Microsoft is using its heft to go after so-called cybersquatters and typosquatters. Basically, these are firms that buy domain names that look similar to a major brand name, say Starbucks or Apple. Often, these domain names have misspellings.

In other words, this is a cheap way to get lots of traffic. And, then with things like Google's AdWords, you can make a good amount of money from pay-per-click ads.

Example: When Microsoft announced news about Zune, there were thousands of purchases for similar-sounding domain names.

Interestingly enough, if the domain names do not generate lots of revenue - or the revenue burns out - then they typically wind up on auction sites. Yes, there is a whole ecosystem to cybersquatting and typosquatting.

Well, Microsoft is now serving some of these firms with lawsuits - claiming trademark infringement. Apparently, one of Microsoft's top researchers, Yi-Min Wang, has built a pretty cool piece of software (called "Strider") that hunts down cybersquatters and typosquatters. Micorosft says about 2,000 domains a day are registered using the company's brands.

I talked to John Gotts, a big-time domain name buyer who recently paid $2.8 million for Wiki.com. According to him: "You might also wonder why a company with the resources of MSFT wouldn't just buy the typos of its domains."

He points out that if, while using Internet Explorer, you type in a non-registered domain name, you will get a Microsoft default page that asks you if you want to buy it. He gives the example of www.miiicrosssoft.com:

Microsoft Squats on Cybersquatters originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 25 Aug 2006 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.