". But when I go to "domain.co" it redirects to my actual "domain.com" site. Whois doesn't give any info. A year ago I sent an abuse ticket to the registrar but never heard back - even after multiple followups.

I don't know why someone would register the ".co" version of my site and then redirect it to my actual ".com" site. Is it something I should be concerned about? Are there any potential negative consequences? I.e. spam looking like it's coming from my domain, tricking google (or other engines) into thinking we're doing xxxx, syphoning our traffic somehow, etc?

 

[Golan]

They could try stealing your site rank this way. Depends on the redirect type. But then they should have copied your content first, and then redirect. Spam version is also maybe. So far there's no case for any abuse claim, redirect itself is not a crime. Or maybe they are just some ignorant pricks - two years passed and nothing happened yet?

 

[Sutra]

Nothing happened as far as I know, but it's like, who the hell knows, haha. We got smashed all throughout 2023 - all those google updates. Would probably have got smashed by those updates regardless but I've always wondered if that ".co" site had any part in it.

 

[jgw899]

That “.co” did not play any part in it. The fact that you are wondering that makes it pretty obvious that there’s something else going on with your SEO.

 

[ryandiscord]

Try visiting the site with your user agent set to googlebot. If it no longer redirects to your domain it could be an indicator of some type of spam.

Is it possible your registrar threw in the .co as some type of promotion and you actually have it but didn't realize?