How to Handle ‘IHateYourCompany.com’

With the internet becoming a haven for disgruntled fans of companies, often registering domain names such as starbucked.com and ihatestarbucks.com to boycottwalmart.org and againstthewal.com, the Wall Street Journal looks at whether companies are fighting back. The WSJ finds many are, some more aggressively than others, and uses research by FairWinds Partners, the people behind CADNA.”That doesn’t mean, however, that they should snap up every domain with a vaguely negative-sounding name and then let them gather dust, according to Internet-strategy consultants.”Rather, companies should register or buy just the sites that get the most traffic, says Josh Bourne, managing partner of FairWinds Partners, the Internet strategy consulting firm that conducted the study.”The article notes Xerox who says it is selective in which domain names it registers, and these domain names make up less than half a per cent of their domain name portfolio. And when these domain names are registered, the study suggests companies maintain a website using the domain name to solicit customer feedback. However a majority do not.To read this article in full from the Wall Street Journal, see online.wsj.com/article/SB122057760688302147.html.