Typosquatting is registering domains that are common misspellings or close variants of a legitimate brand’s domain (e.g. gmial.com for gmail.com), often used for phishing, ad fraud, or redirecting traffic to competitors.
Why it matters for a brand
- Customers who mistype your domain may land on a phishing page instead, damaging trust in your brand even though you didn’t cause it
- Some typosquatted domains are used to intercept misdirected emails from customers or partners
Defending against it
- Monitor for newly registered domains that are close variants of your own
- Consider defensively registering the most obvious typo variants and common TLD alternatives
- Report clearly malicious typosquat domains to the registrar or via a UDRP complaint if trademark infringement applies
FAQ
Is typosquatting illegal?
It can violate trademark law and anti-cybersquatting regulations in many jurisdictions, but enforcement generally requires the trademark holder to actively pursue a complaint — it isn’t automatically policed.