Back in 2007, we wrote about Groovle, a site that lets you skin Google with your favorite image, and serves results through Google’s Custom Search. It seems that Google wasn’t much of a fan though: the search giant sought to take control over the domain name, alleging that it would confuse users. Today comes word that their request has been denied by the National Arbitration Forum, in what Groovle believes is only Google’s second such defeat.

Google initially sent Groovle an Email on July 29 demanding that they hand the domain over. In response to Google’s initial complaints, Groovle modified the site design to make it more distinct and added a disclaimer to explicitly say it was not affiliated with Google, but that wasn’t enough to placate them. It’s not hard to guess why Google was concerned. Groovle, while not simply a typo away from Google’s name, does share quite a few letters in common, and the primary purpose of the site is to search Google’s index.

Groovle’s defense includes a number of arguments, but the one that resonated with the NAF is that its name stems from the words “Groovy” and “Groove”, rather than “Google”. It may not sound like a big difference, but those extra letters proved to be enough to win the case. From the decision:

 

 

Respondent contends that its domain name is sufficiently differentiated from Complainant’s GOOGLE mark. Respondent argues that the disputed domain name is not a misspelling of Complainant’s mark; Respondent asserts that the disputed domain name contains the significant letters “r” and “v” which serve to distinguish the sound, appearance, meaning, and connotation of “groovle” from Complainant’s GOOGLE mark. Furthermore, Respondent contends that its alterations clearly transform the predominant word of the domain name to “groove” or “groovy,” not GOOGLE. Respondent contends that these alterations are sufficient to distinguish its domain name from Complainant’s GOOGLE mark. The Panel agrees and finds that Respondent’s domain name is not confusingly similar to Complainant’s GOOGLE mark under Policy ¶ 4(a)(i). See Google, Inc. v. Wolfe, FA 275419 (Nat. Arb. Forum July 18, 2004) (“The domain name is not confusingly similar to Complainant’s GOOGLE mark. The dissimilar letters in the domain name are sufficiently different to make it distinguishable from Complainant’s mark because the domain name creates an entirely new word and conveys an entirely singular meaning from the mark.”).

Groovle also notes in the filing that Google has brought forty-nine UDRP complaints to the NAF, and another sixteen to the World Intellectual Property Organization, over the Google trademark. It has only lost once before now, in the case of “Froogles.com” (which is what the decision quoted above refers to).

Of course, Google can simply cut off access to its Custom Search if it really wants to. Its Terms of Service includes relevant passages like “Google may change, suspend or discontinue all or any aspect of the Service, including their availability, at any time, and may terminate Your use of the Service at any time.” But even if that happens, Groovle can switch to use a different search API, like Yahoo’s BOSS or Bing.

Other options for customizing your Google experience include WebMynd, which lets you tweak the appearance and layout of your Google search results (Groovle only affects the initial landing page — your search results have the standard layout).

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Finding a domain name sometimes can be a hard chore to undertake. You probably think that all the best names are already gone, but you’re wrong. With a little help you can find a domain name that is right for you and your business.

Here are some tips for finding a good domain name:

1. Watch how long your domain name is: The allowable length for a domain name is 63 characters. Choosing a domain name of two words or less is usually advisable, but sometimes you will find that they are already chosen. Longer domain names are sometimes easier to find available.

 2. Choose a domain name that is relevant to your business or service

3. Try to choose a domain name that has relevant keywords listed in the URL: Many times people will search for products or services by keywords only. Very rarely do people search by URL address.

4. Try to choose a domain that ends in .com. This is the most popular and easily remembered.

5. Sometimes choosing a domain name that has been used in the past but is expired might help generate traffic to your site as long as it’s relevant to what your company needs. Many times choosing a domain name that has expired has many benefits due to the past owner putting in a lot of time and effort with back links to generate traffic.

6. Once you find a domain name you like, park the page with some keywords. This means, even though your website might not be fully up and running, you can park a page. This will allow you more time to get your site going, while giving your domain name some seniority.

Finding a domain name isn’t really hard if you break it down to needs. Follow a few steps

1. Ask yourself what you need to achieve from your domain name

 2. Make a list of domain names in different forms with different keywords

3. Check out different domain name registrars for expired domain names, if nothing else this could give you an idea of how to choose a domain name

4. Do a keyword search to see how many searches are done before choosing the domain name with keyword added.

 5. Look for other companies that hold similarity business to get ideas, this will make choosing a domain name easier

There are many ways to promote your website or business on the net. The problem is the domain name will not be as successful if your website is not search engine friendly. Search engine optimization is a must for all new and old websites to benefit and be seen on the net.

Choosing a domain name doesn’t have to be hard, and really isn’t too hard if you know what your looking for, what you want to achieve and have a goal in mind. Do your home work on any domain name registrar company before committing to buy any domain name. Make sure that the domain name that you choose is not already trademarked by someone else. You do not want to deal with infringement of rights.

Creating a website is not just about creating your pages, designing them and including all the important information. It is also about creating a domain name

* That relates to your products and services

* That is easy to remember and spell for your customers.

A domain name that is easy to remember will have more return customers and more word of mouth advertising than domain names which are hard to spell, remember, or both. When it comes to searching for a domain name, all you have to do is go online and search for ones that you are interested in to see if they have been taken or not. There are a lot of sites that will let you search domain names.

First of all, prepare a list of domains you would like to register. Try to get several combinations, don’t register the first one you can think of. You need at least 10-20 versions.

If your site doesn’t necessarily need to be international, then you also consider buying a domain for your own country instead of .com – .de for Germany (Deutschland), or a co.uk for the UK, for example.

Stick with a .com, don’t opt for .tv, .biz, or any other suffix if at all possible especially if that exact domain name is taken as a com. You will end up losing business to that site.

Now submit a list of domains to some site to search for the available domain names.

If you are lucky, some domains are available. Register them and don’t wait until them get someone else.

Don’t set your mind on one particular domain name. Also remember that there are niches where every two dictionary words names are already taken. You may need a patience to find the available and good one.

Try to find synonyms for keywords you use, or try to remove some letters. For example, madconomist.com instead of madeconomist.

There is a way to simplify domain name selection – use software! Powerful software, such as Available Domains Pro can generate thousand of valuable domain names in a few minutes. It can be easily customized to fit your needs. Try this one and you won’t regret.