Ethics in Domaining?

[belovedAunt]

Out of interest, are there any 'sacred' domains that you wouldn't seek to make a profit on if you had the chance? I'm not talking about trademarked names, but maybe things like the names of diseases, or sites which could seek to monetise vulnerable people instead of offering them some sensible advice?

I don't mean this as a criticism at all, I'm genuinely interested in whether most people here see it as a black & white commercial decision, or whether there are some shades of grey for most people in the business.

What if you owned the domain suicide/co/uk and the Samaritans felt that donating the EMD to them might help them reach some people in some pretty desperate situations. And if there was a graphic design company in London with that name that offered you 10 grand for the domain? Would you take the big bucks every time?

I only bring this up because I see some health/disability related domains for sale here that I think I personally wouldn't feel comfortable about monetising/making a big profit from. I don't earn a living from domaining though, so I'm not relying on it to feed my family.

 

[Aiden Roberts]

This is an interesting question, one that I too have grappled with.

I am more and more concentrating on the disability niche, mainly because that's where my knowledge is. One of the first domains I bought was personal independence payment which will replace disability living allowance in the near future, when I first put it up I used adsense and to be fair it had a trickle coming in. I was trying to cover the hosting costs or at least make a contribution towards them, I always knew I didn't want any advertising on there because it felt uncomfortable but needs must. I had a moment of madness and put some products on there then quickly took them off again because that wasn't the point of the site, then I tried a little bit off lead generation which again is about to come off because I have now been able to secure other disability related names which are product/service related and I have no issue with monetising them. My original site has a growing following, I think there are two ad boxes left and a donation button, the boxes will come off but the donation button will stay.

My naivety and inexperience made me monetising mad but now I am happy with the way the site is going and I appreciate the importance of the information, there will be no ads on it very soon.

In answer to your original question I think it is each to their own, I feel I can develop both useful ad free information sites that I wouldn't sell and monetised sites to pay for my time on these information sites.

Aiden

 

[sdsinc]

I picked a few domains like charity or disease oriented just to make sure they don't fall in the wrong hands. I redirect the domains to the organizations that would be the most logical end user. Monetization is not an issue, I doubt they would make more than a few pennies here and there.

 

[Bailey]

I let the few "disability" type domains. I held drop a few years back, when I didn't feel comfortable holding them, from memory they all were picked-up on the day I let them drop

The key terms are always going to be registered by somewhere by someone - And there's only so many domains the official sites would choose to work with

 

[anthony]

If they're domain names which can clearly be put to an informative use of value to people, then there is no issue. Far more concerning for me is uncontrolled hard core porn with easy access by minors. Sadly there are many domainers who have such names and sites, and make no effort to manage access whatsoever.

 

[Retired_member41]

I think DIY disease and illness sites are awful. Desperate people looking for answers finding sites that show information stolen from other sites and re hashed so as to pass copyscape, getting information in the wrong order and some totally useless is a sad state of affairs.

I've hardly slept for 3 months as the early and late acorn users will know messaging at all times of the day.

I've read literally dozens and dozens of web sites trying to find answers and it's been hellish as there is so much mis information out there.

Ok we all do what we can to feed our families and I'm not against registering these domains, but I do wish there were more people like sdinc above or people who would only sell to a buyer that promised to use it correctly.

Advertising domains and showing the cost per click in such domains is not a practice I like to see. But again, everyone has their own opinion, this was just mine.

I really hope no one reading this is ever faced with the task of researching a disease that doctors seem to know little about or how to combat it, as the poor web sites out there aimed at capturing a click are literally ruining people's lives.

A couple of times I've been up till 4am thinking I've found some information and desperate to see the consultant when you finally do get to see them that is, only to find out only part has been explained and paragraphs missing.

So for anyone wanting to buy a disease/illness domain just to monetise it, please think of the real people who may click but have also read the plagerised edited garbage you see on most of these sites.

 

[Paullas]

So for anyone wanting to buy a disease/illness domain just to monetise it, please think of the real people who may click but have also read the plagerised edited garbage you see on most of these sites.

I agree...

 

[Aiden Roberts]

I also agree, I wouldn't touch a disease specific name as I am not qualified to talk about it no matter how much research I do. My sites are around disability and this area I do know about both personally and professionaly. I would never use the net for a diagnosis only guidance and then only from the NHS.

 

[lethal0r]

excellent post caz.

I used to do pay-per-click for debt management and iva's, which I thought long and hard about. a lot of people dont know you can get free help for those. so I was making money from their naivety. I wouldn't do it now but its still perfectly legal and lots of companies make big money from it. im not against making money this way I just choose not to do it. but its dubious whether its ethical.

I wouldn't develop a site on a serious illness or pretend to be a charity or do any porn.