As London turns its attention to the Mayoral Elections on 01 May, online speculators are increasingly attempting to cash in on consumers looking for information on the three main candidates.  In the weeks building up to election day, cybersquatters have been registering dozens of key domain names relating to Ken Livingstone, Boris Johnson and Brian Paddick, furnishing them with lucrative pay-per click advertising websites designed to make money from unsuspecting voters.

Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson are the subject of most of the activity, but speculators are targeting the two main candidates in very different ways.  Ken Livingstone has been the subject of much negative cybersquatting, with domains registered such as www.ihatekenlivingstone.org and www.kenlivingstone.org which boasts an image of Ken Livingstone as a cowboy and the headline “Do you really want to pay for Ken Livingstone and his cronies?”

However, in instances where Boris Johnson has fallen victim to online speculators, the sites are either straight forward click farms that feature pay-per click advertising to make money from unsuspecting voters, sites like www.borisjohnson.net which is an independent supporters site, or www.borisjohnsonformayor.com, which is a site dedicated to what’s on in London.  Meanwhile, numerous other domain names relating to these two candidates have been snapped up by cybersquatters in anticipation of the election, including www.kenlivingstone.net, www.backken.com, www.borisjohnsonmayor.com, and www.mayorborisjohnson.com.

In contrast to this, despite leaving key domains available, Brian Paddick has encountered very little cybersquatting. 

Boris Johnson seems to be the most proactive of the candidates at protecting his brand online, with no fewer than 10 domain names pointing to his official site www.backboris.com, minimising the potential damage. This trend might suggest that the Tories have learned from previous negative experiences online such as the infamous spoof of David Cameron's video blog ‘Web Cameron’ created by Labour MP Sion Simon.

Jonathan Robinson, Chief Operating Officer of NetNames, domain name management expert comments, “With two such high profile London Mayor candidates like Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson, cybersquatters and online speculators are bound to be waiting in the wings to register campaign relevant domains.  It is very hard to stop negative websites and click farms springing up, but by leaving obvious domains unregistered, the candidates have provided a route for cybersquatters to make money from unsuspecting voters looking for official campaign information.”

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About NetNames

NetNames is part of London listed Group NBT plc (LSE: NBT). Through its industry leading domain name management service, NetNames Platinum Service, the company is responsible for managing and protecting online brands for international corporates, including in excess of 30% of the FTSE 100. Following the acquisition of Ascio Technologies in January 2007 NetNames became Europe’s largest domain name management specialist.

NetNames is an ICANN Accredited Registrar with the ability to register domain names in all available suffixes worldwide. The company is headquartered in London, with offices in New York, Nice, Munich, Madrid, Copenhagen, Zurich and Oslo. For further information, visit www.netnames.com/platinum.

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