When it comes to domination of a personal brand, celebrities and companies like to make sure they’re controlling every aspect of their online presence. Which is why .sucks and .porn domains could pose a problem for people or organizations that are targets of Internet harassment.
To prevent trolls from getting them before the the actual companies do, a handful of domains like .sucks, .porn, and .adult are being reserved by organizations wanting to make sure no hater plops down on a negative generic top-level domain (gTLD) once they become available to the masses, CNN Money reports.
And that includes celebrity Taylor Swift.
Perhaps anticipating a salivating fanbase dripping with anticipation to swipe up a domain that could promote their favorite artist inappropriately, or people just waiting to squat on domains in the hopes that the real celeb will want their .porn back, Swift’s on the gTLD ownership ahead of the public release June 1. She owns the TaylorSwift.porn and TaylorSwift.adult domains, Stuart Lawley, CEO of ICM Registry, told CNN, both of which redirect nowhere. One can only hope they eventually link to her very active Tumblr.
The controversial domain names are among the new crop of 547 domain names to be released this summer.
It’s not cheap to buy in the “sunrise” phase—the early registration period for such domains before they’re open to the general public. Buying ahead of time can cost you up to $2,500, Marketing Land reports, but it’s well worth it to protect your personal brand.
H/T CNN | Photo via Eva Rinaldi/Flickr (CC BY SA 2.0)
