TheHill.com just published a post entitled “ElectHillary.com? RandPaul.com? Betting on 2016’s hottest Web address” the artcile goes on to chat about “Election-year website squatters have dollar signs in their eyes, scooping up 2016-related domain names with the aim of cashing in on six-figure payouts — before any candidate has even thrown his or her hat into the ring”.
“The starting bid to buy either ElectHillary.com or ReelectHillary.com at GoDaddy’s domain name auction site: $275,000. RandPaul.com is being offered for $125,000; ChrisChristiePresident2016.com is up for grabs for $49,000, TedCruzForCommanderinChief.com is $20,000, and ElizabethWarren2016.com goes for a mere $3,300.”
“Jeremy Peter Green shelled out thousands of dollars to amass his collection of 180 domain names. The 26-year-old recent law school graduate says proudly, “As far as I know, I have a better 2016 collection than anyone else out there.”
Green’s bipartisan, eclectic and sometimes long-shot list pairs former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with a slew of possible Democratic vice presidential picks in domain names such as ClintonNapolitano.com, ClintonOMalley.com, and ClintonWarner.com, referring to former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, and Sen. Mark Warner (Va.). And Green is gambling on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) running with Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) for BushAyotte.com.
“He’s banking on his Clinton names, saying the former first lady is “the single most likely candidate to be the first name” on the Democrats’ ticket. Indeed, more than 50 domains based on variations on Clinton’s name (including HillaryForPres2016.com for $8,300, HillaryNotPresident.com for $295,000, and YesHillaryCan.com for $49,995) are for sale on GoDaddy.com.”
But Bill Sweetman, president of the domain name consulting firm Name Ninja, says dreams of a big payday are likely pie in the political sky.
“I am aware of hundreds of different examples of people registering these names in the hopes of somebody coming along and buying it from them,” Sweetman tells ITK. “I’m not aware of a single instance where a candidate or a group bought ‘Somebody’s name for president.com.’ ”
While “technically not illegal,” according to Sweetman, snagging domain names in the hopes of selling them to a candidate or campaign “just doesn’t pass the sniff test.”
Green, who works at a labor law firm, says he knows not everyone approves of his domain name buying spree.
“It’s sort of a kind of bottom-feeding to a lot of people, I think … I mean I don’t think there’s anything to look down on about it, but I guess it’s just the idea of buying something that you don’t plan to use and then sitting on it until you can exploit it — that rubs people the wrong way,” he says.
The article quotes Bill Sweetman of NameNinja.com as saying “I still don’t think you should do that with political candidates or with people.” “It’s a gamble, and there are better ways. If you’re serious about making money and buying and selling domain names, you don’t play that game.”
“Instead, the domain name expert suggests researching things, not people, that might be all the buzz in a few years.”
What TheHill.com article doesn’t even mention the gTLD’s .GOP or .Republican or .Democrat as potential addresses for the candidates or discuss how candidates could use domains using one of those extensions for their campagn instead of buying the .Com’s that are for sale.
The fact that theHill.com failed to to even mention one of these extensions, including .GOP which is back by an arm of the Republican Party whose offices are located in Washington DC, have not gotten their message out,.
No even just down the street to The Hill.
