: What are the consequences of registering another TLD when the .com is already registered (and parked)? I'm naming a new web app. I came up with a name that I really like. Based on Google

@RJPawlick198

Parked domains typically just have adverts and this won't impact on your SEO but might frustrate some customers if they guess the .com when typing in your brand name.

If you don't own a domain name then there's always the possibility a competitor or malicious user might use it to try and harm your brand reputation or redirect potential customers away to their own website.

Perhaps one day it will be worth paying the price they ask if your app is successful (though the price may go up!). Keep an eye on it in case they choose to let it expire (unlikely). It's also worth remembering premium domain prices are open to some negotiation. The sooner you get your app monetized, the sooner you can buy the .com and stop a competitor getting it!

If you're serious about your business and protecting the name, register the trademark in your brand name so that you go after misusers of the name in a court. Registered trademarks can be an effective deterrent, and while you can't just take ownership of a prior registered domain name you may be able to stop commercial use of it especially by a competitor.

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@Shelley277

I'm "competing" with the existing [parked] .com domain.


Is there really so much of a difference between the domain being parked and whether it is unregistered? The user can still type the .com regardless. Neither will be indexed by search engines and both return a nonsense result to users.

So, in terms of "competing", I don't there is much of a competition. You win. (IMO)


Do I have to worry that in the future someone else will buy the .com and make a competing product to mine


Well, yes, that will always be a concern.



Will I be open to negative publicity on the .com address



Not unless someone developed a competing, unsavoury or malicious site on the .com address. As mentioned above, this would be a concern.


Am I likely to lose traffic when people type example.com and see a parked website instead of my actual site


This could also happen if the .com is unregistered. I would have said this was an edge case, someone who has failed to remember the correct address.

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