There is no bigger black hole on the internet than the domain name Com.com. Not only it’s a live domain with a disclaimer on why you landed on it, Com.com also maintains active MX records.
This means that any email sent, intentionally or unintentionally to a destination that ends in *.com.com will arrive there. Even if you sent email to private@myverysecretproject.com.com, typoing your intended email.
Here’s why the domain Com.com is unique:
- Common typo: Many users accidentally add “.com” at the end of a domain name out of habit, especially when they are typing quickly or not paying attention. This is a common mistake that can lead users to com.com instead of their intended destination.
- No search engine destination: Users who make this typo do not go through a search engine, where they might be corrected or find the correct link but are taken directly to com.com.
- High traffic domain: Due to the high likelihood of this specific browsing typo, com.com has a constant stream of visitors who land there unintentionally.
If you need proof about the traffic and visibility that Com.com commands, take a look at this report generated by the network traffic-gauging web site, ahrefs:
Not only are these traffic stats insane, it’s clear that a lot of the backlink typos exist in Wikipedia entries. If a single backlink in Wikipedia is great to have for SEO purposes, having hundreds or thousands of such links can send a domain’s SEO juice to stratospheric levels.
But Com.com wasn’t always a black hole of traffic and email. Registered in 1995, Com.com was once part of the CNet family of domain names, serving as a source of technology information.
Following the acquisition of CNet by CBS Networks in 2008, on or around August 1, 2013, the domain appears to have changed hands. From that point onward, it displayed PPC ads.
On June 18, 2014, Com.com was pointed temporarily to XYZ.com, the company behind the .XYZ gTLD.
It was not coincidental: We believe that Daniel Negari‘s XYZ company owns and operates Com.com to this day. It’s an ultra-valuable LLL .com asset with unique characteristics and a traffic black hole, as far as typo-traffic and typo-email traffic are concerned.
