If you’re planning on visiting the campaign site for Jeb Bush, you may be in for a surprise. Although most users might assume the former Florida governor’s official campaign website would be his name – JebBush.com – they would be wrong. The correct answer? Jeb2016.com.
Using Jeb’s full name will bring you to a surprising destination: rival Donald Trump promising to “Make America Great Again”.
Jeb Bush has had an uphill battle to gain ground while on his campaign trail. The redirect of the domain, registered on December 7th (and which was previously on sale for more than $250,000.00), certainly does not help with obtaining the support he desperately needs right before the South Carolina primaries.
Although the Trump camp denies any involvement with the purchase, or the process that redirects the address, they have not taken any measures to prevent the traffic from streaming into the Trump site either.
The true holder of the domain has yet to come forward and attempts to verify the ownership are blocked due to tight privacy settings.
This follows a trail of recent redirects, misspells, and URL’s that have common terms, names, and phrases used by candidates that have been snapped up by competitors to further their own political campaigns.
HilaryClinton.net, SandersBernie.com, and even TrumpforPresident.com, are all domains owned by individuals or companies that are practicing political “domain squatting”: directing those seeking information about the candidates listed in the address away from their intended targets.
Trump does not remain unscathed throughout all of this. A little less than a month ago, and after he lost the Iowa primaries, typing in loser.com would direct searchers directly to The Donald’s Wikipedia entry (it’s since been redirected to Kanye West’s entry). Mr. Trump can also be trumpeted on TrumpDonald.org, which is a great 5 minute distraction from your day.
It’s been reported that Jeb Bush has spent more campaign dollars that any other republican to help further his goal to get to the White House. Along the way, it seems that reviewing domain names slipped through the virtual cracks. It’s certainly a hard lesson to learn, and one to take note of.
Owning the rights to your brand is crucial in the digital business sphere and protecting it should be a priority.
How painless would it have been if a process was in place to ensure the acquisition of any domain that contains your name during a primary race? How easy would it have been to renew related domain ownership if a reminder had been set?
These are the type of services that 5i Solutions provides: helping individuals, businesses and teams create a systematic process in their workflow to increase productivity and bring to light those critical details and gaps that often times hide in the dark.
With an emphasis on data security, 5i Solutions also understands the threats that can occur online and helps protect their clients from being trumped by their competition.
