Domain names containing bookie name

[RacingJim]

I'm just wondering what is the stance of the bookies on this one?

In the terms and conditions of all the bookie affiliate programs, it says you can't have a domain name with the brand in it, e.g. things like bet365freebets.com or whatever.

Yet I constantly see domains like this cropping up, doing pretty nicely in search engines and having affiliate links to the relevant programs. As someone who tries my best to abide by all the rules, it seriously annoys me that people seem to get away with this.

Anyone care to discuss? Any affiliate managers?

[thebookiesoffers]

doesn't bother me mate, these site are usually crap and never last long, seen one revolving round a betfredfreebet domian, hardly got anywhere in the SERPS

Im guessing the affiliate programs dont even know about these domains, people probably register with a normal domain and then add these 'named' domains to their portfolio after and never tell them

what sites are you on about anyway mate? not noticed many myself

[JackTenSuited]

IMO it's a sure fire way to get your affiliate account banned, most programs have it in their T&Cs that you can't bid on brand names or use domains which infringe on their trademark.
Wouldn't want to risk my accounts for the sake of a few domains no matter how borderline.

[RacingJim]

Just stuff like this one - xxhttp://www.williamhillfreebet.co.uk/

There are tons of them about for the various bookies, I agree they usually fade away again but some of them do hang around and it just bugs me as sometimes they will get top for a couple of months before Google gets to grips with the fact that they are a crap site. For people who play by the rules like me, it just bugs me a bit to see people getting away with this sort of thing.

Agree the only way they can get away with it is registering an account with another site and then using the same affiliate links on the dodgy domain, but surely the bookies can track this?

[casinovegas]

Look at the username in the link if they show it. It may be cloacked though.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 4

[JackTenSuited]

Just stuff like this one - http://www.williamhillfreebet.co.uk/

There are tons of them about for the various bookies, I agree they usually fade away again but some of them do hang around and it just bugs me as sometimes they will get top for a couple of months before Google gets to grips with the fact that they are a crap site. For people who play by the rules like me, it just bugs me a bit to see people getting away with this sort of thing.

Agree the only way they can get away with it is registering an account with another site and then using the same affiliate links on the dodgy domain, but surely the bookies can track this?

Yep, all the bookie has to do is do a search for their domain and look at the linking code used on these sites, then use the linking code to track it back to an account, failing that if they use link cloaking they can look at the cookie set by the site to track it back to an affiliate.

[thebookiesoffers]

Just stuff like this one - williamhillfreebet.co.uk/

There are tons of them about for the various bookies, I agree they usually fade away again but some of them do hang around and it just bugs me as sometimes they will get top for a couple of months before Google gets to grips with the fact that they are a crap site. For people who play by the rules like me, it just bugs me a bit to see people getting away with this sort of thing.

Agree the only way they can get away with it is registering an account with another site and then using the same affiliate links on the dodgy domain, but surely the bookies can track this?

I doubt they are that bothered mate to be honest as long as they get the customer

you might want to edit the hyperlink as well so you ain't giving them a link

[universal4]

I took care of the link.

Rick
Universal4

[LukeC]

If we notice a site that uses our brand in the domain name, or bids on our branded PPC terms, we would strongly consider terminating the affiliate agreement (if the affiliate was lucky, we might tell them to stop bidding/take down the site first, depending on the circumstances). If affiliates register domains with our brand in but aren't promoting us (so we don't have direct contact), we send them on to our legal team to deal with.

Some logic behind the terms:
Bidding on operators branded terms just increases competition and therefore cost, when we'd get the vast majority of those customers anyway. It makes no commercial sense to allow our own affiliates to bid on those terms.
We don't want any customers thinking that the site is in any way associated with us due to being in the domain name, as that can cause a lot of issues (legal/regulatory issues - if we were being advertised on that site then there is an association with us).

I'd say if you want to be in the industry for the long-run, don't try and do this kind of activity. If you see it and want to stop it, just drop an email to an affiliate manager at the company who is being infringed. We don't pay frequent attention to search terms for our company so often wouldn't see it.

[IhreConsulting]

I have worked at a few operators, and they pretty much all agree with everything which Luke said.

I think the problem is not affiliate managers ignoring it as such, they just probably haven't seen it, or had the time to check. Rightly or wrongly, affiliates have often given the heads-up to affiliate managers about these sites, so they can check it out and deal with it accordingly.

These sites are not in the business for longevity, they are after a quick buck and tend to disappear as fast as they came.

[thebookiesoffers]

I think the 2 tactics shouldn't be linked and tied in together myself, domain names and ppc bidding. I was purely talking about the domain names

[xecutable]

Two years ago, I was talking to a book, and someone had a Cheltenham affiliate website, that included the brand name and cheltenham. It would rank nice. When I asked they have told me they are working in partnership with that affiliate, because sometimes the brand's affiliate team misses a lot of crucial stuff etc.

Seems like the site is still up and running.

[thebookiesoffers]

just been looking through the SERPS and quite a few new domains are showing up at the minute that are crap one page sites relying on a domain name among other things

got a few things to say but just want to check something first

[Sergej_AGR]

Brand names in domain should not give any benefits since google EMD updates

[thebookiesoffers]

Brand names in domain should not give any benefits since google EMD updates

'Should' being the main word. To be honest I haven't seen much effect of the EMD

What I would say is I have seen these sort of things destroyed by the black and white bird that lives in the south pole.

[RacingJim]

just been looking through the SERPS and quite a few new domains are showing up at the minute that are crap one page sites relying on a domain name among other things

got a few things to say but just want to check something first

Yes mate I see the same, absolutely loads of these popping up at the moment, looks like it might be the same person/couple of people trying to give it a real blast.

On the plus side - long term, they are crap, they are 1-2 pages, Google will figure that out in a few months and bounce them back down the searches.

On the minus side - They are taking revenue off higher quality, long-term affiliates who are happy to play by the rules for longevity, they also prove that actually EMD type domains do actually still work to an extent even though Google says they shouldn't and I agree they REALLY shouldn't. Don't always believe the SEO 'gurus' or what Google themselves come out with.

[Betfair_Sports]

Funnily enough, this situation popped up yesterday and I had to ask the affiliate to take the site down, it was spotted by another affiliate. It's hard to internally police all the time but something none the less that does pop up from time to time.