Whats the limit...

[SamSites]

to basing a site around a brands object?

Am I allowed

rated<brand>games.co.uk,

<brand>tips.co.uk (if brand is a game),

and if I am, then can I:

advertise via affiliation links unofficial things - in the rated instance, hacks for sale, in the tips example, a "unofficial guide"?

All help appreciated

I've seen many sites so similar things, but I'd really like to know what the limits are - I don't want to press on any big toes.

 

[Rob_F]

No and no.

The only way you might get away with it (your first question, not second) is if the site were totally non profit i.e. a fan site. But then, what would be the point? Your time and cash would be better spent elsewhere.

- Rob

 

[SamSites]

Ok, cheers rob.

If I can ask, what do you usually aim for when registering a domain name/buying them?

I have a few domains I have found with google, having about 2,000 exacts (global), and around 1,000 (local/uk) on average. However of the few domain names, the ones I have turned into sites, have netted me very low profit - in comparison such domain names as the above seem to attract much more visitors and quicker (often, since specific to a brand - they are in the buying mood for that too). For the other, non brand based ones, how much exacts (local/global) would you expect to have for a new domain? I'm new and would rather not be buying the "bad" names

 

[SamSites]

# as a reference to the above, two sites worth mentioning:

www.ratedwiigames.com

www.callofdutytips.com .

Will be sad to take them down if its needed.

 

[Edwin]

The key word in all the above is "brand".

Of course a domain name containing a famous brand attracts more attention - because the brand owner has created that attention by spending large amounts of money on brand-building.

It's not OK to piggy back on that.

GamesConsole.co.uk OK
WiiGamesConsole.co.uk Not OK
WargameTips.co.uk OK
CallofDutyTips.co.uk Not OK
and so on

 

[SamSites]

Thanks for the advice all. The reason I discuss this is because, two sites, identiacal
in nature to my sites have disclaimers. Heres two:

www.topwiigames.com -- Disclaimer = "Topwiigames.co.uk is not affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo Co. Ltd. or any of its sister branches or subsidiaries globally. Topwiigames.co.uk is not affiliated with any print magazines. All copyrights and trademarks of games, images, logos, screenshots, companies, etc. discussed on this web site belong to their respective owners."

www.callofdutytips.net has been taken down, (maybe by owner? It was not even on basic search results before (as in top 10), but it had a similar thing. I thought my two sites would be suitably similar (more examples like battlefieldtips.com, callofdutytips.org apply too) to be safe from big toes. Are you guys saying all these sites are "bad eggs"?

 

[doodlebug]

Disclaimer or not, the brand name is part of the company's intertectual property rights for which you have no rights to use it without the company's permission in advance of which I doubt you would ever get.