Bluegost.com, Universalgadgets, CJ affiliate 2202912 typosquatting on Bluehost

Twenty Oft-Found Commission Junction and LinkShare Affiliate Violations - Wesley Brandi and Ben Edelman

Our crawler requests Bluegost.com, a clear typographic error of Bluehost.com. (Notice the replacement of a "h" with a "g", an adjacent letter on the keyboard.)

Bluegost.com redirects to Universalgadgets, then to the Commission Junction click link with affiliate ID 2202912, then to Bluehost. Thus, the user ends up where he expected, and may not notice that anything was wrong. But Bluehost has to pay an affiliate fee for this traffic. Meanwhile, were it not for this affiliate's action, a standard web browser would have offered a simple link to Bluehost.com at no charge to Bluehost.

Bluegost.com is a typosquatting domain within the meaning of ACPA and UDRP. If Bluehost were to challenge this domain, it could recover statutory damages (ACPA) as well as the domain itself (under both ACPA and UDRP).

Violations: Forced click, typosquatting

 

Packet log

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: bluegost.com
User-Agent: ...
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
Connection: keep-alive

HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Connection: close
Pragma: no-cache
cache-control: no-cache
Location: /

 

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: bluegost.com
User-Agent: ...
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
Connection: keep-alive

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:41:59 GMT
Server: Microsoft-IIS/6.0
X-Powered-By: ASP.NET
X-AspNet-Version: 2.0.50727
Location: http://bluehost.universalgadgets.com
Cache-Control: private
Content-Length: 0

 

GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: bluehost.universalgadgets.com
User-Agent: ...
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
Connection: keep-alive

HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:41:59 GMT
Server: Microsoft-IIS/6.0
X-Powered-By: ASP.NET
X-AspNet-Version: 2.0.50727
Location: http://www.universalgadgets.com/go/bluehost/index.html
Cache-Control: private
Content-Length: 0

 

GET /go/bluehost/index.html HTTP/1.1
Host: www.universalgadgets.com
User-Agent: ...
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
Connection: keep-alive

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:42:00 GMT
Server: Apache
Accept-Ranges: bytes
Content-Length: 858
Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=100
Connection: Keep-Alive
Content-Type: text/html

<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=windows-1252">
<!-- Copy Your HREF Code here after url= -->
<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="1;url=http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2202912-10388578">
<!-- Change Title Info Here -->
<meta name="generator" content="Bluehost">
<!-- And Here Too -->
<title>Bluehost</title>
</head>
<body>
<p align="center"><font face="Arial" color="#808080">please wait ...
</font></p>
<P ALIGN="CENTER">&nbsp;<IMG SRC="http://www.universalgadgets.com/loading-multicolor.gif"></P>
<p align="center">
<!--Begin Banner Code-->
<a href="http://www.jdoqocy.com/click-2202912-10388578" target="_top">
<img src="http://www.tqlkg.com/image-2202912-10388578" width="125" height="125" alt="Host Unlimited Domains on 1 Account" border="0"/></a>
<!--End Banner Code-->
</body>
</html>

 

GET /click-2202912-10388578 HTTP/1.1
Host: www.jdoqocy.com
User-Agent: ...
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
Connection: keep-alive

HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Server: Resin/3.1.8
P3P: policyref="http://www.jdoqocy.com/w3c/p3p.xml", CP="ALL BUS LEG DSP COR ADM CUR DEV PSA OUR NAV INT"
Cache-control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0
Pragma: no-cache
Expires: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:42:01 GMT
Location: http://www.apmebf.com/76116hz76P/z5A/ONQVVSUV/PPNPWOP/N/N/N?e=q<<lxxt%3A%2F%2F000.nhsusg2.gsq%3AC4%2Fgpmgo-6646D56-547CC9BC<<K<<
Content-Type: text/html
Connection: close
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:42:01 GMT

<html>
<head><meta http-equiv="redirect" content="http://www.apmebf.com/76116hz76P/z5A/ONQVVSUV/PPNPWOP/N/N/N?e=q&lt;&lt;lxxt%3A%2F%2F000.nhsusg2.gsq%3AC4%2Fgpmgo-6646D56-547CC9BC&lt;&lt;K&lt;&lt;"></head>
<body>The URL has moved <a href="http://www.apmebf.com/76116hz76P/z5A/ONQVVSUV/PPNPWOP/N/N/N?e=q&lt;&lt;lxxt%3A%2F%2F000.nhsusg2.gsq%3AC4%2Fgpmgo-6646D56-547CC9BC&lt;&lt;K&lt;&lt;">here</a></body></html>

 

GET /76116hz76P/z5A/ONQVVSUV/PPNPWOP/N/N/N?e=q%3C%3Clxxt%3A%2F%2F000.nhsusg2.gsq%3AC4%2Fgpmgo-6646D56-547CC9BC%3C%3CK%3C%3C HTTP/1.1
Host: www.apmebf.com
User-Agent: ...
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
Connection: keep-alive
Cookie: S=1xl7e61-1636366433-1349119348135-vc; LCLK=cjo!wl48-tfbjclca-wfla-tfbjc3mw-w6sq-t4qvdtec-wadh-ten6f87-wfo0-t4w82ipb-i7ak-ssi36o0-jo59-9rl1yvy-lzu5-5zcl64x-w6dg-t4ukebkb-5xgs-t49v0i46-w5oi-tfcj1qcq-oagi-tfcw1xyw-w5pw-gleware-wfap-725oz3t; NSID=cjo-1322796

HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Server: Resin/3.1.8
P3P: policyref="http://www.apmebf.com/w3c/p3p.xml", CP="ALL BUS LEG DSP COR ADM CUR DEV PSA OUR NAV INT"
Cache-control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0
Pragma: no-cache
Expires: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:42:01 GMT
Location: http://www.emjcd.com/ct70xdml5/dkp/21499689/3313A23/1/2ym8f72027474775440245A22A4592460wd/bgb934175b4622f392d7959g7A956A7c?d=t<elq!y7wy-v6sxk9m8-yn6A-vhdlenec-yhnc-vhdle5oy-y8us-v6sxfvge-ycfj-vgp8hA9-yhq2-v6yA4krd-k9cm-uuk58q2-lq7B-Btn30x0-n1w7-71en86z-y8fi-v6wmgdmd-7ziu-v6Bx2k68-y7qk-vhel3ses-qcik-vhey3z0y-y7ry-ingyctg-yhcr-947q15v<jvvr%3A%2F%2Fyyy.lfqsqe0.eqo%3AA2%2Fenkem-4424B34-325AA79A<elq-35449B8<I<<
Set-Cookie: LCLK=cjo!w5uw-t4qvi7k6-wl48-tfbjclca-wfla-tfbjc3mw-w6sq-t4qvdtec-wadh-ten6f87-wfo0-t4w82ipb-i7ak-ssi36o0-jo59-9rl1yvy-lzu5-5zcl64x-w6dg-t4ukebkb-5xgs-t49v0i46-w5oi-tfcj1qcq-oagi-tfcw1xyw-w5pw-gleware-wfap-725oz3t; domain=.apmebf.com; path=/; expires=Mon, 18-Dec-2017 23:42:01 GMT
Content-Type: text/html
Connection: close
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:42:01 GMT

<html>
<head><meta http-equiv="redirect" content="http://www.emjcd.com/ct70xdml5/dkp/21499689/3313A23/1/2ym8f72027474775440245A22A4592460wd/bgb934175b4622f392d7959g7A956A7c?d=t&lt;elq!y7wy-v6sxk9m8-yn6A-vhdlenec-yhnc-vhdle5oy-y8us-v6sxfvge-ycfj-vgp8hA9-yhq2-v6yA4krd-k9cm-uuk58q2-lq7B-Btn30x0-n1w7-71en86z-y8fi-v6wmgdmd-7ziu-v6Bx2k68-y7qk-vhel3ses-qcik-vhey3z0y-y7ry-ingyctg-yhcr-947q15v&lt;jvvr%3A%2F%2Fyyy.lfqsqe0.eqo%3AA2%2Fenkem-4424B34-325AA79A&lt;elq-35449B8&lt;I&lt;&lt;"></head>
<body>The URL has moved <a href="http://www.emjcd.com/ct70xdml5/dkp/21499689/3313A23/1/2ym8f72027474775440245A22A4592460wd/bgb934175b4622f392d7959g7A956A7c?d=t&lt;elq!y7wy-v6sxk9m8-yn6A-vhdlenec-yhnc-vhdle5oy-y8us-v6sxfvge-ycfj-vgp8hA9-yhq2-v6yA4krd-k9cm-uuk58q2-lq7B-Btn30x0-n1w7-71en86z-y8fi-v6wmgdmd-7ziu-v6Bx2k68-y7qk-vhel3ses-qcik-vhey3z0y-y7ry-ingyctg-yhcr-947q15v&lt;jvvr%3A%2F%2Fyyy.lfqsqe0.eqo%3AA2%2Fenkem-4424B34-325AA79A&lt;elq-35449B8&lt;I&lt;&lt;">here</a></body></html>

 

GET /ct70xdml5/dkp/21499689/3313A23/1/2ym8f72027474775440245A22A4592460wd/bgb934175b4622f392d7959g7A956A7c?d=t%3Celq!y7wy-v6sxk9m8-yn6A-vhdlenec-yhnc-vhdle5oy-y8us-v6sxfvge-ycfj-vgp8hA9-yhq2-v6yA4krd-k9cm-uuk58q2-lq7B-Btn30x0-n1w7-71en86z-y8fi-v6wmgdmd-7ziu-v6Bx2k68-y7qk-vhel3ses-qcik-vhey3z0y-y7ry-ingyctg-yhcr-947q15v%3Cjvvr%3A%2F%2Fyyy.lfqsqe0.eqo%3AA2%2Fenkem-4424B34-325AA79A%3Celq-35449B8%3CI%3C%3C HTTP/1.1
Host: www.emjcd.com
User-Agent: ...
Accept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml,application/xml;q=0.9,*/*;q=0.8
Accept-Language: en-US,en;q=0.5
Accept-Encoding: gzip, deflate
Connection: keep-alive
Cookie: LCLK=cjo!wl48-tfbjclca-wfla-tfbjc3mw-w6sq-t4qvdtec-wadh-ten6f87-wfo0-t4w82ipb-i7ak-ssi36o0-jo59-9rl1yvy-lzu5-5zcl64x-w6dg-t4ukebkb-5xgs-t49v0i46-w5oi-tfcj1qcq-oagi-tfcw1xyw-w5pw-gleware-wfap-725oz3t; S=1xl7e61-1636366433-1349119348135-vc; PBLP=1520360:5365408:1355960397640:cjo-1513198:3316988:1355960108591:cjo-1501802:4121481:1355958641336:cjo-1506437:4202588:1355957815744:cjo-1513296:46157:1354909816281:cjo-1501252:2025874:1352848258271:cjo-276652:3726866:1351960040015:cjo-1500354:2203897:1351860699339:cjo-1133298:2025874:1350694118862:cjo-1500404:1548756:1349123854643:cjo-1512817:2203897:1349119348168:cjo; NSID=cjo-1322796

HTTP/1.1 302 Found
Server: Resin/3.1.8
P3P: policyref="http://www.emjcd.com/w3c/p3p.xml", CP="ALL BUS LEG DSP COR ADM CUR DEV PSA OUR NAV INT"
Cache-control: no-store, no-cache, must-revalidate, post-check=0, pre-check=0
Pragma: no-cache
Expires: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:42:01 GMT
Location: http://www.bluehost.com/track/cj/new125x125?CJPID=2202912
Set-Cookie: LCLK=cjo!w5uw-t4qvi7k6-wl48-tfbjclca-wfla-tfbjc3mw-w6sq-t4qvdtec-wadh-ten6f87-wfo0-t4w82ipb-i7ak-ssi36o0-jo59-9rl1yvy-lzu5-5zcl64x-w6dg-t4ukebkb-5xgs-t49v0i46-w5oi-tfcj1qcq-oagi-tfcw1xyw-w5pw-gleware-wfap-725oz3t; domain=.emjcd.com; path=/; expires=Mon, 18-Dec-2017 23:42:01 GMT
Set-Cookie: NSID=cjo-1322796; domain=.emjcd.com; path=/; expires=Mon, 18-Dec-2017 23:42:01 GMT
Set-Cookie: PBLP=1520360:5365408:1355960397640:cjo-1513198:3316988:1355960108591:cjo-1501802:4121481:1355958641336:cjo-1506437:4202588:1355957815744:cjo-1513296:46157:1354909816281:cjo-1501252:2025874:1352848258271:cjo-276652:3726866:1351960040015:cjo-1500354:2203897:1351860699339:cjo-1133298:2025874:1350694118862:cjo-1500404:1548756:1349123854643:cjo-1512817:2203897:1349119348168:cjo; domain=.emjcd.com; path=/; expires=Mon, 18-Dec-2017 23:42:01 GMT
Set-Cookie: PBLP=1500584:2202912:1355960521560:cjo-1520360:5365408:1355960397640:cjo-1513198:3316988:1355960108591:cjo-1501802:4121481:1355958641336:cjo-1506437:4202588:1355957815744:cjo-1513296:46157:1354909816281:cjo-1501252:2025874:1352848258271:cjo-276652:3726866:1351960040015:cjo-1500354:2203897:1351860699339:cjo-1133298:2025874:1350694118862:cjo-1500404:1548756:1349123854643:cjo-1512817:2203897:1349119348168:cjo; domain=.emjcd.com; path=/; expires=Mon, 18-Dec-2017 23:42:01 GMT
Content-Type: text/html
Connection: close
Transfer-Encoding: chunked
Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2012 23:42:01 GMT

<html>
<head><meta http-equiv="redirect" content="http://www.bluehost.com/track/cj/new125x125?CJPID=2202912"></head>
<body>The URL has moved <a href="http://www.bluehost.com/track/cj/new125x125?CJPID=2202912">here</a></body></html>